With the first part of its fourth season having just premiered on Netflix, it seems only fitting that we pay more attention to Penn Badgley’s (quite literally) amazing storytelling in “YOU”. And this time, the tables have turned.
Since we’ve covered You once before in this column, I won’t dwell on the smaller details and nuances of previous seasons. However, if you haven’t seen them yet, “YOU” follow the story of Joe Goldberg, a charming yet psychotic stalker who (too easily) becomes obsessed with the women in his life. That said, the latest season of “YOU” takes a slight departure from Joe’s modus operandi. Instead of being the predator, Joe becomes the hunted and an unwilling accessory to the life he’s trying to leave behind.
**As always with new releases, this column strives to remain as spoiler-free as possible, but that’s not always possible given the intimate nature of Joe’s storytelling. So, if you plan to avoid spoilers, it’s best to watch the latest season of You first.**
Joe’s Narrative Turns into the Unknown
The season begins with Joe (again) moving to a new town, hoping to start a new life under a false identity. And true to form Joe, he seems to have run free again and failed to land his dream job in his dream city. As he hints to the audience, he didn’t plan it that way, but he made the most of his grief. But all he could think about was heartbreak and abandonment. He uses his voiceover to tell the audience everything that happened between this one and the last one. He explains how he escaped, why he is in London, and how he got a new job as an English Professor. By all accounts, Joe lived happily ever after.
He also tells the audience repeatedly that this time, he will be good. This time, he will not interfere or manipulate. This time, he will live the life he deserves. Almost rhythmically, again and again, Joe repeats this history to himself, almost like a mantra. He really wants to be good – even though he’s a monster, he just sees himself as a victim of circumstances.
The Hunter Becomes the Hunted – Joe’s New Storytelling
As the focus shifts from the subject of Joe’s desire to him being the target of another, the narrative takes on a haunting new twist. Instead of controlling and manipulating the lives of the women he loves – this season shows us, Joe, in a new light.
For a change, Joe will finally understand his victim’s feelings. Even though she found herself at Love’s mercy last season – she still knows as if she’s in control of the situation and making the choices she thinks are best for her son. And that’s what makes the new direction for his storytelling so interesting – all the control and cunning he displayed in past seasons has been completely erased. Instead, what we see now is Joe just trying to survive. For once, Joe is helpless and supported by the will of someone even more psychotic than himself.
All the time Joe pleads to the audience that he is a victim of circumstance, this time he really is – albeit in a justified, karmic, poetic irony. This time, the You that Joe speaks to through his narration is not the fictional ideal of a woman he knows or even loves – it is a question. It is a punctuation mark on the shadow of an idea and a marker for an unknown element that tries to usurp its newfound self-control.
Lack of Control – Narrative of Paranoid Joe
For someone like Joe, control is everything – and seeing him without it makes for some of his most compelling storytelling. Instead of focusing on other people’s lives to organize, he’s just trying to keep his hands on his own slow-moving train wreck. Every thought, every decision – Joe tries to stay on his non-existent toes. Instead of using his great cunning to manipulate others, he uses it to find out who keeps framing him for murders he didn’t commit. Although mirroring the thoughts of his audience – he really wonders if he actually did it. For Joe, losing control was the main trigger.
Over and over again, Joe tells his listeners that he wants to be good despite unknown forces entering his life and threatening to expose him unless he obeys their will. For once, Joe is completely manipulated – he even tells the audience after being thrown out the window that he’s too old to live like that.
A Twist of Irony – Stalker Joe
Throughout his narration, Joe’s focus is always on the object of his desire, speaking to his victims as if they were part of a melancholy conversation that only he could hear. But this time, they echoed his paranoia. They speak not only to insecurity and wallowing but to the mystery of who might be hunting her and who might be on the receiving end of a threat to expose her. Joe was more than scared – he was on the defensive and less than happy about it. Up until this point, while problematic like most of his voice actors, they were well-intentioned and used to justify his actions to himself.
In the same way that Joe truly believes that he is making his victim’s life better, Joe’s stalker tries to bring out the most – er – Joe. Every time Joe gets a new message from his stalker, it acts like a callback to a more unaffected version of himself. Each message reads like an asterisk on Joe’s previous narration and adds punctuation to his character – mockery and nods to who he’s trying to leave behind. For once, instead of engaging with someone’s contrived ideals that he placed on a pedestal, Joe looked into the depths of his own entanglement.
Kim Handysides is an award-winning voice artist, coach and thought leader in her industry. His storytelling has been heard on Discovery, Netflix, and the major networks, on iMax, the White House, and the Smithsonian.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
