You Season 3 Review – The woes of toxic marriage

Episode Guide

And They Lived Happily Ever After -| Review Score – 3.5/5
So I Married an Ave Murderer -| Review Score – 4/5
Missing White Woman Syndrome -| Review Score – 2/5
Hands Across Madre Linda -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Into The Woods -| Review Score – 3/5
W.O.M.B. -| Review Score – 3.5/5
We’re All Mad Here -| Review Score – 3/5
Swing and a Miss -| Review Score – 3/5
Red Flag -| Review Score – 3.5/5
What is Love? -| Review Score – 4/5

Raising kids is hard work. It’s even harder to do when your spouse is a murderous psychopath, naturally. This scenario ultimately sets the foundations for an intriguing third season of You, a show still struggling to ascend back to the lofty heights season 1 achieved so effortlessly.

After the adventures involving Beck, season 2 added extra subplots, a lick of comedy and a lot of busywork that ultimately diluted what made season 1 so enthralling. Season 3 then goes one step further. It’s not only the weakest of the three seasons, it’s also one that reinforces the show’s lack of an identity as You methodically plods along 10 episodes of average drama until its conclusion. It’s not a bad season per-se but it’s not exactly a great one either.

The story this time picks up some time after the events of season 2. Joe and Love have moved into the quiet suburban area of Madre Linda, a neighbourhood boasting the lowest crime-rate in the state. Joe finds himself getting cold feet over his happy family set-up, hung up over his next door neighbour, Natalie. Love meanwhile, finds herself capturing the attention of Theo, Natalie’s son.

It’s an interesting dynamic in truth, but one that’s quickly discarded after the first few episodes in favour of a big, shocking twist. That’s all well and good but the direct result of this leads to a slew of directionless episodes as Joe turns his focus to the woes of marriage, trying to make friends and subsequently finding another crush in librarian, Marienne. It’s all quite messy and it’s not helped by this show’s use of Joe’s son, Henry.

The first episode sets up a nice little dynamic for the dysfunctional family, with Joe and Love struggling to look after their son. Changing diapers, post-natal depression and anxiety are the main ingredients and it actually works really well. As the season progresses though, the pair end up pawning off Henry to any Tom, Dick and Harry, with the babe only showing up when the plot finds it convenient for him to cry and help out an awkward situation. It’s disappointing, to say the least, and only reinforces the lack of consistency with this season.

The characters themselves are okay, with Joe and his narration still the highlight of the entire show. Love’s increased focus is, quite frankly, annoying and she’s intentionally the one who tends to mess up Joe’s perfect crimes. Sandwiched between a great opener and an action-packed finale, the middle portion of episodes slip into the humdrum of mediocrity.

Aesthetically, You continues with its use of flashbacks to Joe’s past, as well as the narration and colourful locales. Madre Linda has a real Desperate-Housewives feel to it too and seeing both Joe and Love try to navigate this stereotypical town is pretty fun. Unfortunately that fun is sporadic as best, as the season lacks focus and tends to wind off on random subplot misadventures with little pay-off. Did we really need a bromance camping trip for Joe to find his inner beast?

Ultimately, You Season 3 appears with a bang and then sort of shuffles its way through 10 episodes without much pizzazz. It’s not a bad season by any stretch of the imagination but it’s a far cry from the brilliance of season 1.

Whether the show will ever capture what made it such a hit all those years ago remains to be seen but based on this showing, you’d be remiss for thinking otherwise.

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