Netflix's new binge-worthy psychological thriller 'You' has garnered a lot of social media attention. The story follows Joe Goldberg, played by Penn Badgley, an attractive bookstore manager who's also a huge stalker. Badgley also played lonely boy Dan Humphrey from the hit teen show 'Gossip Girl'. The roles seem to be similar, but with Joe being artsier trying to find the deeper meaning of life through Faulkner's books. Joe becomes infatuated with Guinevere Beck, played by Elizabeth Lail, who visits him in his bookstore. They bond over their love of books, and soon Joe is stalking her on every social media available, even finding her address.
Joe then spots Beck outside of her NY apartment, while he watches everyone she interacts. He even follows her entire daily routine, all while staying in the background. Joe also steals Beck's phone after successfully saving her from getting hit by a subway train and keeps it to know about her activity on her phone. He uses all this information to track Beck's whereabouts and who she hangs out with, voicing his own opinion on her friends before they even began their relationship.
Joe realizes that he needs to eliminate, aka kill, anyone that poses a threat to Beck and his relationship. He believes that this is what's best for Beck. Joe kidnapped Benji, Beck's on-and-off-again boyfriend before Joe, and locks him in the basement of his bookstore where no one can hear Benji's' screams. He keeps up with Benji's social media presence so that Beck and her friends can assume that Benji just went on a bender and left her. In the meanwhile, he kills Benji and burns his body in the woods of New York.
Joe even goes after Beck's best friend Peach, who doesn't trust Joe for a second. When her classic "Ozma of Oz" book and the laptop goes missing, she blames Joe, saying he stole it so he could afford to live. The accusations turn out to be true, but Joe cleverly returns Peach's belongings before he can get caught. However, he finds out that Peach is in love with Beck and has to be eliminated. When Peach and Beck go to vacation for a few days, Joe follows them up to Peach's villa just to make sure Beck is alright. He sneaks into the house secretly. Beck leaves the vacation early after a fight with Peach and Peach realizes Joe is there. She almost shoots him, and as they quarrel for the gun, a shot is heard. Peach is found dead but Joe makes it seem like suicide by writing her suicide note.
In the end, Joe kills Beck. But how can a man kill the woman he was so in love with? His one true love, the peanut butter to his jelly, the woman he killed for just so that their relationship could survive. In my opinion, Joe was never truly in love with Beck but wanted to assert control over her. When he realized that she can't be controlled, he took the only measure he could.
'You' has only been on Netflix since December, but the first season has become a big topic on social media. The actor himself has noticed some fans tweeting about their attraction to his character. And this doesn't sit right with anyone, especially Penn Badgley. It's upsetting that many of the 'You' fans are willing to see past Joe's obvious dangerous qualities such as kidnapping, emotional manipulation, stalking, and murder, to post tweets about how Joe is the kind of boyfriend they need because he's always at Beck's side. Penn Badgley urges fans that while Joe is a guy you like to watch on TV, he's not a guy you should like in real life.
