TV Show review
Review basis: 5 seasons · through April 24, 2025
September 9, 2018 · TV-MA · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The Netflix series You follows Joe Goldberg, a charming yet psychopathic stalker who obsessively inserts himself into the lives of women he desires, using manipulation, surveillance, and murder across five seasons set in New York, Los Angeles, the suburbs, London, and back to the US. The story relies on Joe's unreliable first-person narration to reveal his twisted logic while blending dark thriller elements with commentary on modern dating, social media, and class differences. Later seasons add more diverse supporting casts and some incidental LGBTQ+ characters, along with occasional nods to privilege and consent, but these stay secondary to the core psychological crime plot.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for You.
Woke representation / casting
Visible diversity in ethnicity and sexual orientation among supporting characters and love interests across seasons; LGBTQ+ figures appear in multiple storylines, fitting modern settings but drawing some viewer notice for emphasis in later seasons.
Woke political dialogue
Scattered references to consent, toxic masculinity, and social privilege delivered mainly through Joe's biased narration or side plots; no sustained activist-style lectures or institutional critiques.
Identity-driven story themes
Incidental LGBTQ+ and diverse character arcs provide some identity elements, but the narrative prioritizes Joe's obsession, violence, and psychological unraveling over identity politics or representation as central drivers.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Explores flaws in elite social circles, celebrity culture, and male entitlement through ironic and criminal lenses; presents these as personal failings rather than broad systemic activist messaging about patriarchy or capitalism.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; fully original story based on modern novels without reinterpretations of established canon or historical events.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Niche complaints from some fans about forced diversity, political insertions in season 3, and perceived feminist shifts or agenda in marketing and later episodes; reactions stayed limited to online forums and review videos without broader cultural debate.
Creator track record context
Greg Berlanti's extensive history of prominent LGBTQ+ representation in prior series raises the context score, while co-creators, most writers, and directors show minimal or no public activist patterns beyond occasional comments on diversity from figures like Penn Badgley and Sasha Alexander.
Production
