Why I Think "You" Is All About Character Issues

This will prove slightly difficult for me to write. I have been rusty for a while, and since the last post have been stuck in a rut somewhere on the writing scale, so do forgive me for this one.

It's now 4.37am and I just finished "You" an hour ago, which portrays Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager in New York takes rather dramatic steps to ensure he meets and builds a relationship with a customer he has become attracted to. They share a joke or two, and he finds himself complimenting her 'unique' literary tastes. She accepts them gracefully, at the same time fishing for more. Joe senses her need, and bites.
Stranger blooms to casual acquaintances when he acquires her home address after a quick Google search. He follows her daily to familiarize himself with her schedule, spies on her in all her half-dressed glory; even takes to breaking in at one point. All while she is unaware of the impending creep plotting to forcefully enter her life.
His relentless determination leads him to some 'victory' (if we can call it that) later on, when he saves her life on the racks of a very loud train threatening to crush her alive. He swipes her phone. Beck is too drunk to realize it. She ends up giving her email address to him and says goodbye. But they will meet again, Joe ensures it.

That's about the gist of 2 episodes in a season of 10 and I can only say that it gets more suspenseful after that. The story is narrated from Joe's point of view, so we get to see- and understand how individuals like him think. It's intriguing, really, at the same time a little scary once you realize how he's starting to make you see how he thinks its all reasonable and justified. At one point, even I was convinced. Until I had to click pause for some snacks and really thought to myself, this can't be right.

And I like how on You, the characterization never lost it's touch. Throughout the series, each kept to the most defining characteristics of their personality. Even if none of them were pretty questionable, like Peach's attempt to manipulate Beck to move to Paris and gaslighting her for leaving even though she had MANY reasonable decisions to do so.
Let's not forget Joe's so-called 'concern' for her, once she found herself a good therapist. Sure, she was cheating since then, but Joe's innate need for control went over the top.

Peach watching Beck and Joe watches both.

I love those little justifications Joe internally muses to himself every time he does a 'deed', for Beck. Like how he knows deep down he's something a really bad thing but each time life tries to show him the truth he artfully twists it into something he wants to believe. Which crops up, multiple times, but Joe always so skillfully dodges it.  It really shows how badly someone can live a lie, choose to be blind to things that they don't want to see.

I can see why it has all the rage now though. Stalking is nothing new, but sneak in a little romance and give the MC a handsome do-over, and there you go- an acceptable line of privacy can be crossed as long he treats the girl just right.
Because all that matters is love, isn't it?

ALL IN ALL, prepare to be disturbed as you enter "You"; a title fitting for a series that gives you the creeps when someone asks, 'What are you watching?

'You.'

Netflix's New Series 'Russian Doll' Is About Dying, And It's Amazing.

Netflix's newest show Russian Doll has just hit the screens- and if I can give you any reason to watch it whatsoever, it's a real mind-twister concerning death and life alike. Before I get all philosophical, you should know that Nicky Nichols from Orange is the New Black is the star here. If you've missed her from past seasons, she is alive to explore in this show if you want more of her raspy, sardonic humor (I know I do.)

Natasha Lyonne stars as Nadia.

The show opens with main character Nadia staring into the mirror of a glowing, half-lit door of a bathroom. She goes by as Nadia, a 36 year old woman celebrating her own birthday which her friends threw for her. It feels like a normal night, until she leaves the party to hook up with a stranger and search for her cat. Spotting him across the road, she dashes without thinking and gets hit by an oncoming car speeding on the road. Instant death.

Then she's instantly in the same bathroom staring in the same mirror wondering what the hell happened; until it's clear that something weird is happening because she keeps dying and resurrecting at the same spot.


That infamous bathroom, again.

It becomes clear later that she can't progress forward until she clears some of the emotional roadblocks perpetuating her lifestyle of drugs and self-destruction. I grew more invested in the character, if not the actress herself, as I watched her make both questionable errors and deeply moving acts as she started to consider that her actions hurt other people too, and take living more seriously. 
Through several flashbacks we see her past trauma and it develops to take her character further. It isn't till Episode 3 that we start seeing her grasping hold of her demons and determined to fight through the anger and self-hatred inflicted from her past. Her deaths range from absurdly hilarious to poignantly tragic as we see her dying in front of her friends, family, each one cutting closer to the heart than the last. She becomes more desperate to escape, sensing that she is running out of time.

Nadia's deaths become less erratic and more symbolic as the series progresses.

Her resurrections have not been in vain, as she manages to re-route several what-would-be nasty situations out of the tension and start greeting her life with joy, acknowledging the pain that was before and helping another similar soul bear with his own pain-filled cocktail.

There isn't really a specific genre to wrap this show up as it had its own complex blend of dark, snarky humor, with a mix of sci-fi in the earlier episodes that escalated to pure drama all the way to the end. Bordering a bit of supernatural, maybe. But i'm glad they didn't go that way in this show. Even if it's guilty of carrying the biggest plot hole ever they really cut to the crux in forcing oneself to ask life's biggest questions; then only can you begin to heal.

Streaming for only 8 episodes with one season so far, Russian Doll has already proved itself to be binge-worthy climax that will pull you back for another rewatch for sure if not just to catch the clues referenced from later episodes. 

So I'd definitely highly recommend it, words can't explain how amazing it is. Story-wise and emotionally-charged. Just prepare to have, you know, your mind fucked with for a bit. Take it as your own personal high.