YOU Season 2 Review: 7 Ups & 4 Downs

Ups...

7. It's Refreshingly Different

With Joe having already micro-analysed every human being in New York City to within an inch of their lives, you would think it impossible for YOU to give us anything remotely different in its second season - especially when it promises to reset the status quo by having him start afresh. But it's that starting afresh that gifts YOU Season 2 with an opportunity to set itself apart from its predecessor.

The Los Angeles setting feels like the perfect way of continuing his story, as it allows him to, yes, pass judgment on every single eager, bright-eyed star-in-the-making that he crosses paths with. Though that's not exactly different to what he was doing in Brooklyn, it's accomplished in a louder, faster and more boisterous fashion - typical of the LA lifestyle. But all that only makes the City of Angels the perfectly different backdrop, as it's the narrative that truly makes all the difference.

In spite of recycling familiar story beats, YOU Season 2 never feels like a retread. It doesn't recycle so much as it does build upon what was already there, advancing it to a level that feels authentic. Sure, Joe may find himself in a couple of similarly tricky situations, but he uses his experience in order to figure out how to do things differently. It's oddly fascinating watching Joe evolve in ways that not even he thought he could and that ensures that the season never feels derivative of what came before.

On top of all that, the narrative manages to subvert our expectations in new and surprising ways which, considering viewers know what to expect from the show this time around, is a testament to the strength of the writing.