Is the TV show “You”...good? Well, it’s complicated

Like many other privileged denizen who can, you know, afford to experience most adrenaline jolts by way of fictional trauma, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks deeply obsessed with that Netflix sociopath show, You. I mean come on, it’s basically one extra-twisty SVU episode with Gossip Girl-level eye meat; the Netflix bots couldn’t have manufactured a better premise to feed the masses.

But as I was burning through season 1 and reading the accompanying Vulture recaps, this one from last year — Let’s Talk About The Ending of You’s Season Finale — stuck with me through the rest of my bingewatching in a pretty discomfiting way.

See, TV show recaps now fulfill this role for us where, besides explaining details you missed or pointing out inconsistencies, they help us understand what we’ve just seen decide, well, if any of it was worth it. They help us conclude: was it good? So the way staff writer Kathryn VanArendonk turns that essential question on its head for a show that induces such conflicting feelings is so brilliant — and something that everyone who has a hand in creating narratives for public consumption should consider always:

There are two kinds of questions to ask about this ending. The first kind: Is it well-made? Does it deliver on the story the season had been building toward? Does it feel like a fitting conclusion for the previous nine episodes, are the performances good, does the final twist make sense, is it an entertaining hour of television? Does it hint toward what’s to come in a second season? The second: Is the ending of You … good? Beyond the storytelling and structural ideas, is it good for the world and for its viewers that this is how Beck’s story ends?

That is, maybe your article/video/feature/book/TV show/movie is “good”…….but is it good for the world? Maybe think that one over a lil this week.