‘You’ Season 4 Review: The Horrifying Face of Self-Acceptance

Self-acceptance has many forms, not all of them laudable. In the fourth season of You, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) becomes self-aware, withstands a short period of self-loathing, and achieves self-acceptance. It’s horrifying.
And gripping.
While the first half of the London-set season was overly indulgent of overbearing social critiques that detracted from Badgley’s compelling anti-hero, it also laid the groundwork for a thrilling ride through its second half.
When last we spoke I told you confidently—arrogantly, even—that aspiring politician and rags-to-riches poster boy Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers) had been systematically picking off his irredeemable and fabulously wealthy friends one by one, with Joe working feverishly to thwart him. My apologies to Mr. Montrose, who is not the murderous Robin Hood I had styled him as.