You (TV series)

**You** is an American psychological thriller television series based on the books by Caroline Kepnes, developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, and produced by Berlanti Productions, Alloy Entertainment and A+E Studios in association with Warner Horizon Television, now Warner Bros. Television.

The first season, which is based on the novel *You*, premiered on Lifetime in September 2018, and follows Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager and serial killer who falls in love and develops an extreme obsession. The season stars Penn Badgley, Elizabeth Lail, Luca Padovan, Zach Cherry, and Shay Mitchell. Lifetime announced in July 2018 that *You* had been renewed for a second season, based on Kepnes' follow-up novel *Hidden Bodies*. The series later moved to Netflix and the second season was released in December 2019. The season follows Joe as he moves to Los Angeles and falls in love with local heiress Love Quinn. For the second season, Ambyr Childers was upgraded to a series regular, joining newly cast Victoria Pedretti, James Scully, Jenna Ortega, and Carmela Zumbado.

In January 2020, the series was renewed for a third season by Netflix, which was released on October 15, 2021. In the third season, Saffron Burrows was upgraded to a series regular, joining newly cast Travis Van Winkle, Shalita Grant, Tati Gabrielle and Dylan Arnold.

On October 13, 2021, ahead of the third season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season with Penn Badgley returning as Joe Goldberg. Tati Gabrielle returned to the series with Charlotte Ritchie joining the cast opposite Badgley and Lukas Gage joining the cast as a series regular. On April 1, 2022, Tilly Keeper, Amy Leigh Hickman and Ed Speleers all joined the cast as series regulars opposite Badgley.

## Premise

The first season follows the story of Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager in New York, who upon meeting Guinevere Beck, an aspiring writer, becomes infatuated with her. He feeds his toxic obsession using social media and other technology to track her presence and remove obstacles to their romance.

In the second season, Joe Goldberg moves from New York to Los Angeles to escape his past and starts over with a new identity. When he meets avid chef Love Quinn, Joe begins falling into his old patterns of obsession and violence. As Joe attempts to forge a new love in the City of Angels, he strives to make his relationship with Love succeed at all costs to avoid the fate of his past romantic endeavors.

In the third season, Joe and Love are married and raising their newborn son, Henry, in the Californian suburb of Madre Linda. As their relationship dynamic takes a new turn, Joe continues to repeat the cycle of obsession with a burgeoning interest in Natalie, the next door neighbor. This time, Love will flip the script to ensure that her dream of having the perfect family will not be torn away so easily by Joe's compulsive actions.

## Cast

### **Main Cast**

* Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager at Mooney's who stalks and dates Beck in the first season. In the second season, he goes by the name Will Bettelheim and works as a bookstore clerk at Anavrin, and stalks and dates Love.
	+ Joe is portrayed as a teenager by Gianni Ciardiello in season one, and as a child by Aidan Wallace and Jack Fisher in seasons two and three respectively.
* Charlotte Ritchie as Kate, a fearsomely intelligent art gallery director. Her partying boyfriend Malcolm will bring Joe into their lives.
* Tati Gabrielle as Marienne Bellamy, a librarian and keen observer of the neighborhood's denizens. Beneath her practical exterior, Marienne is hiding personal struggles that set her back, as she tries to create a better life for herself and her daughter.
* Lukas Gage as Adam, an ex-pat American, the youngest son of a wealthy East-Coast magnate.
* Tilly Keeper as Lady Phoebe, who is as sweet and kind as she is rich, famous, and chaotic, Phoebe’s every bikini wax has been documented by the tabloids since she was 15 years old.
* Amy Leigh Hickman as Nadia, a literature major with a love of genre storytelling and the aspiration to be a serious author.
* Ed Speleers as Rhys, a dry and irreverent author whose memoir garnered him acclaim and pressure to launch a political career.

### **Former Cast**

* Elizabeth Lail as Guinevere Beck (season 1; special guest season 2), a broke NYU graduate student and an aspiring writer
* Luca Padovan as Paco (season 1)
* Zach Cherry as Ethan Russell (season 1)
* Shay Mitchell as Peach Salinger (season 1)
* Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn (seasons 2–3)
* Jenna Ortega as Ellie Alves (season 2)
* James Scully as Forty Quinn (season 2; special guest season 3)
* Ambyr Childers as Candace Stone (season 2; recurring season 1)
* Carmela Zumbado as Delilah Alves (season 2)
* Saffron Burrows as Dottie Quinn (season 3; recurring season 2)
* Shalita Grant as Sherry Conrad (season 3)
* Travis Van Winkle as Cary Conrad (season 3)
* Dylan Arnold as Theo Engler (season 3)

## Development

On April 5, 2017, Lifetime ordered 10 episodes of the first season of *"You"*.

The first season aired from September 9, 2018 to November 11, 2018 in the US on the Lifetime network. It premiered on Netflix internationally on December 26, 2018.

On December 3, 2018, it was announced that Lifetime had passed on the second season due to low ratings in Season 1, and that the series would move to Netflix as a Netflix Original series.

The second season of the series premiered on December 26, 2019.