‘You’ Is Still Netflix’s Most Unpredictable Thriller, 8 Years Later

Eight years after its Season 1 premiere, You is still the most startling and compelling thriller series on Netflix. After winning over hearts as writer Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl (and starring in the steamy and short-lived, forgotten The Bedford Diaries), Penn Badgley became known as another literary character. Joe Goldberg seems flawless, right? He’s got literary ambition, works in a New York City bookstore, and seems to be okay with commitment. There’s just one small problem: he’s a serial killer.

Of all the fast-paced thriller TV series, You has some particularly chilling imagery, from the cage in the basement of Mooney’s to Joe’s hallucinations in Season 4. It’s not always the easiest watch, and every time Joe flirts with someone, commits murder, or remembers his awful childhood, these scenes make viewers feel a full range of emotions. And, even though it’s been almost a decade since Joe’s charming grin first appeared on TV screens, the unpredictable tone of You still wows viewers.

Why ‘You’ Is Still Netflix’s Most Shocking Thriller Series

Netflix

When compared to Netflix’s recent thriller series, it’s clear that You is the most unpredictable, and definitely still the best one. Take The Beast in Me, for example. While the entire premise focuses on whether Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) murdered his wife, viewers can tell right away that he did. Sure, that doesn’t mean that the series is terrible. It’s still compelling to see Claire Danes play an author with a tough past who is trying to figure out her neighbor. But if the whole point of the thriller genre is to shock viewers, it’s a shame when a show doesn’t feel as unexpected as it could. (And it’s also hard not to think that no matter how charming Nile is, he doesn’t hold our attention as Joe Goldberg does.)

Wayward, which was released in September 2025, and His & Hers, which premiered on Jan. 8th, 2026, suffer from the same predictability issue. Many are unsure if Wayward should get a Season 2 because the Season 1 finale isn’t great. It’s also not a very surprising way to wrap things up. Since we know that Laura Redman (Sarah Gadon) has a strange past linked to Evelyn Wade (Toni Collette), it’s easy to shrug when we see what happens to Laura in the end.

Even worse, His & Hers has a plot twist at the very end that is corny and unearned. Since Lexy Jones (Rebecca Rittenhouse) is set up as a villain from the start of the story, her reveal isn’t shocking. There are also some potential plot holes regarding the other major reveal. The final moments feel awkward, and viewers are left with questions that probably won’t get answered if it remains a miniseries.

How can any of those plot twists or endings compete with every intense You reveal and season finale? Nothing is as awe-inspiring-inducing as learning that Joe’s Season 2 love interest, Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), is also evil, or realizing that both Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie) and Bronte (Madeline Brewer) are onto him. When watching the pilot episode, it’s easy to guess the events of the You Season 1 finale. You know that Joe is going to kill Beck (Elizabeth Lail), and it’s terrible watching the story unfold. And, sure, fans felt that the story would wrap up with Joe dying or going to prison. So, in that sense, the series finale is a little bit predictable.

However, while Joe follows a pattern, getting rid of people he thinks are obstacles and swearing that his latest love interest will be “The One,” the show never gets lackluster. Just when it seems that Joe can escape Love at the end of Season 2, she reveals that she’s pregnant. This is a brilliant storyline that forces Joe to imagine if he could be a good father and, therefore, a different person. It also gets at the major themes of You and makes viewers wonder if people are inherently “good” or “bad” and if they can move past mistakes and become a “better” person.

Sorry to all those other thrillers, but they just don’t captivate viewers as You does. But, hey, maybe the next one will draw us in just like Joe’s strange, alarming story has.

Release Date: 2018 – 2025-00-00
Network: Lifetime, Netflix
Directors: Marcos Siega, Lee Toland Krieger, Cherie Nowlan, DeMane Davis, Kellie Cyrus, Marta Cunningham, Martha Mitchell, Victoria Mahoney, Erin Feeley
Writers: Justin W. Lo