You is an American psychological thriller television series based on the books by Caroline Kepnes. It was developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, produced by Berlanti Productions, Alloy Entertainment, and A+E Studios, in association with Warner Horizon Television.
The first season, based on the novel You, premiered on Lifetime in September 2018. It follows Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager and serial killer who develops an extreme obsession with a woman he meets at his bookstore. 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. In October 2021, ahead of the third-season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which was released over two parts on February 9 and March 9, 2023. The season also stars Charlotte Ritchie, Tilly Keeper, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Ed Speleers and Lukas Gage. In March 2023, the series was renewed for a fifth and final season, which was released on April 24, 2025. The season also stars Griffin Matthews, Anna Camp and Madeline Brewer.
Premise
In the first season, Joe Goldberg meets Guinevere Beck, a broke college student and an aspiring writer. Joe quickly becomes consumed with his one-sided infatuation, feeding his obsession through social media and utilizing technology to stalk and track her activities. This behavior escalates and leads to Joe taking drastic measures to remove obstacles to their romance—including her friends and ex-boyfriend.
In the second season, Joe Goldberg moves from New York to Los Angeles to escape his past. He starts over with a new identity to hide from his ex-girlfriend Candace, who seeks revenge for burying her alive prior to the start of season one. 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, he strives to make his relationship with Love succeed at all costs to avoid the fate of his past romantic endeavors. Unbeknownst to him, Love has dark secrets herself.
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. First he develops a burgeoning interest in Natalie, the next door neighbor, then the local librarian, Marienne. However, Love ensures that her dream of having the perfect family will not be torn away so easily, regardless of the cost.
In the fourth season, Joe is living in London and working as an English professor under the alias Jonathan Moore. After following Marienne from Paris, he vows to put the past behind him and let Marienne go. After rescuing his neighbor Kate during a robbery, Joe is invited into a circle of wealthy socialites. However, they start to die off one by one as a serial murderer targets their elite group. Joe reverts to his old habits when he is framed for the deaths and blackmailed by the killer. While trying to keep his true identity hidden from the group and working to catch the killer, Joe develops feelings for Kate despite knowing it is not something he should do.
In the fifth and final season, Joe returns to New York City with his new wife and is ready to live a good life at last. However, his past and dark desires will collide with this new life, when he meets Bronté.
Cast and characters
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a charming but dangerous man who shows traits of narcissistic and antisocial personality disorders that primarily manifest as an obsessive romantic fixation. He is first introduced as the manager of Mooney's bookstore in New York, who stalks and dates Beck in the first season. In the second season, he transfers to Los Angeles and going by the name Will Bettelheim, gets himself employed as a bookstore clerk at Anavrin, where he falls into old patterns after meeting the store's manager, Love Quinn. In the third season, he is going by Joe once more, married to Love and raising their son, Henry in the suburbs. In the fourth season, Joe is in London masquerading as a university professor called Jonathan Moore, obsessing over Kate and has kidnapped Marienne. He begins disassociating and has a mental break. In the fifth season, he reverts once more to his original name, and his new obsession is Bronte. Joe is portrayed as a teenager by Gianni Ciardiello in the first season, and as a child by Aidan Wallace and Jack Fisher in the second and third seasons, respectively. Elizabeth Lail as Guinevere Beck (season 1; special guest seasons 2 & 4–5), a broke NYU graduate MFA student with daddy issues and an aspiring writer and poet who enters into a relationship with Joe, with secrets of her own Luca Padovan as Paco (season 1, special appearance season 5), Joe's young neighbor who sees Joe as a source of support and a role model, who Joe helps when his abusive step-father is threatening Zach Cherry as Ethan Russell (season 1, special appearance season 5), a bookstore clerk who works with Joe and dates Beck's friend Blythe Shay Mitchell as Peach Salinger (season 1), a wealthy and influential socialite, with narcissistic, controlling and obsessive qualities and Beck's best friend whom she met at Brown University, who harbors a secret passion for her Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn (seasons 2–3, special guest season 4), an aspiring chef and health guru in Los Angeles who gets involved with Joe and has dark secrets herself, they later have a son, Henry Carmela Zumbado as Delilah Alves (season 2), Ellie's older sister, an investigative reporter who leases Joe's flat to him and they have a brief romantic encounter Jenna Ortega as Ellie Alves (season 2), Delilah's fifteen-year-old sister who lives in the same block of apartments as Joe/Will, with a passion for film James Scully as Forty Quinn (season 2; special guest season 3), Love's beloved and troubled twin brother who relies on Love for support in most matters due to his addictions and mental health issues Ambyr Childers as Candace Stone (season 2; recurring season 1), Joe's ex-girlfriend from before Beck, who follows him to Los Angeles seeking revenge Saffron Burrows as Dottie Quinn (season 3; recurring season 2, special appearance season 5), Love and Forty's mother who is narcissistic and an alcoholic Tati Gabrielle as Marienne Bellamy (seasons 3–4, special guest season 5), a librarian and keen observer of the neighborhood's denizens. Beneath her practical exterior, Marienne is hiding personal struggles with drugs and addiction that set her back, as she tries to create a better life for herself and her daughter. She moves with her daughter to Paris after the events of the third season. In season 4 she is kidnapped by Joe in London. In season 5 she returns to seek revenge. Shalita Grant as Sherry Conrad (season 3, special appearance season 5), a locally famous "momfluencer", admired by her social media followers for her well crafted persona, she often insults people through veiled insults and sees herself as superior to everyone in Madre Linda. She is very fake and only seeks things that support her personal interests. Travis Van Winkle as Cary Conrad (season 3, special appearance season 5), a wealthy, charismatic, and self-proclaimed founder who runs his own supplement company and is married to Sherry with whom they share twin girls Dylan Arnold as Theo Engler (season 3), a troubled college student who has a strained relationship with his stepfather, Matthew Engler, and who has a crush on Love and brief romantic encounter Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Galvin-Lockwood (seasons 4–5), a fearsomely intelligent art gallery director. Her partying boyfriend Malcolm will bring Joe into their lives. Tilly Keeper as Lady Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth (season 4, guest season 5), a wealthy social media influencer who is part of the royal family. She is romantically involved with Adam and has a dramatic yet bubbly personality. Amy-Leigh Hickman as Nadia Farran/Fareedi (season 4, recurring season 5), one of Joe's students in London. She is outspoken and competitive, and a lover of genre fiction. He later frames her, and she returns in season 5, seeking revenge. Ed Speleers as Rhys Montrose (season 4), an author and mayoral hopeful whose memoir about his experiences in prison lifted him out of poverty. He appears to quickly form a connection with Joe over their similar personal backgrounds. Lukas Gage as Adam Pratt (season 4), an American playboy who hails from a wealthy family and owns Sundry House, an elite London social club. He is dating Lady Phoebe and has a strained relationship with his father, who he typically consults to bail him out of debt from his failed business ventures. Madeline Brewer as Bronte / Louise Flannery (season 5), an enigmatic and free-spirited playwright who comes to work for Joe, who has a history with Beck, she is easy manipulated by Joe and falls for him Anna Camp in a dual role as identical twins: Raegan Lockwood (season 5), a cutthroat CFO of the Lockwood Corp who has her eyes on the throne and hates her sister Kate and frequently bullies her twin Maddie Maddie Lockwood (season 5), a thrice-divorced socialite and master manipulator whose job is 'vaguely PR', she resents Raegan for making her be her surrogate Griffin Matthews as Teddy Lockwood (season 5), a snarky yet loyal brother-in-law of Joe, who was the secret child of Kate's father's 'help' who was never fully accepted by the Lockwood family apart from Kate who brings him into the family business
Episodes
Season 1 (2018)
Season 2 (2019)
Season 3 (2021)
Season 4 (2023)
Season 5 (2025)
Production Development
In February 2015, it was announced that Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble would develop a series based on Caroline Kepnes' book You with Berlanti and Gamble as the scriptwriters, and Berlanti as the pilot director. Initially, Berlanti and Gamble pitched the show to Showtime but were unsuccessful in their attempts. In addition, both creators had also originally pitched the series to Netflix but were declined twice, prior to Netflix's head of international non-English originals, Bela Bajaria joining the company in late 2016. Berlanti recounted his experience of pitching the show to Netflix in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, stating that You "felt like more of a binge show". He further added that his team "tried initially to sell it to Netflix at the very beginning and [Netflix's chief content officer] Ted Sarandos has said as much that they wish they'd gotten it the first time".
In January 2017, it was announced that the series had been purchased by Lifetime and put into fast-track development. In April 2017, Lifetime gave You a 10-episode straight-to-series order. On July 26, 2018, ahead of the series premiere, Lifetime announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.