was getting a bit predictable. Handsome bookworm Joe Goldberg would stalk, then meet, the love of his life; he’d find another girl he liked more or he’d get jealous of another man; and the romance would end in a killing spree.’s novels began in 2018 and invited 40 million viewers into the mind of the narcissistic serial killer Joe. Murders aside, Joe was an intriguing, somehow likeable protagonist and the drama’s plots were so twisty they had to be seen to be believed.
It’s in this idyllic, Oxbridge-inspired world that he meets Kate , an art collector married to one of his colleagues. She introduces him to her social circle, a pack of rich kids, each of them despicable and unabashedly privileged. Needless to say, by the end of episode one someone ends up dead on Joe’s dining room table.flips its own script. This time around, Joe isn’t the bad guy. Or, at least, he’s not the baddest guy.
– by making him a soft-boy hunk with a sympathetic back story. Now, by turning Joe’s own game against him it’s forcing us to actively root for him. It often feels like a brand new show, though Joe’s violent streak always remains at the back of your mind. It’s all still only just on the right side of trashy, but even among the gore and blood , You manages to be glossy and meretricious, giving an American gleam to London’s streets. It’s supposed to be fun – and it is.
Ritchie is excellent as the cold, biting art dealer – the move away from British sitcoms suits her – while Joe’s uncharacteristic vulnerability gives Badgley’s sinister voice-over a new edge. Both elevate middling material to a level of maturity the story doesn’t always demand, turning what could be one of the most unwatchable series on TV to one of the most gripping.