You has too much soap and not enough suspense, but TEotFW might get a little deeper under your skin than you’re comfortable with.

You is the miniseries adaptation of Caroline Kepnes psycho stalker boyfriend bestseller. I’d read the book and not been terribly impressed, but the series stars the (sexy but much-too-skinny-here) Penn Badgley and features one of my favorite actors, Lou Taylor Pucci, miscast here as a standard millennial fuckboy.

You isn’t very good, but it’s certainly watchable, especially if you want to watch something while you knit or play solitaire or bake cookies. It’s classic glossy basic cable soap, with the bonus of added murders and a limited time commitment – although even 10 episodes stretch the plot a bit thin.

You suffers dramatically, though, because it really wants you to think its psycho, Joe, is dreamy. A murderer, but dreamy. The problem is, you don’t like him although you know you shouldn’t, you’re constantly being encouraged to like him. Of course the actor is, himself, dreamy and spends a lot of time staring longingly and flashing his impossible smile, but the show also backs him up with a sympathetic backstory and an (effective) relationship with an at-risk neighbor kid.

The sweet surprise is that things end really badly anyways.

The End of the Fucking World (which is a comic book adaptation) also deals with questions of identity vs perception, but has the opposite problem. When its psycho starts planning to murder the object of his (possible) affections, the show is actually difficult to watch. I was creeped by him, worried about her, and OMG I CAN’T.

But I did, and I was – eventually – very glad. The acting is terrific, the twists are frequent and satisfying, and Jessica Barden is stunning. I won’t say much more so as not to spoil anything, but it’s a treat for an adventurous viewer.