Lifetime has released the first trailer for its upcoming series YOU starring Gossip Girl vet Penn Badgley. Be warned; he is playing a very, very, very creepy character. The new series is still a ways off, but this first look should hold you over a little until it premieres later this year. Check it out!
YOU chronicles the budding romance between Joseph (Penn Badgley), a bookstore manager, and aspiring writer (Elizabeth Lail), which takes a dark and obsessive turn. As the relationship continues, things take an even darker twist as Joseph turns to social media as a means of gathering intimate details about the object of his affections. If you thought Dan Humphrey was creepy, Badgley's YOU character takes it to new heights. Unlike Gossip Girl, YOU will not waste any time revealing the depth of its character's depravity.
Based on the trailer alone, YOU should have you obsessed with it pretty quickly. The show looks like The Girl on the Train's cinematography blended with the story from the podcast, Dirty John. YOU may be to social media what Sandra Bullock's The Net was to computers. While there have been cautionary tales about most every subject, social media has arguably yet to really receive the "you've been warned" treatment.
The series marks Penn Badgley's first TV role since Gossip Girl ended in 2012. It also marks actress Shay Mitchell's return to television following Pretty Little Liars, which ended in 2017. Mitchell played the role of Emily Fields on the long-running Freeform mystery drama. In YOU, Mitchell stars as the protective friend of the lead protagonist who wants to leave the friend zone.
If lead actress Elizabeth Lail seems familiar as well, there is a good reason. You may recognize Lail from her performance as Anna in Once Upon a Time's Frozen storyline, as well as the short-lived Freeform series Dead of Summer. As for John Stamos, do not get too excited about his prospects on the series. So far, the actor is only slated to make an "appearance" on the show.
The downside of social media as will be explored in YOU is territory that Gossip Girl never fully addressed. Another thing Gossip Girl never really did was play to Penn Badgley's strengths as an actor, something YOU seems prepared to do. Up until the end, Dan Humphrey was always presented as a near-saint, despite many bad decisions. This approach restricted the ability for the role to grow and denied Badgley a chance to show off his range with it. YOU appears primed to capitalize on Badgley's skills to do just that, as Joseph shows one face to his girlfriend and another behind closed doors.
With a captivating trailer that plays over a slow cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me," YOU may already have you hooked. When does fall get here? YOU premieres on Lifetime, September 9 at 10 p.m. ET. To keep up with other shows coming up in the not-so-distant future check out our guide to TV's midseason and summer premieres.
