TAKE A ‘YOU’ TURN

Lifetime drama covers familiar terrain — with a few wrinkles

G REG Berlanti’s new series, “You,” checks off many of the stalker-drama tropes.

But hey, it airs on Lifetime — which is only giving its loyal viewers what they want — cheese and a bit of whine with a melodramatic twist.

It’s all here, and then some, in “You,” a 10-episode series based on Caroline Kepnes’ bestselling novel. It’s one of Berlanti’s record 14 (!) shows currently on the air, so it’s getting a big promotional push; each of its episodes will also stream on Netflix the day after their Lifetime premiere.

Penn Badgley, bestknown as Dan Humphrey from “Gossip Girl,” takes the lead role as creepy Joe Goldberg, who manages Mooney’s, an independent (read: nearly extinct) Manhattan bookstore that also houses a soundproof, air-conditioned glass vault in its basement (for the late Mr. Mooney’s valuable book collection — it factors into the plot).

Joe, who seems like a nice enough guy, becomes smitten with (OK, psychotically attached to) Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), an NYU grad student studying poetry. “Beck,” as everyone calls her, has the bad luck to wander into Mooney’s and into Joe’s evil clutches. Their eyes meet, they strike up a flirtatious conversation and, within minutes, Joe, wearing the requisite stalker baseball cap, is tracking his new love both physically and via her big social media footprint. (Note to millennials: “You” is a cautionary tale about the perils of oversharing. Pay attention.)

We learn that Beck has an obnoxious trust-fund boyfriend, Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci), who cares more for his drugs than he does her — although they engage in carnal relations directly in front of the huge unadorned glass windows in Beck’s street-level apartment (as one does) while Joe watches. Beck, disgusted with big-city life and her horny professor-boss, gets drunk and falls onto the subway tracks in Brooklyn — where she’s rescued by Joe, who magically materializes to save his damsel in distress. From that point on, “You” begins its descent into the dark corners of Joe’s mind.

The narrative bulk of the series is relayed through Joe’s internal monologues (another stalker trope) but I will says this: the series, while at turns cheesy and predictable, is also watchable. Badgley plays Joe in the vein of Ted Bundy — handsome and charming, with a veneer of humil- ity masking his inner demons — while Beck isn’t as clueless and vulnerable as she first appears. She sees through the social media phoniness of her shallow girlfriends (and, eventually, Benji) and, just when you think she’s heading down Lifetime’s standard “woman in jeopardy” road, she zags the other way. It’s refreshing.

“You” won’t win any Emmys, but it will be interesting to see how the story evolves over the course of this season. It’s already been renewed for a second season ahead of Sunday’s series premiere, so Lifetime has obvious faith in the project.

I’m not so sure that faith will be rewarded with strong ratings — but it will be a colorful journey nonetheless.