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Netflix users left in hysterics over You’s ‘ridiculous’ understanding of London geography

Viewers are convinced show’s writers made a mistake

Jacob Stolworthy
Wednesday 15 February 2023 13:25 GMT
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You Season 4 trailer

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Netflix users are being left perplexed by You season four’s understanding of London.

The new season of the hit Netflix show was released earlier this month, bringing back Penn Badgley’s murderous Joe Goldberg to screens.

This time around, Joe is in London, with Badgley filming the series in the UK’s capital in 2021.

However, the show, which is an adaptation of the book series by Caroline Kepnes, immediately raised eyebrows for the way it shows Joe travelling around the city.

“Campus is across town from where I stay, but in a city like London, I don't mind the walk.” he says, leaving Royal Holloway, the university based in Egham, Surrey.

Joe is then shown walking past the Commercial Tavern in Shoreditch, before arriving at his destination in South Kensington, all the way over in West London.

Viewers used Google Maps to work out how long this walk would have taken Joe, realising it would take him between six and seven hours. For comparison, a taxi ride would have taken him 30 minutes.

Many questioned whether the show’s writers assumed Royal Holloway was in Holloway Road, which would have been a quicker two-hour walk.

Joe Goldberg’s casual walk in ‘You’ would have taken more than six hours
Joe Goldberg’s casual walk in ‘You’ would have taken more than six hours (Google Maps)

“This is really really really funny,” one viewer concluded as another wrote: “You made it seem like you can walk from Royal Holloway to Central London. Bestie, that campus is in Surrey.”

Another branded the show’s depiction of London “ridiculous”, with an additional commenter adding: “Hearing that the new season of You filmed on royal holloway campus and pretends it’s in central london. a brave and powerful attempt to deny the existence of Egham.”

Badgley recently shared his perspective on You fans having crushes on serial killers, saying that the blame for people finding Jeffrey Damer attractive is “on Netflix”.

You is available to stream on Netflix now. Find The Independent’s review of the series here.

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