TV

Penn Badgley Is Basically Playing a Creepier Version of Dan Humphrey in His New Show

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If I had to pick three of pop culture's most bone-chilling moments, they would be: (1) When we find out the call is coming from inside the house in When a Stranger Calls; (2) when the shark makes its first appearance in Jaws; and (3) this GIF of Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) cackling at his computer after revealing he's Gossip Girl.

Yes, I said it: Dan Humphrey is downright creepy. For five years, he skulked around New York City's Upper East Side, writing petty, grossly invasive blog posts about teenagers—including his own sister—all because Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) didn't notice him. He regularly put minors on blast just so Nate Archibald would stop smoking weed and hang. When you really think about it, Dan Humphrey is scarier than Michael Myers. In fact, he might be Michael Myers.

And he's turning into a catfishing killer for a new, 10-episode Lifetime show called You. Well, not Dan Humphrey exactly, but Badgley's character is essentially a creepier version of Lonely Boy. He plays Joe Goldberg, a smart-but-socially awkward bookstore owner who tries to woo his crush (a writer named Beck) by cyberstalking her. In true Dan Humphrey fashion, Joe scours the Internet for details about Beck in order to establish a connection. But interest quickly turns into obsession, and, according to Entertainment Weekly, Joe starts removing "every obstacle—and person" who stands in the way of himself and Beck. In other words, he probably murders people.

From this description alone, You sounds like a Gossip Girl alternative universe where Dan is a genuine weirdo with a thirst for human blood. He's a vampire with a laptop. The Babadook in a bookstore. The TV version of the deeply under-read Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer. (Yes, there's a GG spin-off series called Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer, which turns Serena into an IRL serial killer, and no one read it. Read it!)

We're very on board with this concept—especially if Lifetime goes over the top with it. C'mon, Dan Humphrey stocking bookshelves by day and killing people by night? That has camp (and ratings) written all over it.

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