The wildly popular and entertaining thriller, You, returned this week on Netflix with a new location, a new story, and new twist that has murderous psychopath, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), on the other side of another villain's murderous rampage. Season 4 picks up right where Season 3 ended off. Joe murdered his wife, Love (Victoria Pedretti), and faked his own death by cutting off his toes and burning their Madre Linda house to the ground. After leaving his son, Henry, with another family, Joe headed to Paris intent on finding his obsession du jour, Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), the librarian that he met and fell in love with during the season. The new season begins with Joe in London, England, after discovering that Marienne had left Paris and gone to London for an art show. A series of flashbacks reveal that Joe and Marienne had a heated exchange in a stairwell after she tried to run from him. He attempted to convince her that he wasn’t the man she thought she was and to prove it, he let her get away. So is Marienne out of Joe’s life for good?
Every season thus far has been set in a different location, with a cast of characters uniquely designed to be the epitome of what Joe Goldberg hates. The writers have done such an excellent job of manufacturing their characters to be so despicable, forcing viewers to dislike them so much that they end up empathizing with Joe, despite how sadistic he is. Season 1 focused on the literary niche of New York, season 2 showcased the granola hipsters of Los Angeles, and season 3 centred around the busy-body momfluencers of California suburbia. Season 4 takes us to London, England, where Joe has transformed into Jonathan Moore, an identity given to him by his dead wife’s family hit man, who has decided to change his ways and allows Joe to go free with a new persona that he has created for him. Jonathan is a professor of literature at Oxford University, and has learned enough about the tricks of being a professor, that he is able to pull it off and captivate his insightful group of students, including Nadia, the brightest and most charming of the bunch. The professor facade allows Joe to live an unassuming life, away from the spotlight and away from meeting anyone that he could possibly fall in love with.
Much like the previous seasons, season 4 introduces us to an entire new cast of characters, a group of British Elite who are filthy rich and heartless, with inherited wealth, never having worked a day in their lives. Once again, the writers have created characters so utterly reprehensible, that viewers almost root for them to be killed off. The most likeable character of the bunch is Lady Phoebe, portrayed by Tilly Keeper. She is charming and sweet, not heartless and cruel like the others. Phoebe is slow-witted and misunderstood so viewers can’t help but excuse her behaviour as plain ignorance. Charlotte Ritchie’s Kate, quickly becomes Joe’s new love interest, as much as he tries not to fall for her. She is different from Joe’s previous love interests. Kate is guarded and cold, shrewd and abrupt but her emotional backstory is captivating enough to make her likable. The other members of the group are just plain awful, complete with brooding artist Simon (Aidan Cheng), his cold-hearted influencer sister, Sophie (Niccy Lin), and American Adam (Lukas Gage), who is a playboy hiding both a gambling and substance addiction.
Joe wants nothing more than to remain far away from this group of snobs that have been introduced to him by his colleague, annoying and self-absorbed Malcolm (Stephen Hagan). That is until a night of Absinthe and Cocaine, ends with Joe waking up to find Malcolm dead on his kitchen table with a knife stuck in his chest. Immediately, Joe thinks he is behind the murder and does what Joe does best, disposes of his body in the most grotesque way. We soon find out that Joe isn’t the one who murdered Malcolm, as he becomes the target of a stalker who is not only a murderous psychopath himself, but knows all about Joe’s past and uses it against him in a cat and mouse game of murder or be murdered. The season quickly becomes a British murder mystery, with members of the elitist cast of characters being murdered one by one at the hands of a serial killer and the stalker becomes Joe’s new, “you.” In order for the thriller to continue enjoying success, something had to change and having Joe become the target of someone who is just as heinous as he is, breathes new life into the series. It also demonstrates just how delusional Joe Goldberg is as he judges the stalker, dubbed as the ‘Eat the Rich killer,’ for his behaviour, citing it as “despicable” and viewing himself as being morally superior. The distorted image that Joe has for himself is on full display as he blames all of his actions on the stalker, claiming that if it wasn’t for ‘you,’ he would still be living his idyllic European holiday.
Thanks to the “Eat the Rich killer”, Joe has no choice but to become entwined in the social circle of the British elite, so that he can figure out who the killer is and stop him from revealing his true identity. It also leads Joe to follow Kate in an effort to protect her from the killer, leading to the two entering into a love affair of sorts. Although the plot isn’t solid and has some obvious holes, the beauty of the show is that it is so entertaining, it excuses the need for a solid plot. The trick is not to think too much and just enjoy the ride. Badgley’s compelling charm and charisma, hooks viewers in and as mentioned previously, almost forces them to empathize with him, even though he has performed such reprehensible acts. The writers also managed to keep viewers on the edge of their seats with different plot twists in every episode, leaving them wanting more.
With so many twists and turns, almost anyone could be the killer and when the group heads to Lady Phoebe’s country estate for a getaway, a shocking string of events leads to the killer being revealed, and it isn’t at all predictable. At first, Joe suspects Roald (Ben Wiggins), prized son of one of the most influential families in London who just happens to be overly obsessed with Kate. When Gemma (Eve Austin), by far the most pretentious of the group, turns up dead, Joe and Kate work together to dispose of her body. This leads Roald to accuse Joe of being the serial killer and he almost manages to shoot Joe, until Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers) intervenes. Rhys is the only member of the group that Joe actually likes. Unlike the others, Rhys has a working-class background, having faced hardships after being born into poverty. Joe and Rhys are almost kindred spirits, and there is something about him that intrigues Joe, specifically why Rhys continues to hang out with the “douchebags,’ as Joe calls them, despite being so obviously different. As Rhys saves Joe from a trigger-happy Roald, he admits to being the “Eat the Rich killer,” explaining to Joe that he is trying to rid the world of “spoiled, violent, little shits.” Rhys locks Roald and Joe in the secret bowels of Lady Phoebe’s family cottage, telling Joe that he can be set free if he kills Roald. As Joe struggles to figure out how to get out of this bind, Rhys sets the dungeon on fire and leaves. Just when viewers think that this is how part one will end, Joe manages to escape and sets Roald free as well, even though he would really rather have let him die. Kate saves them from the dungeon and the trio watch as the cottage envelops in flames. Part one ends with Joe watching Rhys on television, announcing he is running for mayor and Joe decides that he is the only one who can stop him.
With the killer’s identity revealed, viewers are left wondering what is left to be uncovered in part two. Will Rhys reveal who the real Jonathan Moore is? Or will Joe manage to stop him first? How will Joe cope with the fact that his only real friend has turned out to be his greatest enemy? Part one has managed to hook viewers in and now they will have to wait on the edge of their seats until March 9th, when part two drops. Until then, You fans, share your thoughts on part one below and engage with me on Twitter @MiddleofCanada.
