“You,” the thriller series centered around a stalker, turns into a whodunit murder mystery in season 4. Joe Goldberg is back in action after killing multiple people, including his wife, Love. While Love seemed perfect at the beginning, she gradually revealed herself to be another psycho-obsessive lover just like Joe. In the “You” world, there can be only one Joe simply because covering another psycho killer’s trail was a little too overwhelming for him. As a lover, Joe is easily distracted, and once he starts losing interest in Love, he eventually gets fixated on Marienne Bellamy. After killing his wife, Love and orchestrating his fake death, Joe escaped to Paris to find Marienne. Since she was born in Paris, Joe was confident that he would find her there. Knowing that love had poisoned her mind about him, he wanted to clear the air between them. Season 4 of “You” introduces Joe as Professor Moore. He now lives in London and is trying to start his life over. But how did he land there? And what happened in Paris? Did he kill Marienne and escape to London? Well, let’s find out.
Spoilers Ahead
‘You’ Season 4, Part 1: Plot Summary – What Is The Fourth Season About?
Joe Goldberg is now Jonathan Moore; he describes his stay in London as the perfect English vacation, and he intends to quit obsessing over people he finds attractive. While he tries to stay out of trouble, he keeps looking out his window at the next apartment, where his colleague, Malcolm, and his partner, Kate, are staying. Malcolm was born into a wealthy family, and he chose to pursue academics to earn more respect and credibility. Contrary to Malcolm, who spent most of his time partying, Kate was a gallery manager and a complete workaholic. Kate intrigued Joe, but he consciously tried to stay away from her, knowing how easily obsessive he could get.
Through a few flashbacks, we get to know that Joe eventually found Marienne in Paris. She ran for her life the moment she noticed him. Joe followed her and requested that she listen to his side of the story. He could see the fear in her eyes as she held a knife to protect herself. She begged him to allow her to return to her daughter. Joe suddenly felt the need to prove to Marienne that he was not the man she assumed him to be. He allowed her to leave, and he promised to prove her wrong. After letting Marienne go, a guy named Elliot Tennenburg introduced himself to Joe. He was aware of who Joe was and all the trouble he had caused. He was sent by Ray Quinn, Joe’s father-in-law, to kill Joe. But Elliot did not intend to execute the plan; he was tired of the life he had lived so far and did not wish to murder another person. He instead offered Joe the opportunity to start over with a new identity. But before going with his plan, he asked Joe to murder Marienne since she was the only person who knew that he was alive. But Joe decided to spare her life; he wanted to stick to his promise of proving to her that he was not the man she assumed him to be. Joe stole her necklace to falsely prove to Elliot that he had dealt with her. Elliot provided him with a new identity; he was now Jonathan Moore, a Columbia University alumnus with a great credit score and a work visa. That was how Joe landed in London and started his life anew.
While Joe wanted to stay away from trouble, he could not stop himself from helping Kate when she was mugged by a group of men right in front of his eyes. He requested that she keep him out of the police inquiry due to trouble with his work visa. Joe’s only responsibility was to stay out of trouble, but as usual, he got involved in a case where the police could easily get to him. Kate later disclosed that she did not mention him to the police. To thank him for helping Kate, Malcolm requested that he join them at a party. The party in Soho was a gathering of the elite and influential in London, and unknowingly, Joe had stepped into more trouble and drama.
Who Were Malcolm’s Friends? What Caused Trouble in Joe’s Life?
At the party, Malcolm introduced Joe to the British aristocrats. He met the socialite Lady Phoebe, the owner of the club Adam Pratt; Roald Walker-Burton, another aristocrat, the son of a Chinese tech tycoon and an emerging artist Simon, the socialite Gemma, Blessing the Nigerian Princess; and Connie, the sportsman, and gambler. Joe resented pretty much everyone he met at the party. Money was what connected them, though they were detached on an emotional level. The only person Joe connected with was writer Rhys Montrose. Joe’s student had recently recommended Rhys’s autobiography. He was born poor and was brought up by an unstable mother, but later he figured out that he was the son of a duke. He took control of his life from then on and got a degree from Oxford, and wrote a memoir. Joe was impressed after reading his book, and the man was not disappointing in person either. He ridiculed the people gathered at the party. He could never relate to them because he had been on the other side. Their disregard for the world outside bothered him, and Joe could not have agreed more with that. The night was a blur after sharing a meaningful conversation with Rhys. He had too many rounds of Absinthe and completely lost control of himself. When he woke up in the morning, he realized that Malcolm had safely brought him home and that he was covered in an unfamiliar scarf.
When he walked to the living room, he noticed Malcolm’s body and a knife piercing deep into his chest. He was convinced that he had killed him after getting high because Malcolm had made fun of Marienne at the party. He noticed that one of his fingers was missing. He wondered what made him think of chopping that finger, but he failed to remember anything from the night. He carried the body out of his apartment and drove it to a sawmill, where he chopped the body into pieces and drowned them in the river. He cursed himself for not changing his ways. He wanted to prove that he was not a bad person during his stay in London, but here he was, getting rid of another body. He went to the club to return the scarf to Adam, and that was when he came across Rhys again. He confessed that he wanted a new beginning just like Rhys did when he joined Oxford, but somehow he failed at it. Rhys made him believe that a fresh start does not happen all at once; it took him several attempts to reach there. Rhys concluded that since Joe was a damaged individual, he was capable of doing real damage to others. Joe did not have much to protest about. Rhys made him believe in the power of redemption, and somehow that was the only glimmer of hope in Joe’s life.
While Joe wanted to believe that he had it all under control and could finally begin afresh, he received a message on the Evanesce app. The app provided high-security chat, where the messages disappeared as soon as one read them. The messenger knew what Joe had done with Malcolm’s body and was surprised by how he handled the entire situation. The messenger intended to pin his sins on Joe by placing Malcolm’s body at his apartment. Through the text messages, Joe realized that he had not killed Malcolm but rather been used to frame the murder. Since he was new to the aristocratic circle, someone among them believed him to be the perfect target to take the blame.
Why Was Simon Killed?
Joe could not trust anyone after receiving the message from the stranger. He doubted everyone that he had recently been in contact with. He believed Kate was innocent because she seemed truly worried about Malcolm’s whereabouts and left him a message on a regular basis. Joe got a hint of the mystery behind the death when he came across a notepad in Malcolm’s office. It had the details of all the horses he gambled on; Connie mentioned how Malcolm owed him money, and Joe assumed that maybe Malcolm had gambled all his family wealth and was in a terrible financial mess. He also mentioned Louis the Sun King with a Dagger, Thursday at 3 p.m. at Stocks, and Blue Polish Hostel Isis in his note. Joe followed the notepad guide and joined the dots. Adam was referred to as Louis the Sun King because of a role he once played, and the man who fulfilled his sexual fantasies secretly had a dagger tattoo on his arm. Joe wondered whether Malcolm was killed because he knew such secrets.
At Simon’s art exhibition, Joe concluded that Adam was not the killer because he advised Joe to stay away from Malcolm since he was not worthy of trust. He clearly did not know what happened to Malcolm and wanted to genuinely protect Joe from him. A woman suddenly came to the exhibition and splashed paint on one of Simon’s paintings, accusing him of being a fake. She was thrown out of the exhibition, and Simon made it seem as if it was part of his art. Joe and Kate followed her and asked why she threw the paint. She explained that she was the one who painted the canvases that Simon took credit for. He had other assistants who did his work, but they were so hooked on the drugs he provided that they were not in the right mind to protest. She painted her grandmother’s cat, Isis, and stated that her name was Blue. Joe remembered the information he had read in Malcolm’s notebook, and once again, it proved that Malcolm knew about Simon’s dark secret as well. Malcolm wanted to expose Simon, but he was killed before he could do so. Joe was confident that Simon was the killer, but that very night, Simon was murdered. Just like Malcolm’s finger was chopped off, Simon lost one of his ears. The friends gathered to mourn Simon’s death, but they were clearly unaffected by the event. Rhys believed that Simon died because of his sins; had he come clean and attempted to redeem himself, maybe he could have had another chance at life. He seemed to be affected by Simon’s death, and Joe could relate to his emotions.
‘You’ Season 4, Part 1: Ending Explained: Who Had Murdered Malcolm And Simon?
After two consecutive murders and the growing fear of becoming the next target of the “Eat the Rich” murderer, the group decided to hide away at Lady Phoebe’s country castle. The murderer was not yet known, but the group believed that if they stayed together, they might have a chance at fighting off the murderer. When Joe learned that Roald was the one who planned the gathering, he got suspicious of him. The messenger had shown interest in meeting Joe once he admitted to feeling a sense of exhilaration after committing murder. By now, the messenger had figured out that Joe was not Jonathan and that he was a murderer. The messenger wanted Joe to admit that they were quite alike, and Joe knew that he would only gain the stranger’s trust if he showed his vulnerability. Joe assumed that Roald was the messenger because of his interest in suddenly getting everyone together. But after meeting him, he realized that maybe his assumption was wrong. While Roald might not have been the messenger, he surely had a creepy side. He was obsessed with Kate and had taken pictures of her without her consent. Joe wondered if he killed Malcolm and Simon out of his love for Kate. While he tried to gather more evidence against Roald in his room, Roald attacked from behind, and Joe ended up falling to the ground from the window of the room. He got back to his senses, and limped his way to his room, where he found Kate seated next to Gemma’s body.
Gemma had been a brutal bully of anyone below her social status, and somehow her death seemed justified. When Joe noticed the knife Kate held in her hand, he was confident that she was behind all the murders and that she wanted to manipulate him just like Love did. But Kate consistently denied the murder allegation and stated that she found the body when she entered the room. She was not capable of committing murder, and she begged Joe to trust her. Joe figured out a way to get rid of the body since they both would be blamed for Gemma’s murder. While Joe took care of hiding Gemma’s body, he confessed to Kate about getting rid of Malcolm’s body. He believed that the murderer wanted to frame Kate for Gemma’s death just like he was framed for Malcolm’s death. He discussed the messenger and how he was being blackmailed for his tainted past. He narrated an emotional story about how he was married to a rich and influential woman who did terrible things, and he chose to put up with her out of love and loyalty. But he reached a point where he thought he had enough and decided to run away, leaving his son back home. Kate was moved when he explained that he had been spending time with her and her friends because he wanted to protect them from the stranger.
Phoebe found out about Gemma’s death when she noticed blood in Kate’s room. Kate explained what had happened, and she wanted Phoebe to maintain secrecy, knowing that the others in the group might not believe them. Phoebe agreed with Kate and asked her to seek her father’s help, who had already sent bodyguards to protect her. Kate was not fond of her father since he was involved in unethical business, but he did his best to win her affection. While Kate often despised her aristocratic friends’ obnoxious behavior, she couldn’t deny that he belonged to the same class. Meanwhile, Roald found Joe with Gemma’s body and was convinced that he was the “Eat the Rich” killer. He tried to convince all his friends by stating that after Joe started hanging out with them, everything fell apart. He wanted to murder Joe, and his friends agreed with his decision. Even though Joe tried to explain himself multiple times, they did not care to listen to him. Joe attacked Adam, and he ran for his life into the woods. Roald followed him with his gun and threatened to end his life.
While Joe managed to attack Roald and knock him out of his senses, Rhys suddenly appeared. He knocked Joe down with the butt of the rifle. Joe realized that he was chained to the wall when he woke up, and so was Roald. Rhys was, in fact, the murderer all along. He came to the woods to help Joe when he realized his life was in danger. He asked Joe to take care of Roald so that they could pin the blame for all the previous murders on him. Rhys had studied all of Joe’s murders and was inspired by how he always managed to get away by blaming the murders on someone who had already died. He was confident that no one would doubt if Roald was declared the killer since he was a neo fascist with a knife collection and a strange obsession with Kate. Joe pretended to be on Rhys’s side to gain his trust. He intended to find a way to escape the dungeon and save Roald’s life. But Rhys got a whiff of his plan when he saw him attempting to escape. He went with Plan A, which was to burn the place down. With fire burning all around, Joe panicked and managed to free himself from the shackles. He helped Roald as well, and they screamed for help. Kate appeared and helped the two escape as the entire property caught on fire.
The news channel covered Gemma’s death, though the identity of the “Eat the Rich” killer remains unknown to the public. We get to know that the group apologized to Joe after they realized that he was not the murderer. Joe waited for Rhys to contact him since he had mentioned before leaving that if Joe managed to stay alive after he burned down the place, then he would revisit their situation with him in London. But Rhys did not contact him after the incident. Joe saw him on television declaring his candidacy for the position of mayor. It was impossible for a common person to understand what Rhys was capable of. His past helped him connect with the masses, and his family ties allowed him to mingle with the aristocrats. Rhys chose to kill those who lived filthy lives and had no hope of redemption. They were so arrogant about their wealth that they did not care about the damage they caused to others. Malcolm, Simon, and Gemma were all rich brats who he believed deserved to be punished.
Meanwhile, Kate asks Joe out on a date, but he refuses to join her. He knew what he was capable of, and he did not wish to go there again. He wanted to become a changed man, and while his expectations did not match his reality, he did not wish to ruin what little he had under control.
In Season 4, Part 1 of “You,” Joe seems to be aiming for redemption. He had always believed that he killed people for love, and that was his excuse to get away from the guilt of taking lives. But after Marienne, he felt the immediate need to prove her wrong. He did not wish to become the man Marienne feared. Of course, he will kill anyone who dares take his life. He did detest the aristocrats he met, but he did not have a solid reason to murder them. It was especially not easy for him when he realized that there was someone equally problematic and manipulative as he was. He knew that helping Rhys once meant that he would be blackmailed into doing whatever Rhys wanted him to do all his life. He chose to help Roald instead, and he proved his innocence to the group. Logic was never the strongest suit of the “You” series, and this time it is no different. The moment you start watching “You,” you simply have to accept that Joe is one lucky person who, no matter what he does, will never get caught. He can become a professor at a university, meet a slew of influential people, and, to top it all off, he can get away with multiple murders like it’s no big deal. It was not surprising when Joe learned that Rhys was the killer since he had the most obvious and perfect motive. What is not yet clear is whether Malcolm was killed for being another brat or because he was getting too close to the secrets and showed interest in blackmailing people for his advantage. What will be Rhys’s next move? Will he target others in the group? Will Joe stick to redemption, or will he turn into the psycho killer that he is?
