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You (2018-present) is a psychological thriller that follows the deceitful, sociopathic Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), whose obsessions with romantic pursuits have disastrous and dark results. While season 1 starts with him as a bookstore owner, season 4 saw Goldberg escape his horrific past and assume the identity of "Jonathan Moore", an English professor at a University in London.
But things immediately spiral when an "Eat the Rich" killer surfaces among London's elite. While Moore/Goldberg gets involved in solving the mystery, his own past rapidly catches up with him. Here are 10 things to remember from season 4 before the Netflix premiere of You season 5 on April 24th, 2025!
What happens in You season 4? Here's a quick recap of pivotal moments
1) Joe Goldberg isn't Joe Goldberg anymore
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After murdering his wife, Love, abandoning his son Henry with the neighbors, and faking his own death by cutting off a toe, Joe is ready for a new life and a new persona. In season 4 of You, he re-emerges in London with a brand new identity: Jonathan Moore, a mysterious English professor at Darcy College. This gives Joe Goldberg the license to be whoever he wants to be. He immediately befriends the most elite group in the city and gets entangled in their world.
2) Joe Goldberg has a new love interest
Both trouble and love seem to follow Joe, who meets Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), his colleague Malcolm's girlfriend. After Malcolm is found murdered in an intoxicated Joe's house, he disposes of the body, thinking he committed it. With Kate's boyfriend out of the picture, he develops feelings for her. However, unlike all of his past love interests (or should it be victims?) Kate has a cunning streak, which powers most of You season 4. She isn't to be underestimated, as the daughter of a rich and powerful politician with secrets of her own.
3) The big reveal about Rhys Montrose
Joe becomes obsessed with finding the "Eat the Rich" killer, who is murdering elites one by one. He zeroes in on Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers), the man running for Mayor of London against Kate's dad. After meeting Rhys, who tries to kill him and Roald, Joe confirms his suspicion. His obsession grows.
When Goldberg arrives at Rhys' house, he does not recognize him. Joe tortures him to give up his identity and kills him. In the biggest twist of You season 4, fans realize that Joe had hallucinated Rhys's involvement in the murders, and it was, in fact, himself murdering everyone in a deeply dissociative state, creating an illusion of Rhys's involvement to fill in the gaps.
Joe's hatred and disdain for the elite, along with his disturbed mental state, made him create an alternate reality where he continues to be the good person, and Rhys depicts his darkness.
4) Nadia is caught in the crosshairs
Joe/Jonathan's student Nadia (Amy Leigh Hickman) becomes suspicious after catching him in the same room as Dawn, the person who gets framed for the murders. Her snooping and investigation lead her to the professor's apartment, where she discovers a key leading to the basement, where Marienne is trapped in a cage.
Vowing to help Marienne escape, Nadia turns to her boyfriend, Edward (Eddie), who gives her ketamine to help. Realizing Nadia knows too much, Joe murders Eddie in cold blood in his apartment, lures Nadia, and frames her for the crime. Nadia is seen in prison, paying dearly for getting involved in Joe's schemes.
5) Marienne faked her death
For two whole seasons, Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) struggled with Joe's manic obsession. Joe's dissociation goes as far as to forget ever kidnapping Marienne and trapping her in a cage. So, she is found starving in his basement and uses Nadia's ketamine to escape.
Joe thinks the pills killed Marienne and stages her death as a drug overdose in the park. However, Marienne took beta blockers that lowered her blood pressure and was revived by an antidote. She escapes Joe's clutches and goes back to Paris. Will Joe realize and come back for her in season 5?
6) Joe kills Lockwood
Kate's father, Tom Lockwood, tries to use Joe's disposition to remove his competition, Rhys. However, when Joe learns of Lockwood's deep-seated control over Kate's life, he ends up murdering him in cold blood as a passionate act of love towards Kate. With Lockwood out of the way, Kate inherits his riches, ready for a power grab of her own. This significantly changes Joe and Kate's relationship dynamics. They both have the power to change the other's life, setting up for an interesting season 5.
7) Joe tries to kill himself
Joe gets visions of Love, Beck, and Gemma, and is further taunted by his doings as his alter-ego, Rhys. After murdering Lockwood, an out-of-control Joe throws himself and his alter-ego, Rhys, off a bridge, trying to drown his inner Rhys and cleansing himself of evil. However, he is saved and admitted to the hospital.
You season 4 saw Joe entering the darker depths of his obsessive nature. After his suicide attempt, he realizes that he cannot escape his true nature and fully steps into his shadow self.
8) Joe moves back to New York as Joe Goldberg
Jonathon Moore is no longer! After Kate inherits her father's assets, she uses her money to cunningly scheme a PR campaign that makes Joe the victim in his relationship with Love. Cleared of all his crimes, he returns to New York as Kate's romantic partner, and they seemingly become one of New York's power couples.
With season 5 being the finale for Joe Goldberg, life comes full circle for the character, who sheds his alternate identities and fully embraces his true self. What is he capable of, now that he can push the boundaries of reality with the influence of money?
9) Phoebe relocates to Thailand
Phoebe and Adam's relationship was an integral sub-plot in season 4. Their toxic relationship, combined with her mental health deterioration from being held captive by Dawn, sends her into psychiatric care. As one of the show's solitary bright spots, Phoebe manages to end her relationship with Adam, get better, and relocate to Thailand, where she teaches children.
10) Joe's mental stability is questionable at best
Even as Joe attempts to move on from the events of his past, evil lurks beneath the surface. His dissociation and hallucinations do not disappear overnight, so he might be capable of anything in season 5. Kate's involvement might have given him a clean slate from his past crimes, but what could he do in the future?
At the end of season 4, Joe sees Rhys' reflection in the window, indicating that his struggles to separate himself from his bad parts ended unsuccessfully. Joe is made up of all parts of him, including the dissociative version he created. This further showcases that Joe has fully embraced himself as the bad guy, after three seasons of justifying his acts as coming from a place of goodness.
You season 5 promises to be a fitting and shocking end to Joe Goldberg's story. Stay tuned for more updates!
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