Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Netflix
Joe Goldberg seems to be living the dream at the start of You Season 4. Now that he’s murdered his wife, faked his own death, and left his son with a friend (Season 3 was intense!), Penn Badgley’s charming stalker character has made his way to London and goes by the name “Jonathan Moore.” Sadly for him and happily for viewers, however, Joe’s past soon comes back to haunt him in the form of a blackmailing stalker. As a control freak, this might just be Joe’s biggest nightmare–which is what makes it so fun to watch.
Joe spends You Season 4 determined to be a different person—a decent person. You know, someone who does not kill or stalk his neighbors. Viewers will be relieved to know that his success in this area remains spotty at best; for one thing, his priorities change just a little after he wakes from a drugged haze to find a dead body in his apartment. The killer soon begins sending Joe untraceable messages (through an encrypted app they’ve somehow installed on his phone) that make clear they know who “Jonathan Moore” really is. Let the “whodunit” begin.
As much as Joe would like to start over, You Season 4 delights in making the saying, “You can’t outrun your past” excruciatingly literal. At the same time, this also might just be our most romantic (well, “romantic”) season of You yet.