Warning: Contains spoilers for You Part 1
Hey, you. Joe’s back and he’s fallen in love again. And no, the serial killer softboy will not be running into the Emily in Paris protagonist anytime soon. With a new name and a new job, “Professor Jonathan Moore” (More like “Moore-derer,” right?) is going to “eat, prey, love” in London.
Joe has set his sights on a new target: Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie), a refreshingly forthright art gallery manager who speaks straight facts. Unfortunately, his courtship is continually interrupted by the “Eat The Rich” serial killer who’s been taking out Kate’s inner circle of smarmy socialites one by one. To learn more about this situationship and Joe’s love life, we spoke to Penn Badgley, who plays Joe Goldberg/Jonathan Moore, in an exclusive interview.
It’s giving classic Enemies-to-Friends-to-Lovers vibes
Kate initially iced out “Jonathan” and found him extra sus when her trash boyfriend Professor Malcolm Harding (Stephen Hagan) went missing after hanging out with Joe. Meanwhile, Joe was still in his feelings and wanted to avoid any more romantic entanglements that almost always resulted in a bloodbath. They eventually warm up to each other thanks to Joe’s uncanny ability to create circumstances that fall in his favor.
Penn: “I think they discover that they have the potential for a friendship. In a really odd way, it’s a more pure relationship than he’s [ever] had [in the past]. Obviously, there [are] a lot of clarifications to be made. [So,] it’s not that pure.”
Yup, clarifications such as waking up after a major bender only to be greeted by Professor Malcolm’s corpse and proceeding to get rid of it to avoid any accusations thrown his way. Plus, that whole stalking and stabby-stabby deal he’s been up to since the first season.
Joe is not a shipper; he’s a terrifyingly effective (relation)ship builder
Sure, Joe swore off love entirely (including his late wife Love) but he can’t ignore the romantic yearnings for too long. Once he chose Kate as the new object of his intense and overwhelming affection, the guy goes off on a relentless chase. Since he’s an excellent observer (read: stalker), “Professor Moore” manages to melt her so-called icy exterior through exposing certain vulnerabilities.
Penn: “In some ways, they do want the same things. And in some ways, he is more honest with her. You know, it’s a pretty troubling notion when you think that Joe’s being honest with a woman.”
Will the fourth season finally be Joe’s redemption era?
The first half of this season has Joe utilizing his super stalking skills by going full Sherlock mode on the “Eat The Rich” killer in order to save Kate and her friends and clear his name. (When Joe’s got his creeper cap on, you just know “the game is afoot!”)
Penn: “As much as Joe can [experience] change [and] a different kind of relationship while he’s still stuck on all the same patterns, which of course, he’s trying to break out of [this season].”
In the third season, Joe tried to be good but struggled to escape his own suburban nightmare and that didn’t end well! (Definitely an understatement) We barely started the fourth season and he’s already been caught spying on his neighbor. How long can he keep up the “nice guy” act around Kate and her posh friends?
The Joe x Kate relationship is a slow burn story
The pair may have already hooked up but they have yet to pursue a committed relationship. Joe and Kate keep pushing each other away from going any further, stretching out the tension. By the end of part one, Joe even rejects Kate’s confession.
Penn: “I think he’s having, in some ways, a lighter—hmmm, ‘lighter’ is not the word. (Laughs) Yeah, just a more pure friendship. There’s a friendship at the heart of the relationship that isn’t so lustful like all the others.”
Has Joe really learned from his previous relationships?
Joe might be craving for character development this time but he’s still stuck feeling his fantasy. Whenever Joe finds a new obsession, we hear the all-too-familiar creepy baritone voiceover narrating a long-winded, overly detailed description of his inner desires. Cue his inevitable hoarding of his crush’s personal belongings.
His sappy sentiment towards Candace (Ambyr Childers), Beck (Elizabeth Lail), Love (Victoria Pedretti), and Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) is only in service of his own expectations as each love interest is crushed under the weight of his romantic ideals.
And of course, he murders people so it might be difficult to move past that fatal flaw.
Are we ever going to see Marienne again?
Marienne is the only survivor who’s well-aware of Joe’s clownery and she has all the receipts. (Our girl knows the return policy!) However, at this point, all she wants to do is stay far away from Joe and take care of her daughter Juliette (Dallas Skye). The important thing is that she’s alive and well…right?
Did we unlock a new bromance option?
Aside from Kate, Joe also got close with memoir author and political aspirant Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers). Unlike Kate’s other friends who are supported by generational wealth, Rhys came from a more modest background and worked hard to achieve his success. But it was too good to be true because it turns out—spoiler alert—he’s the “Eat The Rich” killer. Guess Rhys has got more in common with Joe than we initially thought!
Will Joe and Kate get back together? Can Rhys be stopped or will Joe team up with him? Who’s next on the hit list?
We’ll have to stay tuned for part two, which is coming out on March 9.
In the meantime, you can watch the first part of You’s fourth season on Netflix.
