"You" Season 4 Review: The Heart Wants What It Wants

Heavy Spoilers Ahead: Turn back now if you haven't seen season 4 of "You"

When we last left Joe at the end of season 3, he had killed Love (well she was trying to kill him too), faked his own death by chopping off his toes (ouch!), and dropped his baby son off at the neighbors. He was headed to Paris in pursuit of his latest obsession Marienne (he already killed her ex husband Ryan).

For some unbeknownst reason, season 4 is divided into two parts. Joe has settled down in London and posing as a college professor. Joe (currently going by the name Jonathan Moore) tries to fight his urges but we know he can't help himself. He ends up amoungst a group of rich socialites. They are almost as cut throat as he is. Joe's love interest this time around is wealthy Kate. I'm sure Charlotte Ritchie is a fine actress but I just don't see any chemistry between her and Penn. A serial killer dubbed the "Eat The Rich Killer" is lurching about. So part 1 is basically a "whodonit".

All hell breaks lose in part 2. The killer is revealed to be Rhys Montrose. But wait there's more. In the most shocking twist of the series, it turned out Rhys is not the killer. It is in fact Joe (through his alternate Rhys personality). We revisit previous scenes with the two and now see that Rhys never interacted with anyone but Joe.

We thought Joe let Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) escape during their last encounter. In reality, she has been locked in Joe's glass cage ever since. The deed was done by "Rhys" and Joe has no memory of the events. He struggles to figure out where she is before Marienne dies of starvation. On a side note, where does Joe get all these plexiglass boxes? It's not like he can travel around with them.

One of Joe's students (Nadia) discovers Marienne and tries to help her escape. Marienne insists that Nadia NOT go the police. She's very afraid Joe will do something to her daughter. He did follow Marianne half way around the globe so there's not much he wont do.

In the end Joe and the audience think he's killed his captive. But it's another trick. Nadia slipped Marienne drugs to make it appear her heart stopped. Joe leaves the body in the park. Nadia follows him and Marienne is saved. She is VERY lucky to have survived. She better be thankful Joe didnt decide to dispose of her body by chopping her up or throwing her in the river.

As you recall from previous seasons, Joe does lots of internal monologing. He's considered himself a good misunderstood person since the beginning. He's FINALLY figured out that he's not a good person. Joe attempts suicide by jumping off a bridge. First he shoves Fake Rhys over and then jumps himself. Joe washes up on shore and survives.

Joe and Kate then move to New York. This is of course where season 1 of "You" began. Kate uses her money to whitewash Joe's past and what happened with Love. Will Joe turn over a new leaf in the fifth (and final) season? Odds are not good. But at least now he's not completely delusion about his intentions. I guess that's progress?

The heart wants what it wants. - Emily Dickinson

Grade: 3 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). Penn Bagley continues to deliver an excellent performance as Joe/Jonathan/whoever despite the story line being a little whacko. Also congrats to Tati Gabrielle for making Marrienne such a sympathetic character. As mentioned in my season 3 review had "You" has gotten a bit dull. Joe's visit to the UK was a bit hoo hum in the beginning. I just don't like any of these people (especially not enough to watch them for 10 episodes). Kudos to the writers for trying to mix it up with the Fake Rhys story line. After all we can only watch Joe kill so many people. I've lost count as this point. "You" will conclude with a season 5 in 2024. It will be interesting to see how Joe goes out in the end.