You best start believing in whodunits, Mr. Joe Goldberg. You’re in one.
The first trailer for Part 1 of You Season 4 is here, and it gives us an even better idea of what Penn Badgley’s heartbroken (and now hirsute) romantic is up to in London — you know, besides teaching at a university and running from his past. It turns out Joe isn’t the only modern-day Jack the Ripper in the city, because someone called the “Eat the Rich Killer” is targeting the “circle of privileged douchebags” he’s befriended. Thus, Joe must channel his inner Sherlock Holmes and stop whomever the killer is before they dismember Joe’s scholarly new life. From killer to detective? Well, Joe clearly has the range.
“We're floored by the love that fans worldwide have shown our twisted little love story — thank you! You inspire us to go deeper, and also crazier every season,” showrunner Sera Gamble tells Tudum. “As you know, each season explores a new city and a new ‘you.’ Season 4, set in London, drops Joe into a very different type of thriller: a whodunit murder mystery. “
Grab your passport, watch the trailer above and then continue below to learn everything you need to know about You Season 4.
The latest chapter in Joe’s life is split into two five-episode batches. You Season 4 Part 1 premieres Feb. 9, and Part 2 arrives exactly a month later on March 9.
Season 3 began with Joe and his equally murderous wife, Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), settling down in the wealthy northern California town of Madre Linda. You’d think a shared hobby would bring the couple closer together, but alas, the two grow further and further apart — especially once Joe finds a new obsession in local librarian and artist Marienne (Tati Gabrielle). Fully aware of what’s going on with Joe, Love warns Marienne to run away before she winds up dead like every other woman in Joe’s life. Love knows her marriage is over, but really takes the whole “till death do us part” thing seriously and starts plotting her husband’s death. But then, in the Season 3 finale, Joe outwits Love, killing her before she can kill him, then fakes his death and heads to France to find Marienne.
When the season begins, Joe is living in London as a college professor named Jonathan Moore. “All he wants is to prove he’s not a terrible man, by living quietly as Professor Jonathan Moore, nursing his broken heart and thoroughly minding his own business,” Gamble says.
In the trailer, we see Joe actively resisting the urge to become interested in (read: obsessed with) Charlotte Ritchie’s Kate. (Did you spot the nod to a moment in the Season 1 premiere?) But change is hard. “I do miss having someone out there,” Joe admits in the teaser.
As fans of the show know, each season of You explores and subverts various genres as Joe searches for love. Season 1 was a classic stalker thriller, offering an irreverent take on tried-and-true rom-com tropes; Season 2 had more of a revenge motif and challenged traditional love-interest expectations; and Season 3 threw Joe into a domestic thriller — almost a suburban noir, complete with swinging neighbors. With Season 4,You transforms into a straight-up murder mystery à la Agatha Christie (or maybe Glass Onion), thanks to the Eat the Rich Killer, who knows about Joe’s past and seems very interested in exploiting it — and Joe.
“This mysterious person is awfully curious about ‘Professor Moore,’ threatening Joe and everyone he cares about,” says Gamble. “Sometimes it takes a killer to catch a killer. Hey, Joe did say he wanted to redeem himself... but we'll leave it to you to decide if redemption is possible for a man like Joe Goldberg."
Tati Gabrielle will return as Marienne in Season 4. Whether or not Marienne is happy to see Joe, though, remains to be seen.
Since class and privilege are a couple of the show’s overarching themes, each season usually forces the working class-raised Joe to interact with (and reluctantly befriend) a new group of rich yuppies. And Season 4 is no exception. Although this time around, they’re not only potential victims but also potential killers. Portraying Joe’s posh new social circle are: Charlotte Ritchie (Feel Good), Ed Speleers (Outlander), Tilly Keeper (EastEnders), Lukas Gage (The White Lotus), Stephen Hagan (The Larkins), Ben Wiggins (The Sandman), Niccy Lin (The Great), Eve Austin (ABC Murders), Aidan Cheng (Devils), Dario Coates (Damned) and Ozioma Whenu (The Lark). Check out the gallery below to meet their snooty characters, as well as Nadia, one of Joe’s promising students played by Amy-Leigh Hickman.
The rest of the cast includes Sean Pertwee (Gotham) as Vic, Alison Pargeter (Chernobyl) as Dawn, Brad Alexander as Edward and Adam James (I May Destroy You) as Elliot.
Probably... anything is possible with Jonathan Moore.
There’s always a curve on You.
