What’s a Whodunit Without a Plot Twist? Unpacking the Season Four Finale of ‘You’
Over the last few years, the film industry has witnessed an uptick in whodunits, mysteries, and thrillers. With recent releases Knives Out and Glass Onion, Netflix especially, seems rather keen on creating texts that inspire viewers to question the intentions of others—specifically rich folk. While horror hasn’t quite joined the bandwagon in terms of recent releases (yet), the genre has seen some of the more interesting plot twists in films where the subgenre is concerned. (Nods to The Faculty, Scream, and Happy Birthday to Me—just to name a few.)
Amidst the popularity of these late illusions and the financially superior class often becoming the butt of their own joke, the finale of Season Four of You takes a much darker stance. If I had to assign a tone, the second half of the season could easily be placed into the same wheelhouse as David Koepp’s Secret Window.
Spoilers Ahead!
You Season Five, via IMDB
Although I had a hunch that Joe (Penn Badgley) would likely kill again after going months as a supposedly changed new man (complete with a new identity), I never expected what would actually unfold in the second half of Season Four of You. Perhaps it was my wishful thinking—my hope—for a happy ending. That somehow, by dealing with his trauma in Season Three and going to great lengths to cover up, protect, and then defend himself and his son from his wife, Love, it would all “click.” But, I guess that’s the problem with psychopaths—there is no resolution, only chaos.
As I discussed in the first part of this season’s review, Joe escaped his former identity and authorities to lead a life of academia in London. However, what was once believed to be a quiet holiday quickly turns sinister after making some new friends. All part of an elite wealthy class, Joe (now Jonathan) somehow finds himself surrounded by aristocrats always in the spotlight—a change of pace for a guy who was used to lurking in the shadows. To make matters worse, one member of the group decides to go on a killing spree while simultaneously torturing Joe/Jon into thinking that if he didn’t do what he was asked, all of the crimes would be pinned on him upon revealing his true identity. As the serial killer gains fame in the city, dubbed by the tabloids as the “Eat The Rich Killer,” Joe/Jon struggles to keep his composure in fear that he will be exposed for the killer he was.
No easy task, as to be expected, Joe/Jon must go to great lengths to keep his identity a secret. Unlike all prior occasions where he might just kill the person who’s threatening him, in this case, Joe/Jon must first uncover who the threat is, exactly. Enter the whodunit/mystery plot. While it doesn’t take long for viewers to get to this point in the first half of the season, it is a rather intense journey, to say the least. From getting tips from one of his brighter students to piecing together each of the friend group’s backstories and pasts, it really does feel like we might be in a chapter from “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.”
All the hard work to protect himself and his newfound love interest, Kate (Charlotte Richie), finally leads to Joe/Jon discovering that famed novelist and mayor candidate Rhys (Ed Speleers) was the killer all along. And while I didn’t want to spoil that detail in the first half of my review, it’s necessary for what unfolds in the second act. You see, now that Joe/Jon knows who’s to blame for such death, the roles of predator and prey can once again be reversed. Even more ironic, and kind of odd, is that Rhys—still holding Joe’s real identity over his head—wants him to kill Kate’s dad, who is known to be one of the richest men in the world, to benefit his campaign. On the contrary, Kate’s father also wants Rhys dead, and because he also has access to just about everything about everyone, also knows about Joe’s past.
Stuck in the middle, Joe/Jon decides that killing Rhys is the better call. After all, Kate’s dad can give him a real future. His past can be rewritten and he has the opportunity to have his life, possibly even his son, back. Not only that but somehow Rhys also knows something about Marienne (Tati Gabrielle)—Joe/Jon’s final love interest before he was “murdered” in the United States. While the dream seems so close, that’s all it would ever really be: a dream. The truth was so much farther from reality.
Upon choosing to kill Rhys, the first murder victim we actually witness Joe/Jon kill in the entire season, the story’s illusion is revealed. Like a scene from Fight Club, a duplicate of Rhys appears, still talking to Joe/Jon while his dead body sits silently in the chair where he’d been tortured for information about Merienne. Apparently stuck in a psychosis shortly after his last interaction with the woman he’s so desperately trying to find, it’s revealed that Rhys had been some made-up alter ego of Joe/Jon. While Rhys was a real character in the season and a real member of the friend group, he had Joe/Jon had never actually met in real life—he was an illusion. Everything “clicks” for us. But when making the connection himself, Joe/Jon realizes something even more twisted. Not only has he been blending reality with fiction, the part of him that is the “real” Joe has forgotten where Marienne is.
While I would prefer not to give the entirety of the second half away, it was quite a trip to see that not only had Joe never actually changed for the better, he’d gotten much, much worse. Killing seven people—a new record in the series—his serial killer alter ego not only blossomed but exists just like any other person in Joe’s life. When we understand the truth, it brings a whole new aspect to Joe’s character. Before this, I had never considered that Joe might be schizophrenic. And while mental illness shouldn’t be used as an excuse, it does invite viewers to question their main character and the types of trauma, stress, or otherwise, that could evoke such change. I mean, we can gather easily enough that Joe feels guilty, knowing that he is a real danger to not just himself, but everyone around him. But, is that enough for him to handle the situation? How would you even begin to handle a troublesome alter ego that is physically present? Could he ever go far enough to take himself out? Who is the stronger entity living within him?
Whoever it is, I guess we won’t know until the next season, as once again the Joe we all grew to love/hate has gotten away with all of it yet again… At least for now.
Article written by Destiny Johnson
Destiny writes about true crime and thrillers. She mostly enjoys movies and stories that cause one to question the world around them.
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