You Season 4 Part 2's Trailer Is A Tense Thrill Ride With A Little Bit Of Love
Contains spoilers for "You" Season 4, Part 1
Could Joe Goldberg really get a second chance at Love? The trailer for "You" Season 4, Part 2 seems to think so — but only at great personal cost.
Season 4, Part 1, which debuted earlier this month on Netflix, began to explore if Penn Badgley's arresting (and shockingly un-arrested) serial killer could be capable of living a normal, purposeful life free of his murderous obsessions. While it arguably asks more dramatic questions than it answers so far, the second half will seemingly focus on the ideas set up at the beginning of the season to determine one crucial aspect of Joe's psyche. Is Joe Goldberg really a killer, deep down? Or is he just someone willing to do anything for love?
The character will seemingly be forced to define or confront his dark identity as he comes face to face with the "Eat the Rich killer," the mysterious antagonist of Season 4 who made themselves known in the climactic finale of Part 1. If you have yet to catch up on the series, be warned that the trailer contains massive spoilers for the story thus far.
A deadly new friendship blossoms between predator and prey
As the trailer begins, Joe Goldberg is finally reunited with his tormentor back in London — Ed Speeler's Rhys Montrose, the talented author and aspiring politician who uses understandable class politics as a way of justifying his violent urges. Rhys is well aware of who Joe really is — not "Professor Jonathan Moore," but a self-deluded murderer prolific in his own right. With Joe refusing to acknowledge their kindred spirits or accept his friendship — a relationship seemingly predicated on his willingness to murder his latest soulmate, Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie) – Rhys is pulling out all the stops to drag Joe further into his demented worldview.
This may include the construction of a new glass cage, similar to the ones Joe used in the first two seasons; it's entirely possible that Rhys was able to construct one with his resources and research prowess. A shot at about 10 seconds into the trailer of Rhys presenting Joe with something unseen looks eerily familiar.
This gift — whatever it is — certainly won't be enough to entice Joe to Rhys' side, with his rejection almost certainly leading to the vengeful destruction of Joe's new European life. Both Kate and Joe's prized pupil, Nadia Farran (Amy-Leigh Hickman), comes into Rhys' crosshairs, as does the kind if out-of-touch Lady Phoebe (Tilly Keeper). Though it's all ultimately business as usual for Joe at this point, the trailer's biggest shock comes in the form of a surprising return in the final scene: Victoria Pedretti's Love Quinn.
Love is all You needs...
In its final moments, the trailer reveals Love Quinn, seemingly trapped in the aforementioned glass cage. This is a bit baffling, of course, as Love almost certainly died in the Season 3 finale — or so we thought? Could Rhys Montrose, with all his power and influence, really have found Love (perhaps in hiding somewhere to avoid her publicly known crimes) and brought her to London to remind Joe Goldberg of who he is?
It doesn't seem likely, but anything's possible at this point. The trailer may be attempting a bit of visual deception, however, as it's seemingly implied through lighting and set design that this is part of whatever Rhys shows Joe in the trailer's opening moments. More likely is that this is some sort of dream sequence or hallucination that will last for an episode or two, helping Joe to wrestle with whoever he's become by confronting an old — and literal — ghost.
Overall, "You" Season 4, Part 2 looks like it will provide an exciting if perhaps tenuously feasible finale for the show's fourth outing that will hopefully reveal whether or not Joe can be redeemed after so much bloodshed. Part 1 is currently streaming on Netflix; Part 2 will begin streaming on March 9, 2023.