You (Season 4 Part 2) Recap & Ending Explained

You (Season 4 Part 2) Recap & Ending Explained: First thing first, Love Quinn is still dead. I am addressing this matter because Netflix purposefully dangled the fruit, and despite fully knowing what it might be, some of us desperately wanted to believe in it. But Victoria Pedretti does have a part to play here, and it is always great to see the actress. More on this later.

At the end of the Part 1 recap and explainer, I showed my concern over Part 2 not looking that exciting, considering the “killer/you” was revealed already. I mentioned that they might bring in more twists to spice up things like they always do, which is exactly what they have done. In fact, they have actually exceeded the expectation by delivering us a truly “full-fat, extra-sugar, deep-fried fucking insane” snack, exactly like Joe Goldberg, as he has been described by a certain someone in one of the episodes.

With as many as three major 2022 movies vividly exploring the “eat-the-rich” genre, You taking the same route sort of felt like opting for a cheap shortcut, to be honest. Season 4 Part 1, despite all its bites and scratches, has been the weakest segment of the show yet. But with Part 2, they have turned it around and managed to prove the first part was basically a decoy, after all. Well played, very well played indeed.

You (Season 4 Part 2) Recap

Rhys has been on the rise with his mayoral campaign in full swing. Most of London absolutely loves him and his “rags to riches” uprising, except Professor Jonathan Moore, aka our very own Joe Goldberg, who is obviously aware of Rhys being the real “eat-the-rich” killer. So Joe’s current goal in life must be stopping Rhys, for which he keeps following him everywhere, which is essentially a cakewalk for him. What Joe is not aware of, though, is that he is also being followed by someone, the photographer who we have seen throughout the first season and kept wondering about her significance.

Frame Job

While Joe keeps finding ways to trump Rhys, the latter also doesn’t waste any time to give good-ol Joe a visit. The visit comes with a threat you would see coming even from miles away. Rhys wants Joe to frame someone and put everything on that person. If Joe does not comply, he is going to turn the spearhead to Joe.

Given Joe has done tons of things in the past (and present) to get himself out of trouble, he does not waste any time and starts looking for possible victims for the frame job. The first and obvious choice is Connie, the horse guy who is pretty much a loose cannon, given his inability to control his alcohol and drugs.

But sadly, Connie somehow has a moment of redemption when Joe tries to talk with him to do the necessary vetting. With Joe’s moralistic side stopping him from putting Connie under the table, finding another scapegoat becomes urgent. But as we all know, the writers of this show somehow always give something to Joe Goldberg whenever he is in real trouble. Remember the photographer?

Turns out, she was actually following lady Phoebe and is obsessive about her. Hearing the rumor of the “eat-the-rich” killer being present in one of Kate’s events where every single main character is present, Dawn kidnaps Phoebe in order to “keep her safe.” But Joe soon discovers them and eventually the police, and there you go. With Joe carefully planting the right evidence in Dawn’s bag, it was only a matter of time.

Back together with Kate

Come on, this was inevitable. In the same event Joe successfully frames Dawn, he shares a moment with Kate where it becomes very much evident that the two are drawn to each other like iron to a magnet. Seeing another aristocratic douchebag openly hitting on Kate makes Joe really jealous. Kate does take the douchebag Nico to her home but soon throws him out after finding out that the guy is actually working for her father, Tom Lockwood. Joe sees some of it from his flat and eventually heads toward Kate’s. The two meet, and the obvious sex finally happens. With the Rhys problem over for now, Joe has no problem pursuing his relationship with Kate now.

But Rhys is not going to make it easy for Joe because why would he? Right after getting back home, Joe is frustrated to find Rhys waiting for him. He has another job for Joe; else, the real “eat-the-rich” killer, Joe Goldberg, will be revealed. According to Rhys, the task is as simple as killing Tom Lockwood, who should die anyway, considering who he is and what he has done.

Lockwood or Rhys?

As I said, Joe Goldberg always finds a way. And if he fails to do so, “the way” finds him. Very conveniently, Kate’s father decides to visit and to help Kate face her manipulative and controlling father, Joe steps into the supportive boyfriend’s shoes. Not that he does not intend to do so, but obviously, he has other things in mind.

Tom Lockwood is introduced finally, and it is none other than Greg Kinnear. And just like Kate described, Lockwood appears to be a magnetically charming, likable man who does not waste much time to (secretly) reveal to Joe that he knows “Joe Goldberg’.

Lockwood offers Kate her dream museum in New York while Joe tries to keep his calm. Taking the opportunity of Kate using the washroom, the two finally have a proper conversation where Lockwood casually slips in Rhys, indicating that he actually has something on Rhys. Lockwood eventually asks Joe to spy on Rhys, and if Joe signs for “Team Lockwood,” he will be taken care of.

Getting reassurance like that prompts Joe having a thought about getting a confession out of Rhys regarding “whatever” Lockwood has on him, which would not expose him as the killer but would do the needful of putting him away. Joe gets the opportunity later that night when Kate takes off to take care of a heavily distraught Phoebe. But Joe’s plan fails miserably as Rhys sniffs out his plan like a guard dog and gets really mad at him.

The time has come for Rhys to play his big leverage on Joe. Kill Rhys or Marrienne dies. But Marienne got away on a train which Joe had seen with his own eyes, right? Rhys intercepted, took Marienne away, and locked her in a cage. Considering what Rhys has managed to pull off so far, Joe has no reason not to believe him.

With the tables turned, Joe has no other option but to kill Lockwood. To do the deed, he chooses the library of the college he teaches, a familiar place where he would at least have some advantage as he already has a really “bad” exit plan. Getting Lockwood there does not seem to be a problem for Joe with the promise of spilling the beans about Rhys. But the curse of sloppy Joe strikes again and Lockwood manages to deduct Joe’s plan of killing him as well. Instead of doing anything, though, he attempts to simplify the situation to Joe by providing him Rhys’s current address, a country house outside London, after fleeing away from London thanks to a controversial article orchestrated by Lockwood himself.

Between killing Rhys and Lockwood, the choice becomes a real no-brainer for Joe. Although instead of killing, he plans to torture “Marienne’s location” out of Rhys, eventually ruining his political career. After reaching the country house, Joe sneakily watches Rhys bickering with his ex-wife Emma who quickly leaves. With this opportunity, he knocks at Rhys’ door, but to his surprise, Rhys fails to recognize him.

Joe quickly puts Rhys on the torturing chair, but Rhys can still not recognize him or acknowledge Marienne. Joe strangles Rhys to death with his frustration and anger reaching their peak. Just at this moment, Rhys walks inside, and Joe can’t process it (we can’t either). This Rhys, however, has no problem recognizing him because this Rhys DOES NOT EXIST ANYWHERE OTHER THAN INSIDE THE BRAIN OF JOE GOLDBERG.

We need to talk about Joe Goldberg

Remember Nadia? The Agatha Christie enthusiast and a really smart student of “Professor Moore.” Well, it was only a matter of time till the girl started connecting the dots and thought that her good samaritan professor might just be more than what he was letting on. It doesn’t take much time for her to sneak in and find a book on torturing (we know why), a mysterious key that she quickly copies in a takeaway bag from an Indian restaurant. Nadia reaches the restaurant. This is the same place where we have seen Joe and Kate walking during one of their dates. On the opposite side of the restaurant, there is a deserted, worn-out building. Nadia doesn’t hesitate to get inside and imagine what she finds inside. None other than Marienne, locked inside a cage—no prize for guessing who is behind her current state.

How did Marienne end up in the cage?

Well, Joe didn’t let her go because how could he? So he slipped drugs in her coffee, (possibly) got on the train, and ultimately kidnapped her. When she woke up, she found a deranged Joe obsessively watching the real Rhys’s interviews, speeches, and whatnot. Marienne did not end up in the cage right away. She kept looking for an out while trying to soften Joe by bringing up her daughter Juliette. Joe also showed her that he was willing to let her go.

But things took a really dark turn for her when Joe finally locks her up inside the now “infamous” You cage and adapts his Rhys persona. Because Joe Goldberg can’t do such terrible things so, there has to be a Rhys to take the blame. Days go by, Joe/Rhys keep feeding Marienne, and then one day, it stops. Marienne holds on to hope only for the sake of her daughter until one day, it appears, indeed, in the form of Nadia.

After quickly getting over the obvious shock, Marienne asks Nadia to leave because if she escapes now, Joe will never leave her alone. So there has to be a proper plan which ends with Joe Goldberg being put down. Nadia promises Marienne to come back with the said plan.

Adam and Phoebe

I did consider the idea of entirely leaving this part out of the recap because all it did was distract us from the main plot, but given these two are major characters of this season, here is what happened, but in a nutshell.

Adam is broke and almost homeless, so he must marry Phoebe to fix his financial issues. On the other hand, Phoebe suffers from PTSD thanks to the Hamsies fire and Dawn. Kate tries to get her help by putting her in a psychiatric hospital, but Adam somehow intercepts, and the two decide to go through with the wedding.

You (Season 4 Part 2) Ending Explained

In his entire life of crimes and misdemeanors, this is the most difficult situation Joe Goldberg has ever been into, where his biggest enemy is no one but himself. Joe wants to find Marienne, but he doesn’t remember. And his Rhys persona (I am still gonna call him just Rhys, though) is not telling him either. Rather Rhys wants Joe to figure things out. Meanwhile, despite being neck-dipped into his own shit, Joe continues to be the great boyfriend Kate wants him to be. When Kate reveals extreme stuff about her past, that basically says it’s not exactly her father, but she is the one who is responsible for all the terrible things, including giving cancer to kids; Joe doesn’t judge her, which is understandable. Kate and Joe attempt to dismantle the Adam and Phoebe wedding with no success, but that only brings the duo closer to each other.

Does Joe find Marienne?

After struggling for quite a while, Joe finds Marienne and is visibly remorseful for what he has done to her. He does not know that Nadia hears the entire conversation hiding in the darkness. Despite regretting his inhuman act of putting Marienne inside the cage, Joe doesn’t let her go right away. Because he just can’t, as he needs a plan.

Joe and Rhys keep debating whether to let Marienne go or kill her. Joe wants to let her go because he genuinely wants to save her. But Rhys sees Marienne as an obstacle, a woman who has not responded to his romantic advances and is now ruining his chances of having something substantial with Kate. Hallucinating between his past and present, Joe gets taunted by both his past victims, Love Quinn and Guinevere Beck (welcome back, Elizabeth Lail), until he finally decides on his next course of action. Joe plans to let Marienne go and kill himself. But before that, he also has a side hustle.

Taking care of Lockwood for good

Lockwood continues to hover like a cloud on Kate’s head. It eventually gets pretty clear that his daddy dearest act is pretty much a facade, as all he wants is to control his daughter like a property. Upon hearing about Adam from Kate, Lockwood plays god and uses his influence very creatively to murder Adam. Kate gets mad at him for intervening, but then he drops the bigger bomb. He reveals to her that her “independent” life is actually something that is built by him only as he has been behind everything. Lockwood asks (read orders) Kate to come to New York with him to take over the emperor (basically be the corporate monster she was always meant to be). This obviously devastates Kate, and given the fact that she is Joe’s “savior complex” act this season, he has to do something.

So Joe does plan to take him out, and this time he decides to work together with Rhys. Together they don’t have much trouble easily taking care of Lockwood, and his bodyguard becomes collateral damage and another convenient tool for Joe to put the murder on.

How does Marienne get away?

Marienne and Nadia do make a plan that involves using Ketamine on Joe and then stabbing him with a knife. But due to an anxiety-ridden mishap, Nadia gets caught with the knife by subway police, and eventually, her boyfriend Edward (sorry for not mentioning him before) rescues her.

With the failure of the said plan, Marienne does take the Ketamine and goes into a dead-like state which gives Joe the idea that he has accidentally killed Marienne. A disheartened Joe leaves “Marienne’s body” on a deserted bench, which Nadia sees from afar. Right after Joe leaves, Nadia gives Marienne the necessary antidote to revive her. Marienne survives only because Joe Goldberg thinks she is dead. Good for you, Marienne.

Does Joe die in the end?

With Marienne gone and Lockwood being handled in the only possible way, Joe has nothing left to do other than end the cycle. Rhys tries to stop him, but he is pretty much set on doing it this time and jumps from a bridge before throwing off Rhys first.

But this is “You” after all.

So Joe survives as the police take him out of the water. Kate visits him in the hospital and tells him about her father’s death. Kate asks her to leave his past behind, whatever that is, and be a good person with her, which is her intention as well. With such a golden opportunity to wipe the slate clean, Joe Goldberg jumps into it like nothing ever happened.

There’s one small hitch, though. Nadia.

But after all this time, can this really be something that has the potential to become an obstacle in the glorious path of Joe Goldberg? Obviously not. So Joe also takes care of that by killing Eddie, putting Rhys’s murder on him, and putting Eddie’s murder on Nadia. But Nadia refuses to speak in her defense, so she ends up in prison.

With a person like Kate on his side, along with all the Lockwood money and influences, Joe Goldberg has literally won the lottery. And to be honest, he has never been this scary, either.

Until another season, hopefully.

You (Season 4 Part 2) Recap & Ending Explained