In the fourth season of Netflix’s “You,” Joe Goldberg flees his life in America in search of a new beginning in London. Prior to this, all of Joe’s attempts to make a fresh start were derailed by his obsession with a particular woman, which resulted in a lot of blood on Joe’s hands. He has finally been able to control his obsessive behavior, and he is now leading a peaceful, orderly life. That is, until a murder occurs and a mysterious text is sent to him. What does the person texting Joe want from him, and who is this person? Let’s investigate. Spoilers follow!
Who’s Texting Joe?
Joe (played by Jonathan Moore) receives a text on Evanesce, an app that deletes communications as soon as they are viewed, near the conclusion of the first episode of the fourth season. The opening message says, “Hello, you.” The sender of the subsequent texts describes how they left Malcolm’s body on his table in the hopes that Joe would be charged with the murder. He startled them, though, by handling it without losing it or even just being utterly shocked to discover a dead body in his apartment. This indicates that Jonathan Moore is not the person they once believed him to be, and further investigation will be conducted to learn more about him.
Joe learns that he is being targeted by someone he doesn’t know as a result of this text, which turns the tables on him. Joe learns over the course of the subsequent episodes that this individual is closely observing him. Someone is following Joe! When he learns that the texter is a serial killer, things become even more difficult. They don’t intend to quit just because Malcolm was killed. Joe has strong cause to think that they will try to kill him as well after they kill Simon and Gemma.
Joe can tell who is messaging him is a member of Malcolm’s social circle. After Joe was introduced to the group, the killings began. This provided the murderer with the ideal pretext to carry out his heinous deed and pin it on the new guy. The murderer wants Joe to stay nearby since it will make it simpler for them to keep a watch on him as more deaths are on the way. However, Joe receives the same benefit as well. He makes the decision to make friends with everyone in the group in order to learn why they might be carrying out the killings.
Even though Joe has suspicions about a number of the gang members, he is shocked to learn that Rhys is the murderer at the end of the fifth episode. When Joe was being pursued by Roald in the forest, he attacked Joe there. Joe is coerced into killing Roald so that Rhys may accuse him of the killings. Rhys then takes them both to the dungeon and chains them up. Rhys has not yet given Joe an explanation for what he did, but it makes sense why he initially wanted to become friends with Joe at the party. In order for Joe to not suspect him of being the murderer, he pretended that he wasn’t like the other members of the group and had a few heart-to-hearts with him.
Rhys must have followed Joe and Malcolm to Joe’s flat on the night that Malcolm was killed because he was present when Joe became inebriated. He was aware that Joe wouldn’t be able to defend himself if the police arrived because he was too inebriated to remember what had happened. After disposing of Malcolm’s body, Joe enters the bar and runs into Rhys. During their conversation, Rhys advises him to “embrace everything.” This parallels the murderer’s intention to transform Joe into themselves. They desire a companion who shares their desire to kill because they are lonely and crave a sense of community. Every time Joe speaks with Rhys, he experiences the same feeling. It becomes evident that Rhys texted Joe when he arrives at Hampsie and admits to everything.
