‘You’ Fans Freak Out After Missing This Big Season 4 Connection Between Joe and the Real Killer

‘You’ Fans Freak Out After Missing This Big Season 4 Connection Between Joe and the Real Killer


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Whilst Joe (Penn Badgley) plans to start anew in London, it's clear his past isn't the only thing he's burying.

You season 4 part 1 ended by dropping the curtain on Rhys (Ed Speleers), the Eat the Rich Killer, with Joe primed to thwart his plans. Though, things are never quite that simple — are they? Netflix dropped the official You season 4, part 2 trailer, and while it gave shell-shocking glimpses (read: his presumed deceased wife, Love), there's one red string that people keep pulling at.

In a Fight Club turn of events, You fans suspect Joe Goldberg found his very own Tyler Durden.

After watching the teaser, many think it hinted at Rhys merely being a hallucination. “I think that Rhys is just a part of Joe's imagination, and this is a new direction for the story!" one person wrote in the YouTube comments. "As much as I want Rhys to be an actual murderer, having Joe be the real killer is a nice way to portray him for who he really is. Which is, in fact, a psychotic serial killer," another added.

Someone else pointed out that the theory matches up with Joe's lapses in memory throughout season 4. "He created Rhys so that he can continue [to] deny that he’s a murderer," a different viewer said. "In part 1, during all three of the murders, Joe was conveniently unconscious. Feels a lot like a dissociative [episode].”

This prediction gives a whole new meaning to You season 4 scenes. Rhys even seems to eerily taunt as such in the new teaser: "Isn't it obvious? I want a friend. Someone who shares my interests. Someone I can finally tell all my secrets to."

ed speleers as rhys, penn badgley as joe goldberg in episode 410 of you cr courtesy of netflix 2023
Ed Speleers as Rhys Montrose and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in season 4, episode 10 of You.Netflix

Whether he's truly a figment of Joe's imagination may not be a total stretch, especially considering his devolving mental state. Throughout the season, Joe also observes striking similarities between him and Rhys. What's more, earlier interactions between Joe and Rhys fit the theory perfectly.

For example, at the start of season 4, episode 2, the group dines together as Joe runs through his inner monologue. Rhys interrupts to ask Joe if he's OK because he looks sick. Joe tells him that he’s fine. But Adam (Lukas Gage) abruptly turns to him and questions, “What was that?” It almost seems like Joe is talking to himself — as if Rhys isn’t even there.

Time will reveal all come March 9 when You season 4, part 2 episodes premiere on Netflix.

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