Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 4: Part 1 of You.
Part 1 of You Season 4, which hit Netflix on February 9th, saw the return of serial killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) in his new life across the pond in London, England. After killing his wife Love (Victoria Pedretti) and faking his own death, Joe flees to the UK in the hopes of leaving his stalking and murdering days behind him, until he becomes reluctantly fixated on wealthy art gallery manager Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie) as he ingratiates himself with London's high society. Different from the women Joe has obsessed over in the previous seasons, Kate is suspicious of Joe from the get-go, and has the motivation and financial resources to finally take him down. Can she do it, or will she become just another casualty in Joe's long list of murders?
What Is 'You' Season 4 About?
You Season 4 picks up where the previous season left off after Joe kills Love, leaves his child behind, and drops everything to follow his previous obsession, Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle), to Europe. At the end of Season 3, Love warns Marienne that Joe is dangerous and has killed people, including Marianne's ex-husband, so when Joe finally finds her in London, she runs away from him and calls him a murderer. Soon after, Joe is approached by Elliot (Adam James), a hitman hired by Love's father to ensure that Joe is actually dead, believing him to be responsible for Love's death. But Elliot decides not to kill Joe, instead offering him a new identity and a chance to start over, but only if he kills Marienne, the only other living person who knows about Joe's past. Elliot sends him to tie up loose ends, but Joe, remembering Marienne has a daughter, decides not to kill her and sends Elliot a picture of a necklace he stole from her, so it will appear that he finished the job.
Under his new alias Jonathan Moore, Joe gets a job as a university literature professor, and is subsequently introduced into a clique of some of the wealthiest people in London by fellow professor Malcolm Harding (Stephen Hagan). After a wild night out with Malcolm and his friends, Joe wakes up the next morning to Malcolm's dead body on his kitchen table. Believing he must have killed Malcolm while blacked out, Joe quickly disposes of his body. The following day, Joe gets a series of anonymous texts from Malcolm's real killer, who also knows Joe's true identity and dark past.
Kate's Suspicion of Joe in 'You'
Luckily for Joe, his new London apartment just so happens to face Malcolm's, but Joe tries this best to stop himself from spying on him and his girlfriend Kate. Joe can't help himself and starts following her one night, and winds up saving her from a mugging. Not particularly grateful for his help, Kate becomes suspicious of Joe when he asks her not to mention him to the police when she reports the crime, citing his "shaky work visa." Kate differs from the other women Joe has fixated on — Beck, Love, and Marienne — in that at first, Kate openly dislikes him. She is forced to tolerate his presence when her friend Phoebe (Tilly Keeper) takes a liking to him, but does not mince her words around him or hesitate to call him out for his strange behavior. She appears to see right through him, even accusing him of being a grifter with ulterior motives in befriending her elite social circle.
When one of Kate's friends turns up dead, Joe's anonymous stalker reveals that she will be their next target. Despite her combative attitude towards Joe, he still wants to protect her, and begins following her again to do so. It doesn't take long for Kate to notice, and she soon confronts him, suspecting he is stalking her because he is sexually attracted to her. Against his better judgment, Joe sleeps with her and their dynamic begins to shift. When Joe is invited to a weekend away with Kate and her friends at Phoebe's country manor, they can't seem to stay away from each other. After being tormented by her friends, Kate confides in Joe that she is the daughter of an obscenely wealthy activist investor whom she cut ties with due to her disgust at all the damage he has brought to the world. She and Joe bond over their "dark pasts," and Joe fears he is starting to fall in love with her.
Their relationship is further complicated when Joe discovers Kate with her friend Gemma's (Eve Austin) dead body, worried that he has found himself in another Love situation. When Joe helps Kate dispose of the body, she becomes suspicious of him knowing exactly what to do, and he is forced to reveal that he is being framed for Malcolm's murder. Having seemingly earned her trust back, when they return to London after a disastrous weekend, Kate asks Joe on a date, which he turns down in fear of her finding out his true identity.
What's Next for Kate and Joe in Part 2 of 'You' Season 4?
Kate and Joe's relationship throughout Part 1 of Season 4 has been a tumultuous one. Obvious dislike and suspicion evolved into curiosity and attraction leading to emotional vulnerability. Kate is serious and closed off, and is clearly upset when Joe turns her down in the final episode of Part 1. Kate is aware that Joe has a dark past, but doesn't yet know just how dark that past really is. Considering her initial attitude towards Joe, how quickly she jumped to suspicion when he helped her dispose of Gemma's body, and her reaction to Joe rejecting her, suggests that she might just turn on him again. Considering the wealth and resources she has at her disposal due to her powerful father, it's possible that Kate will decide to do some more digging into Joe's true identity. Joe already has one stalker working against him, but could Kate be the one who finally exposes the truth about Joe Goldberg? You Season 4 Part 2, coming to Netflix March 9th, is sure to answer this question as we see how long Joe can keep up his long string of crimes and escape the "Eat The Rich" killer.