Warning: the following article contains significant spoilers for the season three finale and season four of You.
Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) is involved in some seriously messed up stuff. The setting, at least, is new. Joe has decided to make a new life in Europe. He has just declared himself a transformed man on Netflix.
It's not the first time the audience saw a supposedly transformed Joe, who is attempting to reconcile his past for the sake of a fresh beginning. Regardless, life forces him to his will time and again. In reality, everyone who watches even ten minutes of You can agree that Joe might be the most deluded character on television right now.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor shared his thoughts about Joe's quest to become a new man:
At the end of season three, Badgley claimed that Joe had "the most compelling reasons" to change. Surely, having murdered his wife and faked his own death are solid reasons to change, and on a superficial level, Joe has. His identity is new, as are his job and home, but his stalker habits always come back up.
In season 4, Joe discovers that he isn't the only stalker/murderer in town, and finally gets a taste of his own medicine. Will becoming the prey finally lead Joe on a different path? Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Maybe the second half of the season will provide some answers.
Season four of Netflix's You is now available for streaming.