Warning: The following article includes spoilers for Season 4 of You.
With Youseason four's first episode, Joe Goldberg is back, and so is the vengeful tornado that pursues him everywhere he goes. Yes, our dangerously unhinged stalker has a new set of objects that demand his disdain, and yes, in one particular case, his pure obsession. But what caught our attention — when we weren't staring at Joe's stunning beard — is how he is on the receiving end of a very Gossip Girl-
It's a bummer to be warned.
Joe has his personal stalker and admirer from the very beginning, who has become a fan of how he can swiftly recover a deceased person. As someone who loves to know others' business so he doesn't have to get overwhelmed by it, Joe spends a lot of season four in the dark, getting taunted by an invisible specter who knows all of their dirty little secrets and finds joy in their misfortune.
This anonymous threat sends him messages via an app that deletes the correspondence as soon as it is opened, and makes sure to warn Joe that he has a shadow he cannot shake. This person knows what Joe is doing, where he is going, what he is planning, and even uncovers his bloody past. The killer is eager to see him fumble publicly, and threatens to expose his secrets.
This may ring a bell if you have been as interested [read: obsessed] with Penn Badgley's career trajectory as we have been.
Allow us to remind you of a time when an actor played a character who exhibited stalkerish — though with considerably tamer tones — behavior in the popular teenage drama series, Gossip Girl.
Every one of the six seasons of the show is plagued by the anonymous 'Gossip Girl,' who removes the word "privacy" by displaying everyone's dirty laundry as a public spectacle. Over the years, many were suspected of being Gossip Girl, but in the end, it was revealed that Dan, an outsider from Brooklyn, was the one who ran the blog.
Rhys was the outsider, with humble beginnings, who ingratiated himself among the high society people, who appeared to be this non-threatening individual who was never interested in gossip or thinking bad about his so-called pals. Just like Dan, Rhys would be the last person anyone would point fingers at.
Rhys didn't disclose his knowledge publicly, unlike Dan aka Gossip Girl. But again, it wouldn't make it much of a whodunit if the messages were shared publicly, right?
It's as if the universe Joe exists in has a multiverse of its own, and Mr. Goldberg is facing the consequences of the sins his variant Dan committed. Yes, yes, we are, dragging Joe and his never-ending list of 'Yous' down the MCU rabbit hole. You can take the fan out of the MCU, but you can't take the MCU out of the fan.
So, until next time, i.e., until Part two drops on March 9...XOXO!