On February 9th, the popular Netflix show, “You” returned to the streaming service. Joe Goldberg has returned to my television yet again, with a new name, a new life, and no wife. If you have been following the show the past three seasons, you know Joe took on a lot names, faces, and women in his time on the show. He evolved from his first love Candace, then Becks, then to Love (his wife’s name), his neighbor Natalie, and  finished up the season with Marrianne. The newest season, season four, released its first five episodes two weeks ago, and being the person I am, I finished it in less than 24 hours. With this being said, if you are not sure you want to continue watching the show after the dramatic aftermath of the last season or if you are just curious about what happens in episode one, here is a brief summary of how “You” started out with a bang.  

For those who are having trouble remembering how season three ended, Joe killed his wife, Love, gave his son (Henry) to a blind man, faked his own death by cutting off his toes, and moved to Europe in pursuit of Marrianne, his current love interest. Marrianne initially ran from Joe because Love warned her that he was “dangerous.” He followed Marrianne to Paris, where they had a confrontation. She held a knife to his throat, and she begged him to let her go so she could go back to her daughter. Joe lets her go and settles down at a quiet restaurant. A man named Elliot walks in, a hired assassin from his former wife Love’s family. He gives Joe a new identity, a new life, and in return, he must make sure Marrianne can never tell another soul that Joe is really alive.  

When we meet Joe again, he goes by a new name. Professor Jonathan Moore, an English professor at a made-up university in London. Throughout this article, however, I will still be referring to him as Joe. We are quickly introduced to a specific student of his, while also meeting some of his colleagues. Malcolm Harding, a fellow professor at the university who also got Joe his apartment that overlooks him and his wife’s home, harasses Joe into getting drinks with him and his friends, but Joe, trying to keep a low-profile, refuses. As Joe is leaving the university the following night, he sees Kate Galvin (Malcolm’s wife) getting robbed, he tries not to intervene, but his “good nature” kicks in and scares away the burglars.  

Malcolm decides that this is the perfect opportunity to repay Joe by taking him out drinking with his lavish friends. Joe has of course already done extensive research on each member of the group and goes to the bar with no intention of bonding with them, but he quickly sits down with an author he knows and friend of Malcolm’s named Rhys. They bond over their past, and then Joe goes to leave but then Pheobe, Kate’s best friend, makes Joe drink absinthe. After a couple more rounds, he becomes highly intoxicated. The night consists of blurry images and a loss of memory. He wakes up in his flat, trying to remember how he got home. Things become awkward when he realizes his annoying co-worker Malcolm was the one to bring him home, and things become more complicated when he realizes that Malcolm is dead on his kitchen table. He is also missing a finger. He cannot remember if he killed him or not, but if he did, why would he cut off his finger? And why is a mysterious number texting him claiming ownership of Malcolm’s murder? Want answers to these questions? I will not provide them; it is up to “You.” 

Claire Arneson is a Dakota Student Section Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].