Hello … you.
In the first episode to part 2 in the fourth season of Netflix’s You, Lady Phoebe was kidnapped and nearly physically harmed by someone obsessed with her, giving Joe the perfect person to frame as the Eat the Rich Killer. Phoebe also turned down Adam’s marriage proposal, Joe and Kate reconciled, and Malcolm revealed his true wish — to kill Kate’s father, Tom Lockwood.
This article containers spoilers for You season 4, episode 7 “Good Man, Cruel World.”
Joe and Kate are moving forward in exploring whatever is between the two of them by going on a real date — a simple walk. The premise of the date was Kate’s idea and it only furthers the amount Joe is smitten with her. While the two jokingly plot their future together, Joe mentally mulls over what’s to come — her father is coming to town the following day.
In a flashback, Rhys insists that asking Joe to kill Tom Lockwood will be the last thing he asks of him, and that killing this horrible man will wash all of the other blood from his hands.
Nadia is obsessing over Eat the Rich Killer coverage because she is convinced that the woman, Dawn, who was arrested after kidnapping Lady Phoebe and being framed by Joe with Simon Soo’s ear is not the real killer. Nadia is suspicious of her professor still and feels he knows more than he is letting on.
Joe is doing research into Kate’s father to prepare himself for dinner. Nadia interrupts his research by asking if he’s read her pages yet, and uses her own writing as a roundabout way of trying to get more information about what went down between Phoebe, Dawn, and himself the episode prior. To try to throw her off his trail he lies and says that he actually did read the pages and they lost his attention. Nadia, clever as ever, asks him a question he would only be able to answer correctly if he’d read the pages — furthering her suspicion.
“Looking forward to getting to know you … Joe.”
Upon being introduced to his daughter’s new boyfriend, Tom Lockwood wastes no time leaning in to reveal that he knows “Jonathan”‘s real name. Obviously, this is all Joe can think about as the three of them sit at dinner together, though they all manage to maintain a cool exterior. Tom presents the Lockwood Museum in model form — a museum in New York City that he intends to gift his daughter, Kate’s very dream in life. She excuses herself to think about the offer, giving the men a moment alone to speak.
“What can you tell me about Love Quinn?”
Immediately jumping back into business, Tom interrogates Joe about his deceased wife and whether or not Joe killed him. Joe is swift as a fox and quick to divert the conversation to a mutual ground — they both want to protect Kate. After a vague threat, Tom pays the dinner bill and pries Joe for information on Rhys. Tom reveals he’s in town to protect his interests, which Rhys’ growing public popularity threatens, and tells Joe if he can give him any information on the man he will be protected. Joe is not going to kill Kate’s father.
Kate drops Joe off at home, and leaves him so she can go to Phoebe and support her friend in her fragile mental state. Kate reassures her friend that having PTSD is completely reasonable given the circumstances she’s found herself in and suggests lightly that she should go to a treatment facility, especially given she’s been taking a mixture of pills. Kate promises that she can keep it out of the press and arranges for a place for Phoebe to get help.
Of course, it can’t be that easy. Adam knocks on the door, revealing that he is now homeless. He demands to see Phoebe and barges into the flat, offering to drive Phoebe to the hospital (he may be homeless but he has one of his cars for one more day, apparently). Phoebe, having overheard Adam’s monologue about missing her and wanting to do the right thing, agrees that he can drive her … because she trusts him.
Joe now decides to antagonize Rhys, feeling he has some power back in the situation.
“I can see why you want TL dead. Given what he has on you.”
Rhys takes the bait and shows up at Joe’s flat, clearly irritated and upset at Joe’s taunting and worried about whatever information Tom has on him. Rhys finds the phone Joe had set to record and pulls Marienne’s passport from his pocket, revealing that he has the woman — alive — and greatly upsetting Joe on behalf of Marienne and her daughter, Juliette. Rhys says if Joe goes through as instructed and kills Tom he will release Marienne … but if it’s not within the next 24 hours he’s going to send Joe her teeth, insinuating a dark fate lies ahead for Joe’s former flame.
Kate stops by his flat in the morning with coffee and tells Joe about some of the skeletons in her closet, insisting that she’s worse than her father. Kate is convinced their relationship is doomed, but Joe manages to comfort her because he obviously knows a thing or two about not wanting to repeat the past.
Kate tells Joe about a fantasy she had the night before where the two of them escape to a new city every year to live life together care-free and doing good work, changing people’s lives for the better … while she thinks it’s stupid, Joe tells her to never say never.
Joe meets with Tom at the college to try to carry out the murder. Tom turns before Joe can pull a knife on him and once again interrogates Joe about Rhys and insists that he can see a person for who they really are.
“You seem like a nice guy — thoughtful, caring … and I think you did kill Love Quinn. It’s okay. She seemed like a maniac. The point is — you did it. When push comes to shove you can do it, and do it well enough to get off scott-fuckin’-free. I can help you.”
Tom gives Joe a way to find Rhys completely alone and kill him, telling Joe to go be his best self.
Kate returns home to the same model her father presented her with before waiting for her, only now it is named “The Galvin Museum” and has a note attached referring to her as “Kate” rather than “Katherine.” Before she can be sentimental about the discovery long, Phoebe and Adam enter — disheveled, loud, probably not sober, and definitely back together … even though Phoebe is supposed to be hospitalized to treat her substance abuse issues and declining mental health. The two are engaged, and while Kate tries to talk some sense into her friend, Adam has his claws deep in.
Nadia breaks in to Joe’s flat to find anything she can that will confirm her suspicions about him — that he is hiding something. Edward sends Nadia a photo from inside of Dawn’s flat showcasing photos of Joe, who she had been following due to her own suspicions.
Piercing together a common location from the photos, Nadia uses the key she found hidden in Joe’s things to access a door that is taped off to an old bomb shelter.
Joe goes to the address he can find Rhys alone, witnessing the end to a fight with the man and his ex wife. He knocks on the man’s door, and while some confusion from Rhys as to how Joe got there should be expected … he seems to not even know Joe at all. Joe knocks the man out and ties him to a chair — mostly naked — in a barn.
While Joe is beginning to castrate and question Rhys about where Marienne is, Nadia is unlocking the door and following the lights to her unknown destination. Joe ends up strangling Rhys — though as soon as the man is dead, another Rhys pops up behind him, pointing out the “pickle” Joe is finding himself in. This is the Rhys we’ve been seeing interact with Joe, the real Rhys now dead at his hands — though he was being honest when he said he didn’t know Joe.
“He wasn’t lying. But then, I wasn’t either. We really do have Marienne in a cage.”
Sure enough, at that moment Nadia finds exactly. that.
If you need to catch up on recaps for the season, you’ll be able to find them here. You season 4 part 1 is available to stream now on Netflix.
