How You Season 4’s Ending Failed To Answer 1 Huge Joe Mystery

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for You season 4

One huge question about Joe Goldberg’s personal life is still unanswered after the You season 4 finale. After the events of season 3, Joe moved on to a new chapter of his life, albeit without his son, Henry. After originally planning to escape with him, Joe gave Henry to his friend Dante and his husband Lansing, as the two often babysat Henry and were looking to raise a child together.

As always, You‘s Joe fled the neighborhood, this time heading overseas to London and reinventing himself as a professor named Jonathan Moore. As Jonathan, he became intertwined with a group of affluent Londoners, went on another killing spree, got away with the series of murders, and ended up back in New York with his new love interest, Kate Galvin. Now, He’s reclaimed his identity as Joe and presented an elaborate story to the press explaining his disappearance. All things considered, You season 4 featured a number of new developments in Joe’s story, but none involved Henry.

RELATED: Love Quinn’s Cameo Wasn’t Enough For You Season 4

Joe Doesn’t Mention Getting His Son Henry Back In You Season 4

Curiously, Joe makes no mention of Henry, in spite of how important the latter is to him. By the end of You season 4, Kate has enough connections to cover up his disappearance and fake death so he can reenter the world as himself, yet Joe doesn’t appear to be interested in getting his son back. That would be the first thing any loving father would want to do, especially since Joe didn’t want to give up Henry and had a plan for both of them to live a better life. However, Joe has finally accepted his serial killer nature and and that having a baby around will only complicate matters.

One of Joe’s fears during You season 3 was that his presence would ruin Henry’s life. Through flashbacks, You has delved into Joe’s dark past, including how the owner of the You season 1 bookstore Mr. Mooney, abused him when he was younger and played a role in the twisted mindset he’s developed as an adult. Joe doesn’t want to scar his child like the adults in his life have scarred him, which is ultimately why he chose to give the child to Dante and Lansing in the first place. Still, the You season 4 ending leaves a lot of loose ends surrounding Henry’s fate, given that he should be relevant to Joe’s current situation.

Why Joe Needs Henry To Trick The Public

While Henry would most assuredly be better off without Joe, the You serial killer can’t live free of public ridicule without his son. Kate has put a lot of effort into covering up Joe’s past, and if they want to live a normal life in New York with the public on their side, they can’t forget about Henry. Joe needs to keep up his new squeaky-clean image, and if he doesn’t attempt to get his son back, he will look like a reckless, deadbeat dad.

To that end, Joe will need to come up with a story about how much he misses his son to gain the community’s sympathy and support. Otherwise, they’ll turn on him, which would naturally lead to people digging into his past. If and when that happens, he’ll likely find himself on the run again. There’s still no confirmation of a You season 5, but if the show returns, it needs to address its Henry plothole.

More: You: Joe Goldberg’s Cage Explained (& Where It Is Found)