Joe Is The “Eat The Rich” Killer In You Season 4 – Theory Explained

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for You season 4 part 1, and potentially You season 4 part 2!

As an underwhelming follow-up to You’s season 3 finale, the Netflix show’s fourth season brings its stalker/serial killer, Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg, to the heart of the London elite and a murder mystery. But instead of Joe being the culprit, he’s apparently taken on a protective role towards gallerist and guilty rich Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie) who he believes will be the next victim. With the rich dropping like flies, Joe races to uncover the Eat the Rich killer’s identity before he kills anyone else and pins it on Joe.

In You season 4, episode 5, Rhys Montrose (Ed Speelers), an aspiring mayoral candidate and part of London’s rich clique, finally reveals himself to Joe as the Eat the Rich killer. As teased in You season 4 part 2’s trailer, Rhys wants a friend who shares his morbid interest in murder and believes to have found that in Joe. However, You season 4 part 1 doesn’t seem as it appears as many details don’t add up. So naturally, suspicious audiences across the internet have crazily put forth a theory.

Related: Is Love Alive?! You Season 4 Part 2’s Trailer Tease Explained

You Theory: Rhys’ Eat The Rich Killer Persona Is Curated By Joe’s Imagination

Although Rhys Montrose is a real person in You season 4, he isn’t the killer that Joe and his explicit admission makes him up to be. Gaining traction on several different discussion forums, this You season 4 theory basically points out that Rhys’ Eat the Rich killer persona is a mere product of Joe’s imagination. Seeing as Joe has a history of conjuring up things that don’t exist, Netflix’s resident stalker projecting his perverse penchant for violence onto another person (one that’s hallucinatory for that matter) isn’t that far-fetched. Plus, there’s evidence to support this theory.

For starters, all of Joe and Rhys’ interactions in You season 4, part 1 has not been participated by any member of the London group. And if they are within the vicinity by chance, no one ever acknowledges Rhys’ presence. Even during the dining scene in You season 4, episode 2, Joe responds “I’m fine” to Rhys’ comment of him being sick, but somehow, everyone else appears to have only heard Joe mumble. Moreover, Rhys is an outlier of the Sundry House people. Despite being insanely rich like the rest of them, Rhys shares a similar abusive background as You‘s Joe Goldberg; which is probably the reason why Joe identifies with Rhys.

Another thing to consider is that Joe’s entire knowledge of Rhys comes from his own autobiography given to him by his student Nadia, played by Amy-Leigh Hickman. So there’s that sense of intimacy Joe probably feels with Rhys, as opposed to the others who Joe only ever knows about from digging through their socials. Additionally, Joe’s stalker who texts him using an app that makes messages disappear after reading them is also a tell-tale sign that Rhys’ murderous side is all in Joe’s head.

Why Joe Goldberg Is Still You’s Bad Guy

At the end ofYou season 3, Joe is visibly shaken at his newfound self-awareness confirming that he isn’t a good person. With his guilt at being the instrument to other people’s gruesome deaths rising to the forefront of his consciousness, Joe is determined to turn a new leaf and become a better person in You season 4. However, Joe wanting to change doesn’t automatically mean that the unhinged part of his brain switches off on command.

Related: You Season 4 Confirms It’s Time For The Show To EndNetflix’s You hasn’t outright diagnosed Joe Goldberg with any disorder or mental illness, but it’s quite obvious that he isn’t of sound mental capacity. Audiences even suggest that Joe has two personalities in one body – one who obsesses over women and likes violence, and the other who just wishes to be normal – something that Beck’s therapist mentions Dr. Nicky back in You season 1. In some instances in You season 2 and 3, Joe’s internal monologue-ing gets so bad that he hallucinates there being two of him arguing about his very nature.

You season 4 is suspiciously doing the same thing, only this time, Joe is using a curated version of Rhys as a disassociated element absolving him of his guilt. Moreover, You’s entire premise is Joe being the villain. So it doesn’t really make sense for Netflix’s You to change that, especially considering that the murders have all been a tad too convenient for his position.

You Season 4 Changing Its Villain Doesn’t Make Sense

There being a second coming of Victoria Pedretti’s Love Quinn via Rhys Montrose’s character is awfully redundant for You, a show that tries to outdo itself every season. Of course, considering that Rhys, as the Eat the Rich killer, doesn’t have the motive to kill Malcolm, Simon or even Gemma, he was also nowhere near any of those murders. But coincidentally, Joe Goldberg was, despite claiming that he remembers nothing. Conveniently blacked out every time someone dies, it’s likely that Joe’s Rhys projection commits the You season 4 part 1 murders during the times he claims he passes out.

In You season 4, episode 1, Joe was drunk and high when Malcolm was murdered in his apartment. In You season 4, episode 2, Joe fell asleep on a bench outside the gallery where Simon was murdered. And in You season 4, episode 4, Roald pushed Joe out of a high window (obviously, passing out) before Gemma was found dead in Kate’s room. Given the facts, You season 4 may be throwing audiences off with its Rhys character but still staying true to its core narrative of Joe being its villain because anything otherwise doesn’t really add up.

Related: Why You Season 4’s Eat The Rich Killer Broke Their Signature Trend

Why It’s Best That Joe Is Still The Main Villain In You

Netflix’s You shouldn’t stray away from its main concept of Joe Goldberg being the bad guy. After everything he has done, the last thing that You’s showrunners should be doing is giving Joe a hand out of a redemption arc (by thwarting another killer) which he clearly doesn’t deserve. As a stalker/serial killer, Joe repenting for his felonies and living out his guilt is the least he could do without being caught and punished by the law. Moreover, You’s appeal stems from a fascination with Joe’s twisted rationality of his iniquities.

Netflix’s calculated two-part release of You season 4 raises some eyebrows as it teases underlying plot devices. However, as You has yet to confirm Joe Goldberg’s transformation from a hunter to a protector, the upcoming You season 4 part 2 leaves much to be uncovered. And keeping in mind Nadia’s description of “whodunit” novels, You as a murder mystery isn’t exempt from there being no coincidences.

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