You star Penn Badgley on big twist and message behind season 4 part 2

Part 2 picks up after the murder-mystery format of the first five episodes led to Joe trying to suss out who the enigmatic Eat The Rich killer was. Plucking off his newfound friendship group one-by-one, Joe was confronted by Rhys Montrose in the finale, who revealed himself to be the killer all along.

But in fact, part 2 reveals something a lot more sinister – last chance to turn back if you haven't yet watched the shocking new episodes, as there are big spoilers ahead...

In the latest episodes, we discover the chilling fact that Joe has always been the killer, and Rhys is merely a figment of his imagination.

It's a twist that was always intentional to lead people to think that Joe had changed, Penn Badgley explained exclusively to RadioTimes.com.

Chatting about the intention behind tricking the viewer into thinking Joe had changed in part 1, Badgley said: “So, I think leading people to believe that he’s changed, it’s sort of like, ‘It’s season 4, he’s got to change somehow, right? Something’s got to change – something!'

"I think what we’ve done is rather than Joe changing, the whole show kind of contorts around him and changes its appearance and then reveals it’s the Joe you’ve known he is since day 1, A1."

He continued: “It’s the Joe you’ve known from season 1, he puts her in a box and kills her – tries to. I mean, come on, that’s Joe. He’s not going to stop – are you going to stop watching? That’s what the show’s basically asking. We’re going to contort and change genre to reveal Joe as he is, that’s actually a really fun exercise.”

The dramatic second part of the fourth season also reveals that Joe never actually let Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) go, but as he refers to, "puts her in a box" in a derelict London warehouse instead.

Badgley also explained that what makes part 2 so effective is the fact that we're hearing directly from Marienne. He said: “I think it all comes home and lands really beautifully in episode 8, which is – for the first time really – in another person’s perspective. Truly another perspective.

"We’ve seen vignettes with Love and Beck before, sort of in their world. But we’ve never seen Joe from their perspective. In this case, we see Joe from Marienne’s perspective while she’s in the cage, which is a very different Joe. Often, that kind of stuff happens off-camera."

Read more:

• Does Marienne die in You season 4 part 2? Tati Gabrielle on return
• You season 4 part 2 ending explained: What happens to Joe?
• You season 5: Will the Netflix drama return?
• You’s Charlotte Ritchie on why she was “nervous” about the season 4 role
• You season 4 location guide: Where was the Netflix thriller filmed?
• Who is the ‘Eat the Rich’ killer in You season 4?
• You season 4 location guide: Where was the Netflix thriller filmed?
• You star on season 4: ‘It’s timely and important – but also fun'

You season 4 is available to watch on Netflix now. Seasons 1-3 are streaming now. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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