Netflix’s You season 4 had a ton of twists and turns that left audiences’ heads spinning: murder, betrayal, vivid hallucinations. It was a lot to take in, to be honest, but it was still an enjoyable ride from start to finish, and I’m definitely not the only fan clamoring for the show’s fifth (and possibly last) season.
However, as I often tend to go down a social media rabbit hole after finishing any season of television, I couldn’t help but realize that we were all given the the final twist of season 4 months ago, through one of the most unconventional methods possible. It seems that Penn Badgley, bearded heartthrob of both the late 2000s and present day, spoiled the ending of part 2 when he posted his first TikTok in October 2022. The TikTok in question sees Badgley running towards a door and opening it to reveal his character, Joe, as they both lip sync to Taylor Swift’s hit song “Anti-Hero.”
This video, whether intentional or not, gave away the biggest twist of You, as the season ends with Joe figuring out that Rhys Montrose—his seemingly evil stalker who was hunting down and killing his new friends while trying to pin it all on Joe—was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. Joe was actually the one committing the murders and dealt with the guilt from those crimes by disassociating and using Rhys as a scapegoat.
The real Rhys had no idea who he was and ended up being among Joe’s vast number of victims at the end of Part 2. There was no grand conspiracy, no one else to put the blame on—Joe really was the problem all along. Plus, Joe’s season-ending monologue was backtracked by, you guessed it, “Anti-Hero.”
Honestly, whoever runs Badgley’s TikTok account deserves the biggest of raises.
(featured image: Netflix)
