“You” Season 4 Part 1 Is A Classic Whodunit. Here’s Why We’re Obsessed With The Genre
The internet’s favorite fictional serial killer is back with a new season of “You.”
You’ve read that right. Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) is back, and he’s left the United States behind for a life as a professor in London. The first half of the new season is not only wildly entertaining but a genre shift from the first three seasons. Though we still can’t help but wonder if Joe is Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl in disguise, the twist in the new season reminds us why we love the murder mystery genre.
How You Season 4 Is Different
Unlike previous seasons, Joe isn’t the predator this time – he’s the prey. After moving to London and taking on the persona of Professor Jonathan Moore, he finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery. As the “Eat The Rich” killer ravages London’s elite, Joe is surprised to learn that the killer is not only stalking him but knows his true identity – and that he’s a serial killer too. Though Joe has a love interest, Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), he doesn’t go to the same lengths to stalk her as he did with previous love interests like Beck in the first season and Love in the second season.
Before this season began streaming, Penn Badgley made it clear that this season would be different. In an interview with radio host Ryan Seacrest, he said, “Season four is a legitimate departure. It's even a bit of a different genre. It’s a whodunit.”
Instead of a psychological thriller/dark romance, this season is a classic whodunit/murder mystery. The genre itself is a theme in the show with Joe reading classic Agatha Christie novels to try to get into the killer’s head to crack the case, and there’s a 1920s murder mystery party in the fourth episode. With this genre being such an important part of the first half of this season, we couldn’t help but wonder why we love the genre so much.
Why We Love Murder Mysteries
It’s nearly impossible to divorce the whodunit murder mystery genre from the true crime genre, which arguably made You such a hit in the first place. Why do we love true crime? There are many reasons, but some of the most common reasons are that we want to be prepared in case we come in contact with a killer and that murder is such a social taboo (and objective evil) that we find it fascinating on a psychological level. Mystery writer Caitlin Rother writes, “We want some insight into the psychology of a killer, partly so we can learn how to protect our families and ourselves, but also because we are simply fascinated by aberrant behavior and the many paths that twisted perceptions can take.”
The taboo of murder is one of the reasons why we love whodunit mysteries, but we also just love solving the puzzle alongside the characters. According to David Evans of Psychology Today, the process can be exhilarating, and it helps that we solve it in a fictional setting where there’s no real-life danger. He writes, “The process by which the detective identifies the killer must also be totally believable. No magic and no tricks. In a classic murder mystery, there are clues all along, but the writer obscures them with a little narrative prestidigitation. When we come to the denouement, our reaction should be, ‘Oh, of course! Now I see it!’ Once it’s all wrapped up, it should make complete sense. It should be obvious! We were trying to figure it all out and thought we had a tentative scenario. But just then the writer called our attention to a false clue, and we missed the real one. We headed right, and he veered left.”
Evans also believes that murder mysteries are a form of healthy escapism. He continues, “We live in a world beset by wars, violence, and myriad disasters. But murder mysteries may give us hope by telling us stories that begin with evil events, but call forth the efforts of people who can rise to heroic heights and reassure us that, with great effort, evil can be overcome. We love murder mysteries because they are redemptive, they give us hope, and help us move from fear to reassurance.”
Solving fictional murder mysteries allows us to be the hero in an unpredictable world. It offers us a chance to be the good guy, reassuring us that there’s good in the world. Though we know that Joe Goldberg isn’t the good guy and the task of solving this mystery likely furthers his false belief that he’s the good guy in the story, solving the mystery as an audience gives us that kind of reassurance. Will it make him take a good look in the mirror and realize that he’s just as bad as the “Eat The Rich” killer? Probably not, because we all know that Joe Goldberg and self-awareness go together like oil and water. Still, it makes for one entertaining show.
Closing Thoughts
Though we’re unsure what the second half of the season will entail, we sure enjoyed the murder mystery of the first half. While we wait for the second half of the season to start streaming on March 9, we’ll be indulging in our favorite Agatha Christie novels and contemplating what’s next for Professor Jonathan Moore, a.k.a. Joe Goldberg.
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