In You season 4 part 1, Joe, as Jonathan Moore, meets Rhys Montrose, who is unlike most of his new neo-fascist privileged friends. Joe saw himself in him, and in turn, he failed to see the face hiding behind Rhys.
Joe is invited to Adam Pratt’s Sundry House by his colleague and neighbor, Malcolm Harding, when he saves Malcolm’s girlfriend, Kate, from some robbers.
Adam Pratt’s Sundry House is the most exclusive club in Soho. Joe finds himself lost among some of the most fortunate ones in England. Loaded with their family money, these rich kids partied like no one else.
Among these conceited rich snobs, Joe meets Rhys Montrose, the only man who has had a different life than many of the people in the club.
Rhys Montrose’s background
Rhys’ presence surprises Joe. Rhys is here because he went to Oxford with everyone here at the party. Joe had his homework done for Rhys too.
Rhys has written a book called ‘A Good Man in a Cruel World’. It tells Rhys’ story of how he was born into poverty and raised by a single mother, which is uncomfortably relatable to Joe.
Rhys’ life was a mess until he discovered that he is the son of the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull. Joe calls Rhys’ book one of the best memoirs he has ever read.
Upon meeting Rhys, Joe tells him that he loved his book, and when Rhys calls it sordid, Joe defends it. Rhys notes that and realizes that Joe went through something much similar as a kid, and that’s the reason he is defending his story.
Rhys and Joe relate to each other
Rhys becomes the only person Joe gets along with at the party. They have similar thoughts toward the people they are with. All these privileged people are living the best of their lives while the world is burning, and they don’t even know that it is falling apart.
Joe feels like this is the most real conversation he is having. When Rhys leaves, claiming that he has to go to a show in the morning to talk about whether he will be running for mayor, Joe assures him that he has his vote now.
The next time Joe meets Rhys, the latter easily sees through Joe. He understands the terrible life Joe has been through—the kind not everyone survives. It has damaged Joe to a point where he is capable of doing the real damage.
Rhys says that he can’t erase any of it, but he is intending to do some good work here in London, protect the people he loves, and make sure no one suffers. According to Rhys, redemption is possible if one faces the results of their deeds.
Why is Rhys friends with people he doesn’t like?
Given how different Rhys is from all of his friends, Joe wonders why he still hangs out with them. He gets to ask the same during Simon’s art show.
Rhys reveals that he thinks about it all the time. The only reason he has continued to be in touch with his college friends is that they were kind to him when he needed it.
Rhys thinks it would be hypocritical of him to disavow his old friends for being who they are. He says the longer they know somebody, the more cursed they become to see them as human.
Rhys is the Eat the Rich Killer
In an attempt to find out who is framing him for the murder of Malcolm and Simon, Joe suspected everyone from his new friend circle, including Rhys, who he later forgot about when Roald became more of a prime suspect.
In the end, when Joe takes Roald down, Rhys shows up and knocks Joe out. Joe then wakes up in the cellar of Lady Phoebe’s country house and figures out that Rhys is his stalker and the so-called Eat the Rich Killer.
Joe wonders how he missed Rhys. He is the man of the people who despises the rich. Joe’s skills and his past inspired Rhys for his secret project. He ditched his Plan A, which was framing Joe for Malcolm’s murder, and instead opted to use Joe’s skills.
He somewhere saw himself in Joe, and he desperately wished for Joe to be the person he had hoped for. He came to Joe’s aid because he was now getting himself killed in the process of finding out who his blackmailer is.
Rhys plans to pin all of the murders on Roald and kill him. No one will be surprised upon learning that Roald is the killer; he has done things that all point toward him. Rhys wants Joe to get rid of him.
In order to lure Rhys out, Joe had played along to what he desired. Unfortunately, in the end, Rhys sees through Joe’s lies. Joe is, after all, not the person he dreamt of.
Rhys offers to meet him and revisit this conversation again if Joe breaks out of the dungeon alive. Joe does escape, and back home, he watches Rhys announce his candidacy for mayor of London on TV.
Rhys hasn’t contacted Joe since then, but Joe vows to stop Rhys before he can hurt anyone else and drag his soul down along with him.
Also Read: You season 4 part 1 review: Effectively transforms into a murder mystery