‘You’ Season 4: Joe Will Plan His Return for Henry
When we last saw Joe Goldberg at the end of Season 3, he had killed his wife, staged her suicide, faked his death, and left his one-year-old son on his colleague’s doorstep before running off to Europe. With the release of the new season of You on Netflix coming up in February, fans are speculating about what we can expect from the beloved fictional stalker. Based on clues from last season’s finale, many suspect that Joe will spend Season 4 coming up with a plan to regain custody of his son. However, signs indicate he may have already had something in the works long before he fled the country.
Joe left his son on Dante’s doorstep
Joe and Dante became friends while working at the library. He admitted to Joe earlier in the season that he and his partner wanted a baby but struggled with the adoption process. Dante’s desire for a child made him the ideal candidate to raise Joe’s son, Henry “Forty” Quinn-Goldberg. At least temporarily.
When Joe dropped Henry off on Dante’s doorstep, he apologized and reassured his son by saying, “This isn’t forever.” His statement was the most obvious clue that he intends to reconnect with Henry one day, but not the only one.
Joe dropped hints about his plans in a note
When Joe abandoned Henry, he left a note for Dante asking that he and his partner take care of Henry as if he were their own. Assumed dead at the time, Joe knew they wouldn’t refuse his request and that “it was the right thing for Henry.” But there was more to the note that leads fans to believe Henry won’t be out of the picture for good.
While the audience wasn’t privy to what Joe’s note said, he mentioned during his narration that part of it was written specifically for Henry. “Someday, when he’s old enough, he can read the rest of the note,” he said. “But that’s between him and me.”
Joe fixated on saving Henry
Throughout most of Season 3, Joe focuses on saving Henry from his wife, Love. He created an escape plan for the two of them but was diverted by his obsession with his latest stalking victim, Marienne. So instead of taking his son and fleeing from his increasingly erratic wife, Joe stuck around to woo Marienne and tried to convince her to leave with him.
In one of his inner monologues directed toward her, he described why he needed to get Henry away from Love.
“Right now, I have to save my son from his mother. Mr. Mooney used to say there’s a monster inside every boy, all too easy to feed. If you make it strong, it will take over. We can save Henry together. I just need to get us out before Love feeds Henry so much as another bite.”
It wasn’t until the end of the final episode that Joe acknowledged that Henry might be better off without him as well, which he used to justify his decision to abandon him. We all know he couldn’t have faked his death and made a clean getaway with his son in tow, though. Leaving Henry behind was the only way he could get a fresh start in Europe.
Joe is too possessive to leave Henry behind
When we last see Joe in Season 3, he’s living in Paris under to pseudonym “Nick,” searching for Marienne. According to You Season 4 trailers, the show will pick up with Joe in London teaching at a university under a new alias. Professor Jonathan Moore seems to have time for both Marienne, and a new stalking victim in the upcoming episodes.
However, it would be foolish to think Joe won’t be concocting a plan to get Henry back in Season 4. His possessive demeanor toward those he loves alone is enough to assume he won’t let his son live a relatively normal life with Dante and his partner. That, in addition to his calculated maneuvers in the past, has led to high expectations from fans regarding his intentions for Henry. Who knows, maybe Joe’s big plan for his son was already put into action last season. The truth lives within the details of his note!
