You win some, you lose some. But in the case of Joe Goldberg, you usually win.
Penn Badgley has portrayed everyone's favorite serial killer on You since its debut in 2018, and he's back for even more blood in season four, part one out now on Netflix. Ahead of the Feb. 9 premiere, Badgley and his co-stars discussed what exactly makes the show's complicated main character so alluring.
"We have created a character that we want people to be charmed by, seduced by," Badgley exclusively explained to E! News. "It's not like it's a clinical portrait of a serial killer and everybody just happens to be obsessed with him. No, it's on us that everybody likes him so much, we've created him that way."
He continued, "Who is anyone to accurately judge whether or not someone can be redeemed? Okay, if you're taking a serial killer, maybe it's safe to say people who've killed that many people cannot be redeemed."
In season four, Joe winds up in London under the alias of Jonathan Moore, a literary professor who finds himself enmeshed within an elite, upper crust clique. However, You poses a true moral dilemma for its lead: Can Joe ever be redeemed?
"Sorry to get kind of heavy, but what about people who go to war and have to do it in a certain context? So where do we draw the line?" Badgley questioned. "If we're in power, if we're in the seat of deciding who is redeemable or not, it's a seriously moral question. And I don't know who has that power. I'll go ahead and say Joe can't change, won't change."
His co-star Tilly Keeper, who plays aristocratic new character Lady Phoebe, agreed with his assessment.
"I think he's past the point of redemption," she shared. "One murder was bad enough, now what's he on, 15 murders? Also, just stalking and harassing people is just not great either. I think he's pretty solid in the evil stakes now, that's where we should leave him."
On the other hand, new addition Ed Speleers (a.k.a. author Rhys Montrose) doesn't think the answer is so cut and dry.
"I feel that in the world of You, he can be redeemed," he admitted. "If we took him and put him the real world, I think he's beyond the point of redemption."
Fellow newcomer Amy-Leigh Hickman, who plays literature student Nadia, had her own take on Joe's path forward.
"I think he has to be [redeemable] at some stage," she said. "How long can someone really get away with this? But people want to keep seeing what he does next, so I suppose he won't be redeemed."
Season four also stars Charlotte Ritchie, Lukas Gage, Aidan Cheng, Eve Austin, Ozioma Whenu, Ben Wiggins, Niccy Lin, Dario Coates and Stephen Hagan as the group of friends who give Joe one last chance at redemption.
Regardless of the true answer, see how the rest of You plays out when season four, part two premieres March 9 on Netflix.