Ed Speleers plays one of the main characters in You Season 4 on Netflix. He’s in all five episodes of You Season 4, Part 1, but who does he play?
Caution: There are major spoilers for You Season 4, Part 1 in this post.
When Ed Speleers was cast in You Season 4, we all wondered what type of character he would play. Would he end up being a villain, much like he is in Outlander and Downton Abbey? That was a little harder to tell considering really Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg is the villain of the story.
Speleers plays Rhys Montrose, an author who is also running for mayor. He comes from a lower-class background but has an upper-class connection. It’s that connection that helped him go to Oxford and then find a position in the world of the rich.
Is Ed Speleers a villain in You Season 4?
We learn a fair bit about his background in the first episode. It looks like he’s another Joe in terms of background. He didn’t have an easy life, being the son of a single mother who had some abusive tendencies. We learn he managed to get into Oxford after learning that his father is part of the aristocracy.
It’s only in the fifth episode that we learn who he really is and what he really wants. Throughout You Season 4, Joe is being tormentedd by someone who wants to frame him for murder. Then the tables turn, and Joe realizes this person wants to meet if Joe plays his cards right. That’s what he does.
Joe thinks he’s figured out who the Rich Killer is. It looks like Roald, but it turns out to be non-other than Rhys. Speleers’s character reveals it toward the end of Episode 5. Rhys hates the rich, and he’s killing off those he hates the most. He ties up Joe and Roald and wants Joe to kill Roald.
Then Rhys figures out that Joe doesn’t actually like killing. So, he leaves a tied up Joe and Roald behind and sets a fire. Joe and Roald manage to make it out, but now Joe needs to stop Rhys before he strikes again. By the end of Episode 5, Rhys announces he’s officially running for mayor, and it’s clear the stakes are higher than ever before.
What did you think of Ed Speleers in You Season 4? Share your thoughts in the comments below.