Season Analysis

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Season 4 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

Starting anew in London, Joe vows to bury the past and be his best self. But on the rocky road to redemption, a new obsession starts to take hold.

Season Review

Joe Goldberg, now living as a professor in London, finds himself entangled with a group of vapidly wealthy, entitled British socialites, an environment he views with utter contempt. The season pivots into a 'whodunnit' mystery as members of this elite circle are murdered, with Joe first trying to solve the mystery to save himself. The narrative's true focus is a biting and shallow satire of the British upper class, portraying them as universally toxic, bumbling, or morally bankrupt 'toffs.' A key mid-season twist reveals Joe's own deep-seated psychosis and the terrifying realization that his 'best self' is the personification of his most violent impulses. The show ultimately rewards his lack of moral transformation with wealth and a powerful, morally compromised partner, reinforcing a worldview centered on the failure of redemption and the dominance of the power dynamic over objective morality. The season is more focused on class warfare than previous seasons, targeting a specific wealthy demographic for vilification.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The central conflict revolves around the moral corruption of a specific demographic, the wealthy, white British aristocratic class, who are consistently depicted as shallow, entitled, and morally evil. The white male protagonist, Joe, is revealed to be the ultimate source of evil and toxicity. His white male colleague is described as 'brainless' and other white male characters are either incompetent or monstrous billionaires like Tom Lockwood. An intelligent female student of color nearly exposes the white male killer, positioning her as the intellectual meritocracy against white male privilege.

Oikophobia8/10

The narrative is an explicit 'eat the rich' satire focused on the wholesale demonization of the British upper class and its cultural institutions. The ancestral and home culture of the wealthy elite is framed as fundamentally corrupt, rotten, and decadent, deserving of violent removal. The protagonist, Joe, repeatedly critiques this cultural class, with his internal monologue pointing out their moral vacuity and entitled snobbery.

Feminism7/10

The male protagonist is the archetypal toxic male stalker and killer. The wealthy white males in the social circle are consistently shown as either bumbling, incompetent, or actively evil forces. The main female characters, particularly Joe's student Nadia and new obsession Kate, are portrayed as intellectually superior and morally astute, with Nadia coming closest to solving the case through her intelligence. Kate's career as an art gallerist is central, and she rejects the traditional, toxic family structure represented by her powerful father.

LGBTQ+4/10

The core relationships remain focused on the heterosexual dynamic of Joe's obsession. The show's primary focus is on class and Joe's psychosis, not sexual ideology or queer theory. Some wealthy peripheral characters are depicted as having alternative sexualities, but these elements are secondary and not used to lecture on identity or deconstruct the nuclear family as a central theme.

Anti-Theism8/10

The moral framework of the show is founded entirely on subjective psychology and power dynamics. Joe's moral relativism is absolute, as he fully embraces his murderous, psychopathic nature by the end and is rewarded with immense wealth and power. There is no acknowledgment of a transcendent moral law or objective truth, positioning Joe's amoral self-justification as the dominant perspective in the narrative world.