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| “ | She's tucked away. Kill Lockwood, and I'll release her immediately. However, if Lockwood isn't dead in 24 hours, I'm gonna send you Marienne Bellamy's teeth in a f-cking fruit basket. | „ |
| ~ Rhys threatening Joe. |
| “ | Carotid! | „ |
| ~ Rhys instructing Joe to kill. |
| “ | No. We could figure this out, you and me. We can do anything together. I'm alive for you. Just why can't you see that? Why can't you see me the way I see you? I love you! | „ |
| ~ Rhys' last words. |
Rhys Montrose, also referred to as the Eat-The-Rich Killer or Joe Goldberg, is the secondary antagonist of the Netflix series, You.
Rhys Montrose was an aspiring mayoral candidate of London as well as a charismatic writer. During the fourth season of the show when Joe is living in London under the alias of Jonathan Moore, he apparently meets Rhys at an Elite London hot spot.
Not long afterwards, a mysterious individual begins taunting Joe and threatening to reveal his true identity, in addition to gruesomely murdering several people in Joe's life. These murders ultimately result in the media labeling this mysterious individual as the "Eat-the-Rich Killer" after these murders become public knowledge.
Sometime later, Rhys apparently reveals to Joe that not only is he this mysterious "Eat-the-Rich Killer" but that he has also abducted and imprisoned Marienne Bellamy and will harm her without hesitation unless Joe gives in to his demands, prompting Joe to make it his mission to take him down.
However, after Joe tracks Rhys down to his place of residence and confronts him, Rhys asks Joe if he knows him—as if he had never met him before. This prompts Joe to restrain and torture Rhys in an attempt to make him confess his crimes and reveal Marienne's location, but Rhys maintains his innocence and states that he has no idea what Joe is talking about. Joe soon after ends up strangling and killing Rhys out of frustration.
It is immediately after this moment that the truth is revealed—the "Rhys" that Joe had been interacting with during his time in London was actually his malevolent split personality who presented himself to Joe in the form of Rhys in an attempt to manipulate him.
It is also revealed that not only was the real Rhys Montrose that Joe had just killed completely innocent of the crimes Joe believed he was guilty of, but that (with the exception of when Joe tracked him down and killed him shortly afterwards) Joe and the real Rhys Montrose had never actually met.
It is after Joe kills the real Rhys Montrose that his split personality appears before him (still in the form of Rhys) and reveals that while he may have lied about who he really was, he really had abducted Marienne and had her imprisoned in a glass cage.
"Rhys"' ultimate goal is rather simple—to convince Joe to give into his inner darkness and bring him down to his level of depravity.
In Season 3 and a brief scene in Season 4 where he was caught on video, he was portrayed by Penn Badgley, who also portrayed Joe in the same show. In Season 4 (once he takes the form of Rhys), he is portrayed by Ed Speleers, who also portrayed Stephen Bonnet in Outlander.
Quick Answers
How does Rhys Montrose become Joe's obsession in You?
What role does Rhys Montrose play in the Eat-the-Rich Killer plot?
Is Rhys Montrose a real person in the series You?
How is Rhys Montrose connected to Joe Goldberg's alternate personality?
What impact does Rhys Montrose have on Joe's actions in You?
Personality[]
Rhys is a perverted, sadistic, psychopathic, narcissistic, machiavellian, cold hearted, remorseless, cruel, enigmatic, and exceptionally intelligent manipulator embodying unhealthy traits. His charm and intelligence mask a deeply strategic and calculating nature, allowing him to often deceive and control those around him with ease. He is seen to lack complete empathy and is mainly driven by a desire for power, often also exhibiting a cold, ruthless streak, taking pleasure in the suffering of others and showing no remorse for his actions adding to his sheer sadism. His manipulative mind and shocking ability to maintain a respectable public facade only adds to his menacing nature. However despite all of this, Rhys is not a crazy individual who speaks from whatever’s on their mind, he’s instead like mentioned before A vile mastermind, In many episodes even though Rhys is simply Joe’s split personality he is seen not socializing very often, standing away from the crowds just being himself. Even Joe himself stated that he’s different then the rest, Even when it comes to moments with Rhys not being with Joe psychically, Due to his stalking methods and evil intentligence as a result he often stalks Joe using a fictional app in which the user can send anonymous messages, He does this constantly even to the point where he blackmails Joe, While the whole time Joe doesn’t know until he finds out. Interestingly Unlike one-dimensional characters, Rhys has a well-developed psychological profile. As most His actions are often driven by a traumatic past and a desire for power and control. This depth makes him more intriguing.
He himself is also similar to Joe and while sure that’s not a surprise it’s quite a unique trait as Rhys operates in a morally gray area. While his actions are undeniably villainous, he often rationalizes them with a twisted sense of justice or greater good. Similar to Joe’s reasons for what he did.
Often in the situations show, Rhys is highly smart in his approach, carefully planning his moves and staying several steps ahead of his opponents. This meticulous nature makes him a formidable adversary, All while he manages to stay calm not showing any guilt for what he’s caused. What add’s to his manipulation skills is due to the fact that Rhys has a dual identity that adds to his villainous persona. As He presents himself as a reputable public figure of The UK, which contrasts sharply with his darker, hidden side involved in criminal activities. As mentioned before He seem’s to exhibits several traits common to psychopathy, such as a lack of empathy, superficial charm, and a propensity for deceit. These traits make him capable of obviously committing heinous acts without remorse. His sadistic pleasure in causing harm, coupled with his narcissistic belief in his own superiority, makes him especially dangerous. Rhys’s cunning nature allows him to outwit his enemies, while his ruthless ambition drives him to eliminate any obstacles in his path without hesitation. His complete lack of empathy and profound moral corruption further solidify his role as evil.
Biography[]
While laying low in London after murdering his wife Love Quinn and faking his death, fugitive serial killer Joe Goldberg became obsessed with a local celebrity named Rhys Montrose, who was raised on a council estate by a single mother before learning he was the son of a Duke, attending Oxford, and writing a best-selling memoir.
Joe attempted to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend Marienne Bellamy at an arts fair, but Marienne, having learned about Joe's murder of her boyfriend Ryan Goodwin from Love, rejected him, and Joe let her go. Shortly after, Joe is approached by a hitman named Elliot Tannenberg, who was hired by Love's father to kill him. Elliot extorts Joe for money in return for sparing his life and providing him with a false identity, but orders him to kill Marienne in return.
Box of things Joe took from Rhys
Sometime before or shortly after reuniting with Marienne and meeting Elliot, Joe developed a psychotic split personality containing his pettiness, misogyny, and other dark personality traits. The split personality communicated with Joe in two ways: through imaginary, anonymous, threatening text messages and by talking to him through the physical hallucinations of Rhys. Joe would regularly disassociate, and "Rhys" would take control of his body, do horrible things, and return control to Joe, none the wiser.
Shortly after Elliot's orders, "Rhys" takes control of Joe's body for the first time, planting a sedative in Marienne's coffee and kidnapping her. After keeping her hostage in an apartment, Rhys imprisoned Marienne in a glass cage hidden in an abandoned bomb shelter, sporadically feeding her Indian food and taunting her. Having lost interest in Marienne and seeing her as a loose end, Rhys planned to keep Marienne alive until he could reveal himself to Joe, who mistakenly believes that Marienne returned to Paris, and convince Joe to kill her.
Joe began regularly speaking with "Rhys" through hallucinating him, starting at a party in Sundry House where Malcolm Harding invited him as thanks for rescuing Malcolm's girlfriend, Kate Galvin, from thugs. After meeting socialites Lady Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth, Roald Walker-Burton, and Gemma Graham-Greene, Joe got very drunk, and Malcolm brought Joe home. Rhys took control of Joe's body. stabbed Malcolm to death out of annoyance at a few misogynistic comments Malcolm made at the party and chopped off his finger. Joe woke up the next morning to find Malcolm dead on his dinner table. He disposed of Malcolm's body by sawing him into pieces and dumping them in the River Thames. "Rhys" congratulated him through his imaginary anonymous text messages, and Joe believes a separate killer murdered Malcolm and framed it on him.
Joe investigates who Malcolm's murderer may be and eventually settles on Simon Soo, an up-and-coming painter who has been stealing his work from other artists. Joe waits outside Kate's art gallery to interrogate Simon about Malcolm's death before he falls asleep. Rhys takes control of Joe again. stabs Simon to death for threatening to ruin Kate's career and cuts off his ear. Rhys then sends Malcolm's ear to the press, revealing that he was murdered. When Rhys threatens Kate through the imaginary anonymous text messages, Joe stalks her to protect her, resulting in him being attacked by Lady Phoebe's bodyguard, Vic, who correctly believes he's the killer. Joe kills Vic and buries his corpse in Simon's grave. When Rhys "texts" him, Joe decides to pretend to be excited by the murder.
Lady Phoebe invites Joe to a party at her Hampshire country house, at Roald's suggestion. Roald suspects Joe of being the killer, and he and Joe have a series of confrontations that end with Roald shoving Joe out of a window. After Joe lands on a bush unharmed, Rhys takes control of Joe's body and murders Gemma out of disgust for her bullying Joe and Kate and molesting the countryhouse staff members. Rhys returns, lies down on the bush, and Joe regains control, hearing Kate scream. Rushing up, he finds Kate kneeling over Gemma's body, having impulsively pulled the knife out.
Convinced that Kate murdered Gemma, Joe reluctantly helps her hide the body in the game larder, planning to betray her later. When Kate loses her bracelet in the game larder, Joe attempts to retrieve it for her but is caught by Roald, who chases him with a hunting rifle and attempts to kill him. After disarming and knocking out Roald, "Rhys" reveals himself in his physical form to Joe and forcibly takes control of his body. He ties him and Rhys up in the countryhouse's dungeons and unsuccessfully attempts to convince Joe to kill Roald. Rhys takes control of Joe once again, knocks over a lantern, and burns down the dungeon, but Joe takes back control, frees himself and Roald, and escapes.
Back in London, Rhys "approaches" Joe, claiming to have murdered Malcolm, Simon, and Gemma due to them blackmailing him or otherwise being potential liabilities. He hands Joe Simon's severed ear and demands that he frame someone for it, lest Rhys frame Joe for it. Joe considers framing a man named Connie, but when Phoebe is taken hostage by a mentally ill woman named Dawn Brown, Joe plants the ear in Dawn's bag instead, framing her for the murders and getting her arrested. Rhys then demands that Joe kill Kate's estranged billionaire father, Tom Lockwood. When Joe attempts to record a confession from Rhys, Rhys reveals that he kidnapped Marienne and orders Joe to kill Tom by threatening her life. Joe isolates Tom in a library, but Tom catches on to him and gives him the real Rhys Montrose's current location: his ex-wife's cottage.
Joe kidnaps, tortures, and murders the real Rhys in a vain attempt to find Marienne's location, prompting the fake Rhys to reveal himself and warns Joe that he had not fed Marienne in days due to the fact that he took control of his body to stalk, kidnap, and torture Marienne both physically and psychologically. Joe manages to find Marienne in time, and despite Rhys demanding that he kill her, he plans to free her as soon as he finds a way to escape London before the police can arrest him. Joe texts Marienne's friend Beatrice and learns that Marienne lost custody of her daughter Juliette, which seemingly drives Marienne to commit suicide by overdosing on oxycodone pills, which was actually her faking her death thanks to Nadia Harran swapping the pills when she came to rescue her. At her written request, Joe leaves Marienne's body on a bench. To "protect" Kate from her father's manipulations, Joe and Rhys murder Lockwood and frame it on his bodyguard.
Guilt-ridden by his murders and Marienne's "suicide", Joe heads to a bridge to commit suicide. Rhys begs him to back down, but Joe "throws" him off the bridge before jumping off himself. Unfortunately for everyone, Joe survives his suicide attempt. He tells Kate about the murders of Love and Marienne's ex-boyfriend Ryan Goodwin, and Kate uses his connections to help cover up the murders, allowing Joe to return to New York and live by his true identity. Meanwhile, he discovers that a girl named Nadia has been investigating him, and he frames her for the real Rhys Montrose's murder.
While Rhys never speaks to Joe after the bridge scene, Joe imagines his reflection in the window and becomes significantly more ruthless and cruel, so whether the Rhys personality has ceased to exist or merged with Joe's is unclear.
Victims[]
- Malcolm Harding - Stabbed in the chest and cut finger. (Joe Takes a Holiday)
- Simon Soo - Stabbed in the chest and cut ear. (Portrait of the Artist)
- Gemma Graham-Greene - Throat slit. (Hampsie)
Trivia[]
- The Rhys personality is more openly perverted than Joe usually is. When Kate is visibly drunk at and after Phoebe's party, Rhys repeatedly encourages Joe to have sex with her, to which he declines.
- Rhys is what the FBI calls a serial killer (a person who killed three or more people within a certain time frame), like Ted Bundy and Ed Gein — charming and charismatic men, but deeply disturbed.
- The Rhys personality may have appeared in the third season, around episode 3, although it was a double of Joe.
- Back in Season 1, the existence of Rhys may have been foreshadowed when Dr. Nicky told Joe during a therapy session that there are two of him within his body.
External Links[]
- Rhys Montrose on the You Wiki
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 Villains
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Secondary Villains Minor Villains | ||