Hello, you. Feel like stalking – I mean – staking out London in season four Parts I and Part II of Netflix’s “You”?
New city, same old Joe Goldberg. After fleeing from the domestic life he shared with Love Quinn Goldberg (Victoria Pedretti,) at the end of an explosive season three, Joe (Penn Badgley,) begins a holiday in England. With a few detours in Paris to check on Marienne (Tati Gabrielle,) Joe settles into life as Jonathan Moore, an American professor teaching Literature hoping to leave his past behind. It is easier said than done, especially when Joe’s neighbor, Professor Malcolm Harding (Stephen Hagan,) is murdered and the body is discovered in “Johnathan’s” new apartment. Now, Joe must infiltrate the elite to find Malcolm’s real killer, before he himself becomes a victim. Slip around London unnoticed, following these filming locations for season four Part I of Netflix’s “You.”
SPOILER WARNING!
Royal Holloway University of London
Royal Holloway University of London transforms into Darcy College, where “Johnathan” lands a professorship. This also happens to be where Joe meets Malcolm and his enigma of a girlfriend Kate (Charlotte Ritchie.) The University, located in Egham, was “formed from two colleges in 1900 and founded, half a century earlier, by two social pioneers, Elizabeth Jesser Reid and Thomas Holloway. The university was among the first places in Britain where women could access higher education.” This beautiful campus offers a plethora of courses including at least four different approaches to the sought-after English degree, something Joe doesn’t have. There seems to be plenty of capable teachers who can mold the minds of anyone who chooses to attend, Malcolm and Johnathan excluded, of course.
Kynance Mews
Kynance Mews plays host to Joe’s apartment, which has a perfect window for him to spy into the lives of Malcolm and Kate. Let this be a reminder to everyone: if you have curtains, use them. Joe seems to spend quite a large amount of time searching his new flat for bugs and clues left by the murderer, so there is not much time for his usual prolonged “observation” as he calls it. Located in a borough of South Kensington (as Joe states in his voiceover,) Kynance Mews is a cozy little oasis from the busyness of downtown London.
Soho House 76 Dean Street
Soho House 76 Dean Street is the inspiration for Sundry House. Soho House as an institution is an international club with a seemingly elite group of members, much like Joe’s new “friends.” Unlike Sundry House, which is a failing venture by an American, trust-funded, golden boy named Adam Pratt (Lukas Gage;) Soho House began in London, offering multiple luxurious rooms and amenities, for all members to explore the finer joys in life. Although there are six Soho House locations in London, 76 Dean Street was the closest to the aesthetic shown within the fictional Sundry House.
Fabric
Fabric is the nightclub in which some of the infamous Sundry House parties occur, including one in the first episode. It is this first party that kicks off the murder mystery and the audience is introduced, along with Joe, to all the key players involved, including his new fixation Rhys Montrose, (Ed Speelers.) Fabric is in downtown London and was founded in 1999 (along with most of its current patrons, as Joe relentlessly reminds the audience.) Fabric has three separate rooms with independent sound systems; two of the rooms feature stages for live acts. A quiet observer like Joe may not enjoy the atmosphere created in this club, all the more reason he medicates with alcohol and cannot recall most of the night after arriving at Sundry House.
Lincoln’s Inn
Lincoln’s Inn archives double as Darcy College’s extensive library where Joe begins his research on the classic “Whodunit” playing out right before his eyes. With the help of a particularly curious student named Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman,) Joe is able to lay out the blueprint of Motive, Means and Opportunity. Lincoln’s Inn, also known as The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, is located in Holborn and its library is “a modern working legal reference library for use by members of Lincoln’s Inn and by the bar as a whole.” It may not have the latest salacious murder series, but the library does pride itself on a full, wide-ranging, printed collection to satisfy the researcher inside of us all.
Old Billingsgate
Old Billingsgate serves as the exterior of Simon Soo’s (Aidan Cheng) art show in episode two, titled “Portrait of an Artist.” It is here where Joe gets his first taste of celebrity as the paparazzi swarm the steps outside, following “Kate’s most famous friend,” Lady Phoebe Borehall-Blaxworth, played by Tilly Keeper. Joe must expertly dodge the cameras as he is supposed to be dead, and inadvertently allows an angry assistant, intent on ruining Simon, into the show through the back door. Old Billingsgate is as equally fascinating on the inside as the exterior, according to its history, “This Victorian Grade II listed building was once a world-famous fish market, running up until 1982. The Grand Hall, which now holds varying events from exhibitions to awards dinners, was the market floor, and the basement of Old Billingsgate –now The Vault– was covered in 50 years of ice used to store the fishermen’s catch.” Unfortunately for Simon, The Vault couldn’t keep anyone’s secrets buried.
The Bargehouse
The gallery which held Simon’s art, the protest, and the secrets of the elite; is known as The Bargehouse. Located in South Bank, this gallery is “A raw, atmospheric exhibition space on London’s prime cultural trail between the Southbank Centre, Hayward Gallery and Tate Modern.” Funnily enough, “raw and atmospheric” were the same words Simon used to describe his collection, which was later revealed to be the work of an assistant that Simon stole from. This collection includes a mesmerizing cat named Isis that distracts Joe as he hunts for his stalker.
The Four Seasons London
The Four Seasons London also features in episode two as Phoebe’s apartment, which Joe visits to investigate Malcom’s friends while they mourn his loss. Located on Ten Trinity Square, this scene is shot in an exuberant suite at The Four Seasons London to showcase the difference in Joe’s tax bracket. It seems the entirety of Joe’s apartment could fit comfortably in Phoebe’s living room. This suite at The Four Seasons London is most likely The Royal Garden Suite, offering a “private outdoor terrace, complete with a perfectly manicured garden.” This suite does not come with a masseuse like Phoebe was enjoying before Joe’s arrival, but The Four Seasons does have a luxury spa which guests can utilize during their stay. The hotel returns in Part II for Phoebe and Adam’s “honeymoon” after their impromptu wedding to save Adam’s reputation from his failing businesses.
Bartholomew The Great
The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great features in episode three, “Eat The Rich” where the gang gathers for Malcom’s funeral. The interior of the church alone is dazzling enough to make one forget you are standing in a place of worship. Bartholomew The Great is “London’s oldest parish church, with a beautiful liturgy, a professional choir, and a vibrant congregation drawn from across London.” It was founded as an Augustinian priory in 1123 and shared St Bartholomew’s Hospital. This church has survived the Great Fire of 1666, the bombs dropped in Zeppelin Raids in World War I as well as the Blitz in World War II, surely it can handle Joe Goldberg and the serial killer hunting him for a few hours.
Gaddesden Home Farm
Gaddesden Home Farm is “Kate’s favorite place.” She leads Joe there after he is caught following her for her own protection. The Gaddesden Home Farm in Hertfordshire (which is not just a quick hop away from St Barts,) is a country house owned by the Halsey Family. This 500-year-old piece of The Gaddesden Estate has an area, called The Walled Garden Meadow that Kate says she and Malcolm used for sex. Maybe it is because they just left her boyfriend’s funeral and she wanted comfort, but Kate then seduces Joe right there in the garden, something she and (more surprisingly,) Joe admit was a mistake. This farm is perfect for fated connections as it is also a wedding venue. For those of you who thought in Part II, maybe Joe and Kate will return to tie the knot here, you’d be wrong, this farm is never seen again.
Knebworth House
Knebworth House features as Phoebe’s “Hampsie” house, for the fourth and fifth episodes of Part I, effectively serving as a two-part finale for the first half of season four. The group escapes to Phoebe’s country “house” which should be classified more as a mansion in my opinion. Each of the guests have their own suites, and if the dining room is any indication, the kitchen must be enormous. There are more rooms that just appear in the background, left unexplored until possibly the rest of the season. Ironically, though the group meant to leave drama behind them, these close quarters unearth secrets they’ve all been hiding, including Joe and his stalker’s. Knebworth House, “first achieved fame in Victorian times as the home of the novelist, playwright and politician Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton; author of the words ‘it was a dark and stormy night’ and ‘the pen is mightier than the sword.’ This is perfectly fitting as the setting where Joe believes his story will end. It is unclear whether these grounds also house an underground dungeon, but in Victorian times, it was a safe bet. You are welcome to visit at anytime, as long as you’ve paid the price of admission. Unlike Phoebe and her friends, you do not have free reign of the grounds or the staff.
Black Park
Black Park is used for the wooded area that Joe and Roald “go hunting” in. It is here the audience sees what Roald is capable of and the lengths he will go to in “protecting” Kate. All of his plans involve one simple thread: Eliminate Joe Goldberg. Joe realizes fairly quick on his run away from a shotgun-wielding Roald that he had been wrong in assuming Kate was the robotic one. Any attempts to bond with Roald are wiped away when he repeatedly attacks Joe with various weapons. He even gives Joe a head start with a chase that Richard Connell would approve of. Black Park surrounds the men as they face off. The park covers over 500 acres of woodland, heathland, and open space in South Buckinghamshire and is currently closed to visitors.
Ionic Temple at Chiswick House
Adam’s proposal to Phoebe in episode six failed almost as spectacularly as his entrepreneurial attempts. The beholder of this deeply satisfying moment is Ionic Temple at Chiswick House, also a great place for yoga. Now, the audience gets to see Phoebe stretch her legs as she walks away from Adam while he reeks of desperation and tulips from the garden. There is not much to be found on the history of the temple itself, but the Chiswick House is much more interesting, Built by “two Georgian trendsetters, the architect and designer William Kent and his friend and patron Richard Boyle, the third Earl of Burlington, between 1725 and about 1738.”
White Waltham Airfield
White Waltham Airfield becomes yet another crime scene Joe must clean in the end of the series. He made the mess, but still, it has got to be tiresome. While we may be glad to see Tom Lockwood dead, it makes me wonder who is going to inherit the planes left in the airfield. It certainly won’t be Kate, who wants nothing to do with her father. The White Waltham Airfield is not privately owned by a family, but by the West London Aero Club, who provides tours and information to visitors coming to Maidenhead.
Royal Victoria Dock
In episode 10, titled “The Death of Johnathan Moore,” Joe hopes to atone for his mistakes by setting Marienne free, but he is unable to relive his guilt. So instead of living with his crimes in prison, he chooses to die. Joe doesn’t waste anytime letting “Rhys” convince him not to jump of the Royal Victoria Dock, he drops feet first, hoping for death. The Royal Victoria Dock “opened in 1855, the dock could take the largest steamships and had the latest hydraulic engines to open its gates.” It does not seem to have a nefarious history, unlike the man stepping off the bridge. His peace in the water is interrupted by Joe’s survival skills pushing him to the surface. If visiting the Royal Victoria Dock, I highly recommend NOT trying to jump off the dock, there is a high probability you will be arrested, UNLIKE JOE.
Stream season four, Parts I and II of “You” now.
