‘ You’ recalls Badgley’s ‘ Gossip Girl’ roots

Joe Goldberg can’t seem to escape his past in Season 4 of “You“and neither can Penn Badgley.

Badgley, 36, skyrocketed to stardom playing Dan Humphrey in “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012.

The CW drama, based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s book, revolved around a group of elite Upper East Side teenagers tormented by texts from a mysterious “Gossip Girl” who knows all their dirty secrets.

“You” also draws from another teen drama, “Pretty Little Liars.”

The series on ABC Family ( now Freeform), based on Sara Shepard’s novels, aired from 2010- 2017 and centered on a group of teenage girls who receive text messages from someone alleging to be their dead friend Alison ( Sasha Pieterse).

It’s hard to imagine Badgley played both Humphrey and serial killer Goldberg in the Netflix series.

However, in the fourth season of “You” ( first five episodes now streaming), the two worlds collide.

“You” Season 4 sees Goldberg escape to London as a literature professor under the alias Jonathan Moore. Despite being an outsider, he ends up falling in with an elite group of socialites.

When members of the group are murdered, Goldberg receives text messages threatening to expose his past.

Sound familiar? In “Gossip Girl,” Humphrey also was an outcast as a middle- class aspiring writer from Brooklyn.

In the end, Humphrey was revealed as Gossip Girl, but does that mean he’s the murderer in “You” Season 4, as he was in previous seasons?

Oddly enough, you can’t help but root for him despite oh, you know, murdering Guinevere Beck ( Elizabeth Lail), Peach Salinger ( Shay Mitchell), Candace Stone ( Ambyr Childers) and Love Quinn ( Victoria Pedretti), among others.

PROVIDED BY NETFLIX Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg tries to escape his murderous past under the alias Jonathan Moore in Season 4 of “You.”