Why She Lies To Joe Goldberg & What Goes Wrong

Warning! Spoilers for You season 5 ahead!

Joe had one final obsession in You season 5, but she turned out not to be who he thought she was. Bronte (played by Madeline Brewer) was first introduced to audiences in Mooney’s bookstore, where Joe found she had broken in. He was immediately struck by the woman, who was clearly intelligent and possessed a deep love for literature—just Joe’s kind of girl. If this wasn’t enough to make Bronte Joe’s new fixation, her complicated history with an abusive ex-boyfriend pushed You‘s serial murderer over the edge. She was a clever but tormented intellectual for Joe to protect.

Joe is deeply attracted to vulnerable women, but we all know that he always turns on them in the end. It seemed as if Bronte would inevitably end up being another Joe’s victims, since it was only a matter of time before he behaved violently, showing his true colors. This moment seemed to come in You season 5 when Bronte broke things off with Joe and left the city to meet up with her abusive ex, Clayton. Joe followed her, and when he saw Clayton getting rough with Bronte, he jumped out and murdered the man. However, when Bronte’s friends appeared with cameras, Joe realized his new love had lied to him.

Why Bronte Lies To Joe About Her Name & Identity In You Season 5

Bronte’s Real Name Is Louise Flannery

Joe learned pretty early on in You season 5 that Bronte’s name wasn’t really Bronte. This was pretty obvious, since Charlotte Brontë is the famed author of the 1847 novel Jane Eyre. It was initially implied that Bronte, who was actually Louise Flannery, had taken on the name when she moved to New York City hoping to become a playwright. However, after Clayton’s death, You season 5 revealed that Bronte had come to New York years before she had told Joe—she had been a student at Brown University alongside Guinevere Beck.

After Bronte learned about Beck’s murder, she read her old friend’s posthumously published book and noticed inconsistencies. It hadn’t been entirely written by Beck, and this fact led Bronte on a deep dive into the case. She ultimately came to the conclusion that Beck’s old boyfriend, Joe Goldberg, had something to do with it. Her purpose in moving back to New York was to catfish Joe and determine whether he had murdered not only Beck but all the other people who had mysteriously died or disappeared around him. However, Bronte wasn’t the only person in on the ruse.

Bronte’s Catfishing Plan Is Part Of A Larger Scheme To Expose Joe Goldberg

Bronte Made Friends Who Also Wanted To Take Joe Down

Bronte didn’t begin her mission to take on Joe Goldberg alone. You season 5 revealed that, while looking for information on Joe and Beck on the internet, she found a group of like-minded individuals on Reddit discussing the suspicious circumstances surrounding these characters. Bronte shared what she knew, and she quickly became friends with Clayton, Phoenix, and Dominique, each of whom had come to the same conclusion that there was something strange about the “prince charming” Joe Goldberg. Together, they all worked on a plan to expose him as a serial killer.

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Of these internet vigilantes, Clayton and Bronte had the most reason to want Joe put away. Clayton was the son of Dr. Nicky Angevine, whom Joe successfully framed for Beck’s murder. He was determined to prove his father’s innocence, and Bronte’s information about Joe and Beck seemed to bring him closer than ever. Ultimately, it was Bronte’s idea to catfish Joe, but Clayton was the most helpful in getting the You anti-hero hooked. He pretended to be Bronte’s jerk of an ex-boyfriend, which they all suspected would put Joe in his knight-in-shining-armor mode. Of course, Bronte and her friends were right.

What Goes Wrong With Bronte’s Catfishing Plan In You Season 5

Bronte Was Charmed By Joe In A Way She Hadn’t Expected

Bronte and her friends knew that getting so close to Joe was dangerous, but they really didn’t understand the half of it. Joe has always been charming in You, and it’s precisely this quality that has allowed him to get away with so many murders from season to season. Bronte had every reason to believe that Joe was a killer, but her deeply romantic and idealistic mind began to blur the lines and edges. It wasn’t long before she had fallen in love with Joe. A part of her knew he was dangerous, but he also did and said all the beautiful things she had always wanted to hear and feel from a man.

Bronte falling in love with Joe is why everything went wrong for her and her friends in You season 5. She began to think that Clayton, Dominique, and Phoenix had lost the plot a bit and had become blinded by conspiracy theories. However, Clayton wouldn’t accept Bronte’s decision to call the whole deception off. He used his friend as bait, knowing that Joe would become jealous and potentially attempt to hurt Bronte. In the end, it was Clayton himself who got hurt. Joe murdered Bronte’s friend in a room that was, unbeknownst to him, covered in cameras.

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Still, even after Joe killed Clayton in You season 5, Bronte couldn’t accept that the man she had fallen in love with had murdered Beck. She explained the deception and allowed herself to be swept back up in Joe’s charm. It took a talk with Marienne, Joe’s previous obsession from You seasons 3 and 4, for Bronte to finally realize the truth.

After Many Speed Bumps, Bronte & Her Friends Do Succeed At The End Of You

Bronte Delivered The Perfect Justice On Joe

After talking to Marienne and finding Joe and Kate in the burning basement of Mooney’s, Bronte became determined to make Joe face justice. She could have allowed the fires to consume him, but then no one would ever know what Joe Goldberg had done. Death was too easy a punishment for You‘s serial murderer. So, Bronte saved Joe’s life and once again pretended to be his lover, accepting his bloody and somewhat deranged proposal. When the moment was right, she pulled out a gun and got to the big questions. Bronte got Joe to confess to killing Beck, and stood by why he crossed out his rewrites from the dead woman’s book.

Bronte’s rage during this confrontation in You season 5 was palpable. Once Joe had confirmed that he had changed Beck’s book, Bronte said, “It wasn’t enough that you took her life, you had to take her f**king voice too?” The showdown that followed this was certainly intense, but the emotion behind Bronte’s words here is what brought her to Joe in the first place. She had gotten lost and hit many speed bumps. However, in the end, Bronte survived and ensured that Joe didn’t die, but instead faced the immense loneliness of life in prison. Thanks to Bronte, You came to the perfect close.

You

7/10

Release Date

2018 – 2025-00-00

Showrunner

Sera Gamble, Greg Berlanti

Directors

Marcos Siega, Lee Toland Krieger, Cherie Nowlan, DeMane Davis, Kellie Cyrus, Marta Cunningham, Martha Mitchell, Victoria Mahoney, Erin Feeley

Writers

Justin W. Lo

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  Penn Badgley

  Joe Goldberg

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  Elizabeth Lail

  Guinevere Beck