Diksha Sundriyal
The fifth and final season of Netflix’s ‘You’ pits Joe Goldberg against his biggest challenge. He is married to Kate Lockwood, but their fairytale ending isn’t nearly as happy as he thought it would be. When push comes to shove and Joe happily unleashes the animal he had been caging inside, Kate is disgusted by it. However, another woman doesn’t mind seeing this different side of Joe. It is Bronte, a new girl who just waltzed into Joe’s life and is now the object of his affection and obsession. From the guy’s track record, things don’t generally turn out well for the women he falls for. What does that spell for Bronte? SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bronte’s True Intentions for Joe Put Her in Danger
As with any woman who crosses Joe’s path romantically, Bronte, aka Louise, also finds herself at the brink of death. Unlike the rest of the girls who walked into his trap entirely unaware of his true nature, Bronte does so knowing, or at least having a hint of exactly who he is. Still, his charm works its way, and she finds herself falling for him. In all of this, a lot happens between her and Joe, but interestingly, there is rarely a moment when Joe thinks about killing her. Even when he does harm her, like breaking her ankle when another misogynist almost kidnaps her, he does it to keep her with him rather than let her go by killing her, which is what he did with his previous love interests.
Any actual danger to Bronte’s life arrives only at the end of the season when she runs away with Joe to get him to confess his crimes. When Joe realises what she is doing, he goes berserk and tries to kill her, no matter what it takes. He completely forgets that this is the girl he thought he loved, the woman who was supposed to be the one for him. When she points a gun at him, he tries to tackle her, and in turn, the weapon is fired back at her. She runs out of the house, secluded from the civilisation, with the gunshot wound to her stomach, and Joe chases her relentlessly.
Bronte’s Life is Saved by a Smart Move
What works in Bronte’s favor is the 911 call she places right before she runs out of the house and away from Joe. While she is not able to talk to the responder, the panic in her voice and Joe’s threats to kill her are enough for the 911 person to take the call seriously. As expected, cops are sent to the place to find Joe and arrest him. By now, he has made quite a name for himself, especially with Kate’s audio in which she caught him saying he and then left her body in a burning house, pinning everything on him. This confession turns him into a wanted man, and if he wasn’t considered dangerous before, he is considered so when he kills a cop to save himself. Eventually, Bronte gets her hands on the cop’s gun and threatens Joe to tell the truth.
In a situation where a killer has chased a person in a secluded area, the first instinct is to shoot the killer the moment the victim has a gun or any other weapon in their hands. After the cop is killed and Bronte gets his gun, one can’t help but pray for her to shoot Joe and be done with it. As long as he is alive, there is a chance that he will continue to kill. And clearly, Bronte has the same thought. She is scared for her life, but at the same time, she has the thoughts of justice for Beck and his other victims swirling in her head. Despite everything, Bronte doesn’t want Joe to die, even if it means risking her own life to do it. She wants him to be held accountable in front of the entire world, which is why, scared as she is, even with the gun in her hand and the fear of not making it through the night, she stands her ground. Help arrives, and she is saved from Joe for good.
