Diksha Sundriyal
Every season of Netflix’s ‘You‘ puts a new obsession in front of Joe Goldberg, and in the fifth and final season, it is a girl named Bronte. She, too, has a meet-cute with him at the bookstore, Mooney’s, but it is somewhat different from how he met his other romantic obsessions over the years. The more time Joe spends in her vicinity, the more he falls for her. At the same time, he also finds out that she is hiding secrets of her own, which makes him believe that, finally, she could be the one who not only understands his darkness but also accepts it. But of course, like everything else in the show, things are not so straightforward. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bronte has Her Fair Share of Secrets to Hide from Joe
In each season, Joe finds someone to fixate on, and most of the time, it does not turn out well for his love interest. However, this time, he meets his match, in a way, in Bronte. She appears in front of him as a damsel in distress. She loves books, doesn’t want Mooney’s to be closed, and is looking for someplace to stay. When Joe sees her, he sees the spark that seems to have gone missing from his marriage with Kate. However, things are more complicated with Bronte. Her real name is Louise, but the real twist is that her meeting with Joe wasn’t exactly a chance encounter. She had been stalking him for months before their paths crossed.
The reason isn’t that she likes or is obsessed with him. It is because of her desire for revenge. She knew Beck. She knew Beck back when she was dating Joe, and Louise even shared a few words with the serial killer. Beck impacted Louise, so she was shocked when she discovered that the writer was dead. When she read Beck’s book, which was published posthumously, she realised that there were parts that did not seem to be written by her. This suspicion led her down a rabbit hole where she met many people convinced that Joe was the real killer, not Dr. Nicky.
It is with these people that she makes a plan to expose Joe, and over the years, they do dig up some very questionable stuff. Louise wasn’t supposed to make contact with Joe, but it happened by accident, and instead of running away from the opportunity, she decided to use it to her advantage. Having studied Joe for a long time, she knew exactly how to be the girl he would love. And her plan worked, and it might have worked too well, considering how things eventually end up for both of them.
Bronte is Brought to Life by an Emmy-Nominated Actress
The role of Bronte, aka Louise, is played by Madeline Brewer, best known for playing Janine Lindo in Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ for which she also received an Emmy nomination. The New Jersey-native has also appeared in Netflix’s ‘Orange is the New Black,’ and in movies like ‘Hustlers’ and ‘Cam.’ The alumni of New York’s American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Brewer knows the impact of appearing in shows like ‘You’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ both of whose final seasons land in 2025, and both of which say one thing or another about toxic masculinity and misogyny. Appearing in ‘You’ was a highlight for her as she has been a fan of the show for a while. She also revealed that while shooting in Mooney’s, she stole a few books from the place, including but not limited to ‘The Portable Nietzsche.’
As busy as her professional life is, Brewer has also taken some significant steps in her personal life. In early 2025, she enrolled in the liberal arts program of the New School in New York City. Moreover, she got engaged to Jack Thompson-Roylance, an English cinematographer she met while still finding her footing in the acting industry. As for her future projects, the actress is focused on working with great writers and actors and taking on the roles that expand her already varied choice of complicated characters. She has also expressed her desire to travel the world and is looking forward to her marriage, building a family, and having kids. The future is full of possibilities, and Brewer wants to explore all of them.
