Let’s cut to the chase. The title of You Season 5, Episode 8, represents the essence of the story, so I’m sure you can imagine the outcome. However, if you don’t know what Folie à Deux means, here’s a quick definition.
“Folie à Deux: delusion or mental illness shared by two people in close association”
Joe and Bronte
The main chunk of this episode focuses on Joe and Bronte. In the previous episode, it shows how she saved him from the police by telling them the truth, the truth being that Joe killed Clayton in self-defense after he assaulted her. At the end of the episode, we saw Joe save Bronte from Dane, a man who attempted to abduct her. Joe takes her home and handcuffs her to the bed.
In Season 5, Episode 8, Joe explains that this is because Bronte has bruised her ankle, and he doesn’t want her to jump out of bed, further hurting it. This is neither confirmed nor denied, but we can suspect that he did this more out of caution than anything else.
Anyway, to start with, we see Joe and Bronte share a little confession session. Joe asks Bronte to tell him something real, something non-catfish. Joe confesses that he wanted to kill Clayton and believes, from the look in her eyes, that she liked it. Bronte retorts that it scares her, but also comforts her. She tells Joe she isn’t leaving.
Joe tells Bronte he has a gift for her – an offering. As they proceed down to the cage, Dane lies unconscious on the bed. Joe expresses that a life with him means no man will ever hurt her again. He tells her that it’s up to her what happens to him: how he is to be killed or if she wants to let him go.
((Joe then has to run and deal with a Maddie situation, leaving Bronte with Dane, but more on that later… As he leaves, he narrates for her to “show me you’re the one.”))
Long story short, Bronte gets to know Dane once he wakes up. Initially angry, he screams and yells, but later calms down. As this occurs, Bronte and Dane seemingly bond over the effects the cage has on you- how it can’t help but force you to open up about everything because there’s no escape.
In the end, Bronte lets him go. When Joe returns, she tells him that although she let him go, she informed Dane that they will be watching him. After this, they both take turns going into the cage, locked, while the other stands outside and asks questions – this is their version of a trust fall, I suppose. It’s one of the better scenes of the season. They build trust, hop on the good foot, and do the bad thing, if you get my gist.
That concludes the title: Folie à Deux. Joe and Bronte live delusionally together in a fantasy world that justifies and embraces the dark psyche.
Kate
While Joe fixes and tends to his relationship with Bronte, Kate is now in London. She has put her ‘Bring Down Joe Goldberg’ plan into motion. She first admits to Nadia that she helped cover up evidence for Joe, which sent Nadia to jail. But she is now busting her out and needs her to be her eyewitness account for Joe. After meeting with a lawyer, they are told that although Joe will likely go to jail after the trial, it could take years.
Joe video calls Kate and asks her to return her son to him one last time. They bicker, of course. And immediately off the phone, Kate tells Nadia that they need to kill Joe. Side note: The stupid thing is, before this, Henry managed to call Joe and tell him exactly where he would be the following day.
So the questions regarding Joe’s ending are whether he will:
- 1) Run away with Bronte.
- 2) End up in jail.
- 3) Get killed, or;
- 4) Face a mysterious ending unforeseen.
Maddie and Harrison
A brief touch on the Maddie situation I mentioned earlier. While Joe is testing Bronte, Maddie (as Reagan) tries to sleep with Harrison, but it ends in a sticky situation. He figures out that she’s Maddie and not Reagan.
Essentially, she must convince him to keep the secret and adhere to Joe’s plan. After much persuasion and manipulation, he eventually gives in. Maddie and Harrison inform Joe that they intend to follow through and live happily ever after as a family.
Everything here seems stable, but we still have two more episodes!
Read More: You Season 5, Episode 9 Recap
