As usual, we enter You Season 5, Episode 9 with Joe living in fantasy land. Bronte and he are relaxing on the bed together, and in Joe’s narration, he tells himself that this must be what it truly feels like to love. Following this narration, he asks Bronte, “If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?” (I paraphrase.) Bronte answers, “A moss-covered castle in Ireland,” and Joe’s immediate response is to put this dream into motion.
However, Joe finds that his bank accounts have been emptied, and Kate has put an eviction notice on Mooney’s – oh dear! This makes Joe realise that he needs to kill Kate.
If you read my last episode recap, you will remember that I wrote about Maddie and Harrison living happily ever after together. It didn’t last. Joe sets them both up, and they get arrested, so that was short-lived. Previously, I mentioned that Kate realized she needed to kill Joe. However, she soon realizes that she can’t kill Joe yet! Uh-oh! She needs a confession from him concerning Maddie and Harrison’s hiccup.
Thankfully for Kate, she knows Joe. She understands his thought process and therefore stages a decoy for him to follow, leading him right into her trap. And oh boy, does he bite immediately. Joe gets injected with something from behind and passes out.
Outside the cage are Nadia and Kate. They try to trick Joe into confessing: “If you confess, we’ll let you go free to some private island for a new start,” but he doesn’t bite. Kate has Joe’s phone and realizes the sensor on the upstairs door has been triggered.
As Kate goes to check it out, she encounters Bronte upstairs. Kate gives a little speech, hoping to get through to Bronte, but I would say it’s a poor effort. Then Bronte leaves, and Kate returns to the basement.
Nadia and Kate are holding out a massive surprise for Joe. They bring back Marienne. “You should’ve killed me better, Joe,” she states. Joe is stunned. But from the flames, she arose. Joe tries to play his mind games and convince her that he saved her from herself, that he saved her daughter, and that he is why she still has her daughter. Marienne reacts with anger and upset, but in the end, she leaves because of Joe’s delusion.
As Marienne leaves, Bronte sees her from outside Mooney’s. They have a conversation because they are familiar with each other. Bronte tells Marienne she has tried to find her for years. Hands down, Marienne gives the best performances of the season, trying to help Bronte see how deeply she is involved with Joe. Bronte runs out, but before she leaves, Marienne says, “As long as you’re still alive, it’s not too late.” Thankfully, as we will see at the end, she gets through to her.
Nadia wants to shoot Joe downstairs, but Kate knows she can’t. As Kate brings Nadia upstairs to calm her down, Joe BITES opens a cut he made on his arm (GROSS), which was holding a key to the cage, and gets himself out. Upstairs, Kate states that she knew she would have to go back downstairs and sacrifice herself for the confession. When she arrives, Kate and Joe get into a scrap, and Joe knocks Kate down.
MEANWHILE UPSTAIRS, Maddie, recently released from prison, decides it’s best for Joe to “burn in hell,” and then she sets fire to Mooney’s. Joe and Kate are downstairs – both covered in blood and sprawled on the floor. Joe confesses to killing Kate’s dad. And proceeds to admit that he killed Love. Kate sends the voice recording of this confession to Nadia. Evident attained!
Kate dies – “Till death do us part.”
In the flames of Mooney’s, Bronte runs in to search for Kate, Nadia, and Marriene. To her surprise, she finds Kate dead and Joe barely conscious. He pleads self-defense. In that moment, Bronte realizes it’s up to her to take Joe Goldberg down. She carries Joe from the flames of Mooney’s and commits to being the hero of their story by giving him the ending he deserves.
Read More: You Season 5, Episode 10 Recap
