NetflixThere’s a familiar face in You Season 5, as Elizabeth Lail returns to the role of Guinevere Beck – but as is the case with the Netflix thriller series, all is not what it seems.
Beck was the subject of Joe Goldberg’s (Penn Badgley) obsession in the first (and arguably best) season of You, but she wasn’t the last. In fact, his previous target, Candace Stone (Ambyr Childers), returned to seek justice to no avail.
Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle), and Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie) have all fallen under Joe’s spell, and You Season 5 is no different. This time around, it’s the turn of BookTok dream girl, Bronte (Madeline Brewer).
It turns out that Bronte has ties to Beck, meaning Lail appears in the fifth and final chapter of the Netflix series. But does this mean she’s still alive? Warning: spoilers ahead and some may find this content distressing.
Is Beck alive in You Season 5?
NetflixNo, Beck is dead, having been murdered by Joe in You Season 1. The reason for Elizabeth Lail’s return is because Beck features in Season 5 through flashbacks.
In the Season 1 finale, Beck manages to trick Joe into opening the cage and traps him inside. She proceeds to call him out for all the stalking and murdering, says he’s broken, and tells him he’ll be spending the rest of his life in jail.
But when she goes to leave, she can’t get out of the basement as the door is locked. Joe’s protege Paco turns up but decides not to help her and leaves.
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When Beck returns, Joe’s out of the cage and he attacks her. Although we don’t see it on screen, through later flashbacks we find out he strangled Beck to death. Joe manages to get away with the crime after framing Beck’s therapist and former lover, Dr. Nicky.
Now, let it be known that You Season 1 is the only chapter of the Netflix show that follows the story of Caroline Kepnes’ You book series closely. And while Beck is strangled in the novel too, it’s a far more gruesome and graphic death.
How does Beck die in the You Books?
NetflixIn Kepnes’ first You novel, Joe rips out pages of the The Da Vinci Code and shoves them down Beck’s throat as he’s strangling her, causing her to choke. This is the novel Joe gifted to Beck early on in the story.
Here’s the scene as it plays out in the first You book: “You are weaker now and I let go of your arms and wrap my hands around your neck for real this time.
“You try to hit me but your little fists aren’t what they once were. The bad in you outweighs the good and your cheeks turn white and my c**k throbs in pain and my hipbone pulsates and your eyes bulge. You’re disgusting…
“I squeeze your neck and I thank you for kicking me in the d**k, and I try to blink your saliva out of my eyelashes. I thank you for proving beyond a reasonable doubt that you are bad.
“You do not want love or life and we never had a chance and you are commonplace and raw, gasping and gurgling. Solipsistic with your fudgy inconsiderate fingerprints ruining my books, my heart, my life…
“I take my right hand and reach for your Da Vinci Code. I shove the book into my mouth and bite a few pages. I yank the book away and I toss it and grab the torn pages out of my mouth, wet with my saliva that you wanted so badly.
“My last words to you: ‘Open up, Guinevere.’ I shove the pages into your mouth and your pupils slip around and your back arches. This is the sound of you dying. There are bones cracking – where, I do not know – and tear ducts in emergency mode.
“The tear of death seeps out of your left eye and onto your porcelain cheek and your eyes are fixated on somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond any experience; your eyes have their silence.
“You are no better than a doll now and you do not react as the pages in your mouth take the blood that rises from your gullet.”
Why Beck is in You Season 5
NetflixBeck appears in You Season 5 thanks to Joe’s new love interest/obsession. Bronte is actually called Louise, and she used to be Beck’s writing student.
After Beck was killed, Louise and a series of cyber sleuths – including Dr Nick’s son Clayton – decide to do some stalking of their own, believing Joe is the real perpetrator.
Louise goes rogue with the plan, breaking into Mooney’s and infiltrating Joe’s life. Although she gets fooled by his deception, her eyes are opened by Marienne after they run into each other at the bookstore.
In the You Season 5 finale, Louise nearly becomes another of Joe’s victims. However, she’s able to survive and call the police, resulting in Joe’s long overdue capture.
Now, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes, and all of the falsely accused are free. As for Beck, she’s not back from the dead, but Louise is able to republish her posthumous memoir, ‘The Dark Face of Love’, without Joe’s contributions.
NetflixThe final sequence shows Louise walking into the new bookstore that has taken over Mooney’s, where she finds copies of Beck’s updated novel.
She imagines Beck at a signing table with a smile across her face. “But like so many others, she still won’t get the chance to make what she wanted to make her life,” Louise says. “Joe stole that from them. In their honor, we make the most of ours.”
You Seasons 1-5 are streaming on Netflix now. For more, find out why Season 6 will never happen, where Reagan and Maddie are twins, and check out the new TV shows coming to streaming this month.
