Are Beck and Love Alive in ‘You’ Season 4, Part 2?

Joe Goldberg sees dead people. Or does he?

Since Netflix dropped the first-look photos and trailer for You Season 4, Part 2 in February, fans have been wondering if Joe’s (Penn Badgley) ex-wife Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) is still alive. Last we saw, Joe set their suburban house on fire and left Love to burn in the Season 3 finale. But did she somehow survive?

In the Season 4 trailer Love is casually chilling in one of Joe’s glass cages reading Rhys Montrose’s (Ed Speleers) book. She lifts her head, says “Hi Joe,” and fans’ minds started racing. If you’ve watched the final five episodes of You Season 4, which premiered on March 9, you’ll know that Love isn’t the only familiar face who returns to the series. Joe’s Season 1 love interest, Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), is back with a vengeance, too. But are Joe’s exes ALIVE? Is he having some sort of sick, twisted nightmare? Is he awake, but hallucinating? What’s the freaking deal?!

We’re here to break down Beck and Love’s surprise Season 4 appearances. But be mindful that major spoilers for You Season 4, Part 2 lie ahead.

Are Beck and Love Alive on You? What Happened To Joe When He Hit His Head:

After Nadia found Marienne locked up in the creepy basement of an abandoned building, everything we thought we knew about You Season 4 changed. In Episode 8, we see what really happened after Joe “let Marienne go” at the start of the season. He drugged her, kidnapped her, locked her in his glass box, then slammed his head against it, completely rattling his psyche. After hitting his head and essentially splitting his personalities in two, Joe said “I’m not Joe,” smiled, and left to live his best Jonathan Moore life.

The blow to Joe’s head clearly results in memory loss, because later in the episode, Rhys tells Joe they have Marienne locked away somewhere and Joe begs him to release her. Joe ties Rhys up, tortures him for info, then loses control and accidentally kills him. As Joe stares at Rhys’ dead body, an IMAGINARY Rhys appears and tells Joe, “You’ve been going crazy for quite a a while. Since you broke Marienne’s arm and banged your head. Well really ever since you kidnapped her then tried to insist a relationship. Ever since you murdered your wife and abandoned your son — this has been brewing for quite some time.”

In Episode 9, Joe is really going through it. After realizing he’s been disassociating, he remembers where he hid Marienne and vows to set her free so she can return to her daughter Juliette. Before he carries out his grand release/escape plan, he takes drugs to get some shut eye and quiet Rhys’ voice inside his head. He dreams of bringing Marienne a coffee, then tries to set her free but can’t open the door. As he’s repeatedly entering the wrong code, he realizes he needs a key to unlock the box. Just then, Marienne starts having an allergic reaction to the drink. And next thing Joe knows, he’s standing face-to-face with Gemma, who’s holding the key and peppering him with questions about her death. Yes, he’s dreaming. But it all feels real to him.

Next stop on Joe’s drug-induced nightmare apology tour? A room full of whispering blonde girls waiting for a speaker to take to the podium. The speaker? One Guinevere Beck. ” You,” she says when she lays eyes on her ex. “Everyone, this is Joe. He finished writing my book after I died in his arms.” In a flash, the audience disappears, leaving Beck to really pop off. “What did you do this time? You’re pathetic,” she says. “Oh I’m sorry. Did I hurt your feelings? Well I’m fucking dead, Joe.”

Joe apologizes and says he’s trying to change his past mistakes, but Beck says he still doesn’t get it and eats the key. Joe lunges forward to grab it, but lands on a table back in the basement. He turns around to see Love Quinn sitting in his glass box reading Rhys’ book. “You should be thanking her. Hi Joe,” Love says. A flustered Joe asks what’s happening to him and apologizes to Love. Well…sort of. “I never wanted you to die. You left me no other way,” he explains. “Of course, I was emotional. Unfaithful. Impulse control issues…We. Us. Our love language. Not you. Not a pattern. Not YOUR pattern,” she says, gesturing to Marienne, who’s still gasping for air in the background. “What is love, Joe? Lowercase. Tell me and I’ll give you the key.” She eventually hands him something, but instead of the key, it’s a gun. “Somebody does need to die for this to end for good,” she says putting the barrel to his head. As a shot rings out, Joe wakes up on his couch and says, “I know what I need to do.”

So are Beck and Love alive? No. They only came to Joe for a few moments in Season 4’s penultimate episode, but it’s clear they’re still haunting him not so deep down. We just have one question left: Where’s our girl Candace (Ambyr Childers)?!

All 10 episodes of You Season 2 are currently streaming on Netflix.