Netflix's 'You' changed one major detail from book's original ending

4 January 2019, 15:24

By Nicky Idika

'You' is based on a novel by Caroline Kepnes but the onscreen adaptation made one fascinating tweak to the original ending.

Netflix's You stars Penn Badgley, Elizabeth Lail, and Shay Mitchell in a story about what happens when infatuation turns into deadly obsession. You is based on a book of the same name by Caroline Kepnes, but you might be surprised to find that season 1 of You and its original source material actually end quite differently.

Warning: You season 1 Spoilers ahead.

You, the TV show, has a different ending than the book.

The final episode of You season 1 depicts some tense moments for Beck and Joe. After Joe callously locks Beck in the cage, she tries to influence him to release her. When that doesn't work and her escape plan backfires, the viewer soon learns that Joe has murdered Beck and framed her therapist Dr. Nicky (John Stamos) for the crime.

The shock twist comes at the very end, though, when Candace (Ambyr Childers) walks into Joe's bookshop looking very much alive. Throughout the series, the viewer naturally assumes that Joe has killed his ex, Cadance, mostly because of his clear pattern of jealousy and obsession.

When she turns up at the bookshop looking alive af, Joe and the viewer are given a huge shock. Candace mentions that they have "unfinished business to talk about" before the final scene cuts to black.

The ending is where the book and the TV series diverge sharply. In Caroline Kepnes' version of You, Joe really did kill his ex partner by drowning her at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.

So, why did the show's writers decide to switch up the ending of You? Showrunner Sera Gamble explains in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter some of the reasoning behind the shocking twist.

"We started by talking about how people would presume that he has killed her and be increasingly convinced that he had done so the more that they know about Joe throughout the season."

"So we just wanted to do something more surprising and realise that she was such a substantial and interesting character."

Substantial and interesting, indeed. In the show, Candace is depicted as a charming but slightly manipulative person. Her and Joe's relationship is tumultuous and he suspects her of cheating on him with someone involved in her career.

Beck investigates Candace's sudden disappearance, further planting seeds of suspicion in the viewer's mind that Joe has killed his former girlfriend.

Of course, we know now that Candace is alive and well (on the show, at least). So what exactly has she been up to and why did she pay Joe a visit?

In season 2 of You, Joe heads to sunny California. Could Joe's past with Candace be a major plot in the upcoming series? Guess we'll have to wait and find out.