Who is Bronte in You season 5? Her true identity and big twist explained

25 April 2025, 16:13

Who is Bronte in You season 5? Madeline Brewer didn't know about big twist until she read the script. Picture: Netflix

By Katie Louise Smith

Madeline Brewer, who plays Bronte, had no idea about the big twist until she read the script for episode 6.

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Another season of You, another obsession for Joe Goldberg. As you've probably already seen, You season 5 – the final season of the Netflix series! – sees Joe fall in love with another woman despite still being married to wife Kate. The new object of his affections? Bronte.

Bronte is played by Madeline Brewer and she's a brand new character in You season 5. Joe first meets Bronte when she attempts to escape Mooney's after breaking in to "borrow" a book. The two grow close, and things quickly escalate.

However, as always with this show, Bronte is not who she says she is. In fact, she's hiding a massive secret from Joe and viewers find out at the exact same time he does.

So who is she? What is Bronte's real identity and what does she actually want with Joe?

Read more: Does Joe Goldberg die or get caught? You season 5 ending explained
Read more: Is Jenna Ortega in You season 5? Ellie's fate revealed

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for You season 5!

WARNING: Major You season 5 spoilers ahead! Picture: Netflix

Who is Bronte in You season 5?

Bronte's real name is actually Louise Flannery and she's been catfishing Joe this whole time.

In episode 6, when Joe follows Bronte to the beach house with the aim of "saving" her from Clayton, he ends up lashing out and killing him. This whole thing is not only witnessed by Bronte, but also Dominique and Phoenix who also happen to catch it on a livestream.

Joe then learns of Bronte's real name – Louise – and realises that she's been catfishing him this entire time with the sole purpose of bringing him down for the murder of Guinevere Beck.

Who is Louise Flannery and what is her connection to Beck in You season 5? Picture: Netflix

How does Bronte know Beck?

Bronte/Louise backstory is laid out in episode 6 when we see flashbacks of her time as a student. Beck was her TA while she was studying to be a writer in New York and the two were friendly enough that Bronte had even spoken to Joe briefly over the phone years before while he was on a call to Beck.

Sadly, Bronte and Beck fell out of touch after Bronte dropped out to care for her sick mother. While back at home in Ohio, Bronte learns about Beck's death and the posthumous release of her novel.

After reading the novel, she immediately clocks several details that point towards the fact that someone else had written parts of it. Her concerns lead her to Reddit and she ends up joining forces with Dominique, Phoenix and Clayton (Dr. Nicky's son) who are all looking for answers about Beck's killer.

From there, they set up a plan and Bronte agrees to catfish him in order to find out the truth.

Bronte, real name Louise, was actually friends with Beck before Joe murdered her. Picture: Netflix

Why does Bronte start to defend Joe Goldberg?

While creating their big catfish plan, Bronte tells her friends that she can make Joe fall in love with her. But the tables quickly turn when she finds herself falling in love with him half-way through her mission.

It becomes clear that Bronte has fallen for Joe's disturbingly charming ways when when she tells the police that Joe killed Clayton in self-defence – despite knowing damn well that Joe is a murderer.

When her friends urge her to expose Joe publicly, she refuses. She manages to regain Joe's trust after the whole catfishing saga and the two rekindle their relationship.

After Joe saves her from a brutal kidnapping attempt, he confronts Bronte who tells him that she "began to suspect that we were wrong" about him being a cold-blooded killer after she got to know him. "Despite my best efforts to think of you as a monster, I couldn’t."

However, it's Marienne who manages to snap Bronte out of it by revealing the hard truths about Joe's manipulative ways. Thankfully that conversation arrives just before Joe proposes to Bronte. (She says yes, but not for the reasons we think...)

In the end, Bronte sees the truth, brings her focus back to Beck and, after one last showdown, is the one who finally brings Joe Goldberg down.

Read more: Does Joe Goldberg die or get caught? You season 5 ending explained

Joe proposes to Bronte in the penultimate episode of You season 5. Picture: Netflix

According to Madeline Brewer, she didn't realise just how major Bronte's big Beck twist was until she read the script for episode 6.

Speaking to Tudum, she said: "I knew that there was a twist, but I didn’t entirely understand to what degree it was until I read Episode 6. I knew Bronte was a constructed character. She’s been invented for a very expressed, very clear purpose. I just wasn’t sure what that purpose was when I started."

Penn Badgley also loved it, adding: "I thought it was great, because it’s the same way that Love [Quinn] was the necessary reinvention of the [“You”] concept."