What really happened to Marienne in You season 4? The artist and librarian fell in love with Joe back when he was living in the suburbs with Love, with the two engaging in an illicit affair.
Played by You cast member Tati Gabrielle, Marienne was unaware of Joe’s true nature when she embarked on a secret romance with him. However, just to give you a quick You season 3 recap, Love ends up telling Marienne about Joe’s true nature (after initially planning to kill her) and encourages her to run. Fortunately, Marienne does just that, but with season 3 of the thriller series ending with Joe looking for her in Paris, it looks like her days are numbered.
Luckily, now the You season 4 release date is upon us, we have all the answers about what really happened to Marienne in You season 4.
What really happened to Marienne in You season 4?
Remember how in You season 4 part 1 we thought Marienne made it back to France? Well, she didn’t. Marienne never returned to Paris — she was held hostage by Joe the whole time.
As usual, Marienne’s story isn’t as clear-cut as we were led to believe in part 1. In the train station, rather than letting Marienne go, Joe drugged her coffee. He initially held her hostage inside his apartment, watching YouTube videos of Rhys Montrose (his new obsession) on a loop.
However, he soon transfers her into a glass cage in a deep-level shelter/abandoned building opposite his favourite take-out, Tandoori Tradition. Joe continues to visit Marienne in her cage, but after a heated exchange, he ends up banging his head on the glass so much that his consciousness effectively splits in two.
Having a newly-split personality grows troublesome because it means Joe can’t remember where he trapped Marienne — and, more importantly, can’t remember to give her food. By this point, Marienne is pretty much emaciated, and luckily Nadia discovers her (she’d been snooping around Joe for a while).
The pair work together on an escape plan and narrowly avoid being caught by Joe. While he eventually remembers Marienne and vows to let her out, he also tells her that because she’s been gone so long, she’s lost custody of her child, and everyone assumes that she’s back on the drugs.
Unsurprisingly, Marienne isn’t too happy about this, and when Joe comes back the next day (he still can’t decide whether to kill her or not), it appears as if Marienne took her own life: overdosing on pills Joe gave her earlier in an attempt to get her to relapse. In a suicide note, Marienne tells Joe to leave her body in a public park so that her daughter can have closure, and Joe does just that.
But this turns out to be another fake-out, with Nadia providing Marienne with medication that slows down her heart rate enough to make it look like she is dead. So, after Joe leaves her ‘body’ in the park, Nadia is able to pump her up with steroids as she heads to Paris to reunite with Juliette. And that’s another thing — Joe was lying about her losing custody of her child, so everything turned out okay (kind of)!
Find out what we made of this twist in our You season 4 part 2 review, or for a more in-depth account of what went down, check out our guide to the You season 4 part 2 ending explained.
We also gathered a handy list of everyone who dies in You season 4 and answered burning questions like who is Joe’s stalker, who is the Eat the Rich killer, what happens to Joe’s son, and whether we’ll see Love return in You season 4. And if all that isn’t enough, you can also check out our guide explaining how you can watch You season 4 part 2.