What happened to Marienne in You season 4? | Radio Times

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We met the librarian in season 3 of the Netflix thriller when Joe Goldberg would find solace in his local library and, of course, became enamoured with Marienne.

Although Joe somewhat tricked us into thinking he was about to lead a life of relative normality with wife Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), he couldn't quite stop himself from fantasising about a life with Marienne.

But the librarian had enough problems of her own to contend with before Joe's arrival. Throughout season 3, the former addict was trying hard to get custody of her daughter Juliette away from her charismatic and popular ex, reporter Ryan (Scott Michael Foster).

Her controlling ex met his own deadly fate when Joe killed him and let the public believe that it was a mugging gone wrong. Following that, Marienne allowed herself to be consumed by the fairy tale idea that she and Joe could run away together with baby Henry and Juliette to start a new life together.

Love definitely had something to say about that, though, and when she found out about her husband's affair, quickly warned Marienne about the fact Joe killed Ryan to be with Marienne. Although it looked like Love was going to kill Marienne, she had a change of heart and thus, Marienne's whereabouts were unknown going into season 4.

What happened to Marienne at the end of You season 3?

YOU — Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg and Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn in You. Netflix

As previously mentioned, Marienne got caught up in the Love and Joe saga – and it very nearly got her killed. On finding out about Joe's affair, Love seemed to be intent on killing Marienne. After all, we know how fiercely protective Love got over her loved ones.

In the final episode of You season 3, she lured Marienne over to the Quinn-Goldberg house by sending a text as Joe. It was clear from the carving fork hidden behind her back that Love intended to kill Marienne. But when Juliette interrupts, needing to use Love's toilet, she realises she can't take Juliette's mother away from her.

Instead, Love warned Marienne about Joe, telling her how obsessed he is, how he lies and how he murdered Ryan, and advises her that she and Juliette should run away and disappear so Joe can't find them.

Of course, everything soon descended after that with the shock ending of Love being killed, Joe faking his own death, leaving baby Henry and running away. The last we saw of Joe in season 3 was wandering around Paris, a place Marienne had mentioned to Joe about going earlier in the season.

What happens to Marienne in You season 4?

You season 4 Netflix — Tati Gabrielle as Marienne in You. Netflix

From the look of the official trailer for the fourth season, it very much looked like Marienne would be one of the main focuses going into the new season. But in fact, we learn pretty early on (as in, in season 4's first episode) what happened to her.

We first see Joe reflecting on how he misses having someone to be obsessed about and reaches into his jacket pocket to retrieve Marienne's necklace, saying: "But missing you won't bring you back."

He has his first flashback and explains that he thought the distance he had travelled would count for something to Marienne. He describes how he travelled all over France for months to find her: "I went to every artist haunt in Paris, I visited them over and over."

Then, he finally spots one of Marienne's paintings in a Paris park. The seller tells Joe that Marienne is in London, visiting the Acanthus art fair and then, the reason for Joe's big holiday to the English capital is revealed.

Later on in the first episode, when being quizzed by Lady Phoebe (Tilly Keeper) and Gemma (Eve Austin) about why he's come all the way to London, he has a flashback again. This time to the art fair in London where he's tailing Marienne, black cap donned and all.

When he sees her, he thinks: "You changed. The buttoned-up Madre Linda librarian was gone but it was you." And suddenly Marienne spots him with a look of relief and surprise, which soon changes to fear as she runs away.

After discovering Malcolm's body on his kitchen table later in the premiere episode, Joe starts to reflect on what he "ran away from", saying that he "never wanted to touch a bloody knife again". He's wondering whether he did commit the murder or not and in his narrative monologue, is penning it as if to Marienne.

"He was saying horrible things about you, I was angry for you. But somehow that just makes it worse," Joe says.

Once more, the flashback continues with Joe running after Marienne at the London art fair. She runs into an old warehouse building, hiding in a disused room and thinks she's hidden away from Joe, but he confronts her in the stairwell. "Now, can we please talk?" he says, but she pulls out a knife saying that she'll use it. "I thought you'd be happy to see me, I thought you loved me," he says.

Marienne tells him that Juliette's in Paris with a friend and starts to cry, asking if she'll make it home to see her child. She shouts about how Joe killed Ryan and his own wife, asking him if he's killed more. "You're a murderer, Joe," she says. But Joe says that he'll prove that she's wrong and lets her go, saying goodbye and letting her pass by him.

Up until the last part of episode 1, many of us are still confused as to how and why Joe decided to become Jonathan Moore but in another flashback, all is revealed. After seeing Marienne, he explains that his only plan was to get out of London but he's approached by Elliot Tannenberg (Adam James), an employee of Ray Quinn's, Joe's former father-in-law.

He's been ordered to kill Joe but he tells Joe that he's tired and just wants to be done with this, "not hurt anyone anymore – not even you". Elliot hands Joe an envelope with Jonathan's passport and details inside. "Jonathan could be your chance to make different choices," Elliot says. But he tasks Joe with one last thing: because Marienne knows Joe is alive, he now has to kill her.

Does Marienne die?

Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in You season 4. — Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in You. Netflix

Surprise, surprise: although Joe has been told he has to kill Marienne, he doesn't actually do it. Maybe he could actually be a changed person after all? The rest of the season will likely prove otherwise.

We see Joe go to St Pancras station on the lookout for Marienne, who is due to board the 8am train to Paris. He bumps into her purposely and then passes by her, ripping off her necklace. He watches her board the train and says that by doing so, he was "saving" her. "I let you go to show you I'm not what you think. I'm not a killer."

He takes a picture of the necklace, messaging Elliot to inform him that it's done. So, thankfully, Marienne makes it out alive and doesn't die.

The rest of the series is mainly concerned with Joe facing the Eat The Rich killer who also somehow knows his true identity – but will Marienne appear in the series again? After all, she does know his true identity. We'll just have to wait and find out.

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You season 4 part 1 is coming to Netflix on 9th February, while part 2 will land on 9th March. Seasons 1-3 are streaming now. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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Morgan Cormack

Morgan CormackDrama Writer

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.