Warning: This article contains spoilers from You season five, episodes one through six.
Elizabeth Lail made a surprise cameo in a recent episode of You Season 5. Her return comes after her character, Guinevere Beck—Joe Goldberg’s bookish girlfriend—was murdered in the show’s first season. However, her appearance isn’t just a nostalgic nod; it reveals a dramatic secret that connects her to a new character.
In Episode 6, Beck returns in a flashback scene, where it’s revealed that Joe’s latest muse, Louise—aka Brontë, played by Madeline Brewer—actually knew Beck personally. Beck was her writing TA and even inspired her nickname, drawn from Charlotte Brontë.
“You have this way of digging into your characters’ psyches, even the ones that seem irredeemable,” Beck says in the flashback, calling it a form of radical empathy and genuinely impressive.
When Louise brushes off the compliment as “too nice,” Beck gently urges her not to downplay it, encouraging her to accept the praise, adding that she truly believes Louise is talented at what she does.
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“Nobody’s ever championed me as a writer like you have,” Louise says, revealing that before meeting Beck, she felt unsure about her decision to move and pursue creative writing, even considering quitting.
Now, feeling truly seen by Beck, she expresses how much that support means to her.
Louise then shares that she plans to drop out of school and return to Ohio to care for her ailing mother but assures Beck that she will never forget the encouragement and belief Beck showed her.
Back when news of Beck’s death surfaced, Louise suspected her boyfriend, Joe, might have been involved, prompting her to dig into Beck’s past.
With Beck’s appearance in the recent episode, it becomes clear that Louise’s meeting with Joe at Mooney’s bookstore wasn’t a coincidence. In fact, she had plotted with her online friends—one of whom is the son of Dr. Nicky, the man Joe framed for Beck’s murder. Louise has been tracking Joe’s actions throughout the series, all with one goal: to bring him down.
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