Spoiler alert: We’re about to break down a major twist from YOU Season 4 Episode 7. Haven’t watched yet? You know what to do.
Nothing is as it seems in YOU‘s fourth season, and few know that better than poor Marienne Bellamy.
While Tati Gabrielle‘s character appeared to make a clean break from Joe in the Netflix drama’s season premiere, we learn at the end of Episode 7 that we didn’t get the entire story. Not only did Marienne not board that train back to Paris, but Joe apparently locked her in his cage — and she’s been there all season!
The horrifying discovery is made by Joe’s student Nadia, who is becoming increasingly suspicious of her professor “Jonathan Moore.” And for very good reason.
You’re well within your right to worry about Marienne, especially considering what happens to most people who end up in Joe’s cage, but don’t bother extending that same sympathy to Gabrielle, who couldn’t be more excited to get to play in the iconic set piece.
“[Showrunner Sera Gamble] gave me a rundown at the beginning of the season,” Gabrielle tells TVLine. “I didn’t know the how’s yet, or the in’s and out’s of how certain things happened, but I did know that she doesn’t actually get away and that I would be put in the cage. And I was like, ‘Yes!’”
The actress continues: “The cage is such a staple of the show, and I was really excited to tackle it from an acting perspective. Like, Marienne would be the longest one in captivity in the cage. I wanted to see how I could give a different rendition of what it feels like for somebody to be locked in a small box for a prolonged period of time — what that does to the psyche, how one devolves over time. I was pretty pumped about it.”
As for Nadia’s involvement, actress Amy-Leigh Hickman admits to being “scared, actually terrified, but also really excited” about the development. “If you’re going to do this show, you want to be in the cage or you want to work with the cage,” Hickman tells TVLine. “I wanted to make sure that I did it right, so I was really grateful that I had Penn [Badgley] and Tati there to help me through it all.”
Without giving too much away for those who haven’t finished Season 4, let’s just say that Marienne’s story continues to evolve in unexpected ways over the course of Episodes 8, 9 and 10.
Were you surprised by the Marienne cage twist? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.
