Warning! Spoilers for You season 5 ahead!
Things got much more complicated for Joe when You season 5 introduced a pair of twins. Reagan and Maddie Lockwood are Kate’s half sisters, making them Joe’s new sisters-in-law after he married Kate at the end of You season 4. Both these characters are played by actor Anna Camp, who gave a unique performance for each. It was pretty immediately clear in You that Reagan especially was going to be a problem for Joe. She is precisely the sort of character that the Netflix series’ murderer would have to do away with. However, Reagan’s status as a twin threw Joe for a loop.
You season 5 picks up three years after the events of season 4, so Joe has had ample time to get to know the Lockwood family. He never got along with Reagan, but he and Maddie had an odd sort of friendship. Joe didn’t like the latter twin much, but he never considered her dangerous. This didn’t save her from ending up in his cage in You season 5, however. Joe had targeted Reagan, but he accidentally captured and imprisoned the wrong twin. It was easily one of the stickiest dilemmas Joe had ever found himself in You. He hatched a plan, but Kate’s twin sisters still turned out to be key in his downfall.
Why Joe Wants To Kill Reagan In You Season 5 & How He Kidnaps The Wrong Twin
Kate’s Sister Was A Problem (But Her Twin Got Caught In The Middle)
Joe may champion himself as a defender of women in You, but Reagan Lockwood was not the sort of character he could let live for long. It’s amazing that Joe hadn’t targeted her in the three years he was married to Kate, but it seems he reached his limit once Reagan began to make more direct threats toward his family. Things grew especially heated between Kate and Reagan after Joe murdered Bob Cain. Reagan suspected that Kate had ordered Bob killed, since the man had been helping Reagan force Kate out of the Lockwood company. If that didn’t make things tense enough, the conflict between their children made things so much worse.
Reagan’s daughter had overheard her call Kate a murderer and used this information to tease Joe’s son, Henry. This resulted in a school fight and some legal trouble between Reagan and the Goldbergs. Reagan demanded demeaning apologies and used what she knew about Bob’s death to blackmail Kate and Joe into moving Henry out of his school. Kate tried to handle things, but nothing worked. It got to the point that, from Joe’s perspective, there was nothing else to do but kill Reagan.
RelatedYou’s final season has enough reflection and twists to keep us engaged, even as I became frustrated with some of the characters’ actions.
Unfortunately for Joe, Maddie just happened to be having an affair with Reagan’s husband in Reagan’s office the night that he attempted to kidnap and lock his enemy in the cage. It wasn’t until Maddie woke up in the basement of Moodey’s that Joe realized he had snatched the wrong twin. This really complicated things. Though he could technically just kill Maddie and try again with Reagan, it would be a lot more suspicious if both twins disappeared. Ultimately, Joe decided to throw Reagan in the cage with her sister and blackmail Maddie into murdering her for him.
The Real Reason Joe Convinces Maddie To Kill Reagan – How & Why She Does It
Joe Left Maddie Without A Choice
Joe kept Maddie in the cage for quite a while in You season 5 before he figured out how to handle the situation. He had been looking for something to blackmail Maddie over. That way, he could set her free, confident that she wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened. Joe eventually realized that he could create a situation that would grant him power over Maddie. He kidnapped Reagan, tossed her in the cage, and told her twin to murder her for him to earn her freedom. He trusted that she wouldn’t blab, since doing so would mean revealing that she had murdered her own twin.
Maddie was still reluctant to kill her sister. However, Joe reminded her just how terrible Reagan had always been to her. He pointed out that, when it came down to it, Reagan wouldn’t hesitate to kill Maddie. Additionally, with Reagan out of the way, Maddie would be free to be with her sister’s husband, whom she loved. Maddie had even been the surrogate for Reagan and Harrison’s daughter, and killing her sister meant she could step in and finally be a mom to her like she had always wanted.
RelatedJoe Goldberg is surrounded by a host of new characters (and possible victims) in You season 5, so let’s take a look at the talented new cast.
When it comes down to it, Maddie killed Reagan while under duress.
Still, when it comes down to it, Maddie killed Reagan while under duress. Joe had threatened her after days of isolation, and used the years that Reagan had abused Maddie against her. Maddie initially rejected Joe’s orders, but when Reagan woke up and immediately began treating her twin cruelly, Maddie acted. When Joe returned to the cage, he found that Maddie had injected Reagan with insulin, killing her.
Joe & Maddie’s Plan To Replace Reagan Lockwood Explained
Joe Needed Maddie To Handle Some Final Matters In Reagan’s Name
With the real Reagan dead, Joe set his next plan in motion. He worked with Maddie until she was able to convincingly behave like her twin sister and had her march into the board meeting at Kate’s company and resign as CFO. From there, Maddie needed to live with Reagan’s family long enough that no one would be suspicious of anything. Joe planned to have Maddie (as Reagan) pretend to head out on a trip to the Philippines, where he had orchestrated a tragic accident. Everyone would believe that Reagan had died on the boat (rather than in Joe’s cage), and Maddie would be free to resume her own identity.
How Maddie Exposes Herself As The Wrong Twin & What Happens After
Maddie Couldn’t Handle The Pressure
Joe’s plan depended on Maddie keeping up the act for several weeks before Reagan’s death could be faked. Though she managed well enough for a while, Maddie’s guilt at killing her sister slowly began to take over. Reagan had always been abusive toward her twin, and Maddie easily imagined the things her sister would say to her if she were still alive. Eventually, Maddie began to claim that Reagan was haunting her. Maddie’s erratic behavior and Kate’s suspicions that Joe had done something to Reagan ultimately resulted in the truth gushing out of the surviving twin.
If it wasn’t for the fire, Joe might never have been caught at the end of You. His big twin mistake was, in a roundabout way, his undoing.
Harrison figured out for himself that Maddie had taken Reagan’s place, but he agreed (eventually) to keep the secret. Kate was a different story. She initially planned to have Maddie go away to a rehab facility while she handled Joe. However, Maddie unexpectedly turned up at Mooney’s and burned the whole place to the ground. If it wasn’t for the fire, Joe might never have been caught at the end of You. His big twin mistake was, in a roundabout way, his undoing.
Release Date
2018 – 2025-00-00
Network
Lifetime, Netflix
Showrunner
Sera Gamble, Greg Berlanti
Directors
Marcos Siega, Lee Toland Krieger, Cherie Nowlan, DeMane Davis, Kellie Cyrus, Marta Cunningham, Martha Mitchell, Victoria Mahoney, Erin Feeley
Writers
Justin W. Lo
