This Theory About Love Quinn and Her Late Husband Could Be Totally True on Netflix’s ‘You’

Netflix’s You made a triumphant return to the streaming site on Dec. 26. Joe Goldberg, played by Penn Badgley, left off with Candace appearing at his bookstore, stirring up his past since he thought she was dead. He fled to Los Angeles, took up a fake name, and is trying to be a different guy all together from the one who killed Beck in New York. He meets, and falls in love with, Love Quinn and things seem to go better than last time. But, that’s not the case in the long run and Love has her own torrid tale to tell.

There’s now a new theory going around about Love and her late husband, James. And it’s particularly convincing once you realize her past. Spoilers for Netflix’s You ahead.

Love is Joe’s newest obsession… which isn’t a great thing for Joe

Season 2 begins with Joe’s start as Will Bettelheim in LA, which he hates. He takes up a job at a health (and fad) centric grocery store called Anavrin and works in the books department, which is in line with one of his passions. He falls hard for Love, the owner’s daughter and resident chef there. He soon finds himself mixed up in her family mess, which includes an eccentric brother, Forty, who captures Joe in his movie ideas. 

While things seem to go better than it did with Beck, with Love equally as into Joe as he is into her, things take a turn for the worst. It turns out that Love is actually just as messed up as Joe, including the fact that she’s killed before and has no problem doing it again. And again. First with Candace and then with Delilah. She even keeps Joe in his own glass cage for a bit, which is new for him. 

A new theory suggests Love actually had a part in her late husband’s death

Love’s backstory includes a husband who she was madly in love with through school. They got married, and seemed like a match made in heaven. But, they had differing opinions on when they wanted to start a family, which really seemed to tear the two apart. Then James, her husband, became very sick and died before Love met Joe/Will. 

The show never mentions how he got sick or what it was that killed him, but fans are convinced that it was Love. Her previous kills puts nothing out of the question for Love. Cosmopolitan puts together a ton of Twitter users who have this theory that Love poisoned James’ food, slowly killing him. He wouldn’t go along with her desire for a family, and maybe she didn’t want to divorce him. Or maybe she was hoping that he would feel the need to start a family if he had limited time left with Love. In her twisted head, those could count as motives. 

A Reddit post could further confirm this theory

Plus, Reddit user u/inthacut12 noted that Delilah had a newspaper clipping with James’ story on her board of clues and leads in her apartment. “Strangely it’s shortly after Love’s flashbacks to her & [sic] James, when he tells her that he’s sick. I am now on board with the idea that she likely poisoned him,” the user writes. “After rewatching, when he tells her he’s known for 8 weeks it almost looks like she feels guilty. She has enough money and resources to find some kind of poison IMO.”

This would be an added reason behind killing Delilah, and of course confirm that she killed James. However, Sera Gamble, the showrunner for You, told Vulture, “We’re not really a show that’s interested in cold-blooded, psychopathic killers who derive pleasure from violence.” So that could put an end to this theory. Unless, of course, Love killed him because she thought it was best? For whom, we couldn’t say.

These two characters were sort of made for each other

If true, this would be another fantastic twist for the show. Like Joe says in the finale, they might actually be soulmates. They both have troubled upbringings that turned them into serial killers with moral codes and a need to kill people for their greater good. However, Gamble poses some questions for Season 3, if Netflix greenlights it. “What is between these two people now? Is it love? Is it hate? Is it a strange new emotion we need to find a name for?” 

Gamble tells Vulture that Joe is in a personal hell, even though he’s not in prison. He can’t scout a new victim with as much liberty as before, considering Love isn’t a regular spouse. She’d kill him before he could cheat on her again. There are so many juicy avenues for the next season.