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Guinevere Beck was the object of Joe Goldberg’s obsession in You Season 1. Joe nearly won Beck over for good with his charming demeanor, but in the end, Beck learned the truth about him. Beck didn’t survive the first season of You, though her death was never shown in the Netflix series. The books, however, go into more detail about how she met her end.

Beck's death in You Season 1 is a lot more graphic in the book. Beck pulls a book from a shelf while Joe watches.
Elizabeth Lail as Beck and Penn Badgley as Joe in ‘You’ | Netflix

How did Guinevere Beck die in ‘You’ Season 1?

In You Season 1, Joe Goldberg develops an obsession with MFA student Guinevere Beck. He stalks her, engineers situations for them to keep meeting, and eventually begins dating her. Joe and Beck even confess their love for each other, but then Beck learns the truth. She finds Joe’s stache of murder souvenirs, including Benji’s teeth.

When Joe realizes Beck knows the truth, he hits her over the head and holds her captive in the cage in the bookstore basement. Beck convinces Joe to let her out and attempts to make a run for her freedom. Unfortunately, the basement door is locked, and Joe catches Beck before she can escape.

Beck’s death in Caroline Kepnes’ book is even more graphic

Beck’s death in You Season 1 is shocking, but fans don’t see the actual act. The series is based on several books written by Caroline Kepnes. The book’s details about Joe killing Beck make the murder even more disturbing.

Like in the series, Joe imprisons Beck after she finds his box of momentous. While she is in the cage, Joe tries to reason with her. Beck pretends she can forgive Joe so he will let her out of the cage. However, when she runs for the front door, she finds it locked.

Beck then tries to convince Joe she won’t go to the police. Beck reveals that she was aware of some of Joe’s creepy tendencies, like the fact that he followed her to her poetry reading. She tells Joe she can be “gone forever” from his life, but that isn’t what Joe wants.

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Joe begins choking Beck because he doesn’t want her to leave. Beck fights back, but Joe overpowers and kills her. He then cries over Beck’s death with a disturbing inner monologue. “How could I have done this? I never made you pancakes,” Joe narrates in the book. “What the f*ck is wrong with me?”The book then continues similarly to the series, with Joe framing Dr. Nicky for Beck’s death.

Joe sees hallucinations of Beck

Although the Netflix series never showed Beck’s death, it did imply that she suffered the same fate as the books. In You Season 2, Joe is haunted by hallucinations of Beck. He clearly feels some degree of guilt for killing his former girlfriend.

Beck’s ghostly form appears, telling Joe, “You hurt me.” She takes off her scarf, revealing bruises all over her neck from Joe strangling her, and makes Joe look at what he did.

You Season 4 Part I premieres Feb 9, 2023, and Part II March 9, 2023, only on Netflix.

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