[unsettling music plays]

[eerie sting] 

We had a theory, Dom, and an insane plan. He was forced to do what any reasonable person would've done.

[woman] Episode seven is a doozy for Bronte. She has basically broken up with Dominique, her best friend. Also, Dominique is telling her, "You're not Bronte. You made her up." 

I'm not leaving New York. I live here. 

Bronte lives here. 

And she's realizing, "Oh my God." "I invented this character, and now she's gone." "Who am I? What am I doing?" And she's kind of just listening to all of the noise that everyone's saying about her and about Joe, while still feeling very real feelings for him. I think that she truly believes it was self-defense. I don't think that she is able to go that far into believing that he really, really did it on purpose, and that he set out to kill Clayton. Also, having to acknowledge within that if he was wanting to kill Clayton, how am I complicit? I think that she's just like, "Nope, self-defense."

[Joe] I haven't been honest. You asked me if I was in love with Louise Flannery.

 Obviously, it's a shock for Joe when he gets Bronte's text finding out that she defended him. Yes, he's angry that she betrayed him and deceived him. But underneath that, I think he believes that she truly developed feelings for him. 

True love, being held, being truly seen by someone you admire so fiercely, I think makes me the luckiest man alive. 

So when he gets this text finding out that she protected him, it's just validation of his feelings and his suspicion that perhaps it was real between them. 

Oh, fuck. 

Joe tries to get in touch with Henry, so he ends up threatening Teddy. This is where it's beginning to unravel. 

You shouldn't be here. You know that. 

When Joe shows up to the apartment, that was probably my second favorite scene because it's Joe, and Joe is crazy. 

Leave! 

Penn is a very sweet guy, but when he looks at you like Joe…

It's me.

Exactly. …

it's actually a horror film. I'm doing no acting in that scene. That was real fear. And I think Teddy knows that his life is now actually on the line. It's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing when Joe shows up and grabs a knife.

[Teddy grunting] Joe!

[Teddy continues grunting]

[boy] Daddy!

Hey. 

Thank God Henry was there because I think Henry inadvertently saves Teddy's life. 

Your most powerful weapons are your image and your reputation. 

Maddie works in PR. And Joe threatens her to release the video of her killing Reagan in the cage if she doesn't come over and, like, help him and fix his image. 

This episode is one of my favorites because we go deep into "What is it like for a person who's in the public to really try to change the narrative?" And we see with Maddie's help how Joe tries to harness the power of social media to get them back on his side.

[Anna] I think Maddie is still being manipulated for sure, but I do think she's more in control at that time. Now that Reagan is not in the picture, it is kind of a good thing for her because she's feeling more like herself and more self-assured, and she doesn't have that hanging over her as much. But yeah, at the end of the day, I still think Joe is manipulating her. 

It was a lot of fun seeing Joe literally take over social media as a killer. 

She's a freaking Manson girl. 

These hypocritical girls with their whiny "toxic masculinity" bullshit…

[Michael] What's interesting is it's all allegations, all speculation. And that's how he's able to make his way out of it. I mean, if I was a DA, I might take a longer look at some of these allegations. But it is all just speculative. 

Daddy did something bad. 

Where are we going? 

To London. 

Kate flies back to London, and she goes to see Nadia. Kate helped frame Nadia for the murder of this politician in the last season. So she's gone back to get her out because, firstly, she feels bad about it, but also, she knows that Nadia will be helpful in bringing Joe down. 

It's everything for her to return. And I didn't know that I was gonna be in the fifth one at the end of the fourth. And I remember thinking, "Oh my God, I hope that there's some light at the end of the tunnel." 

Hi, Nadia. My name is Kate.

[Amy-Leigh] Kate helped put Nadia in prison. So I think Joe's the last person on Earth she wants to see, and Kate's probably the second-to-last person.

[Michael] But it just made sense that if Kate was gonna get absolution, her quest for that would start at that prison in London. 

What I want is to get you out of here. 

I know if I was watching, which I would be, whether I'm in it or not, I would be rooting for Nadia.

[Kate] We're gonna take Joe Goldberg down.

[brooding music plays]

[dramatic sting]