Did Love kill her first husband James in You?

The day has finally come! You season 3 just dropped on Netflix this morning and it’s bound to keep viewers glued to their seats binging each episode. The premiere certainly doesn’t pull any punches and it’s enough to get even casual fans on board to keep watching.

Viewers were introduced to antihero Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) back in 2018  when the thriller first started, but they were really in for something else when Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) joined the show in season 2. Joe, unsurprisingly, became obsessed with Love when he first saw her, but we eventually found out that she’s not as innocent as we initially perceived.

Joe and Love are both extremely problematic and dangerous, so the two of them together is just a recipe for disaster. Their dynamic is one of the best parts of You season 3!

Spoilers ahead for You season 3.

You season 3 is full of twists and dramatic events, and there are a handful of moments you won’t see coming. One of them is a conversation between Joe and Love’s mom Dottie (Saffron Burrows). We knew from season 2 that Love’s late husband James (Daniel Durant) passed away after a battle of cancer, and we all thought that’s how he passed away.

However, when Dottie is talking to Joe about Love in season 3, she drops a major bomb that suggests Love actually killed James. Of course, Joe is shocked and so are viewers. This big moment comes right on the heels of a fight between Love and Dottie, and after Dottie takes baby Henry away while drunk, drives with him in the car, and sets her vineyard on fire.

Of course, Love is extremely angry with Dottie’s actions, and it seems possible that Dottie could be making up the story about James out of spite towards Love. Fortunately, we get the answer as to whether or not this happened.

How did Love’s husband James die in You?

Later on in You season 3, Joe and Love have a heated conversation about Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) and Theo (Dylan Arnold), and Joe confronts Love about James. Love doesn’t deny killing him and then explains what happened.

According to Love, she only meant to paralyze James with the poisonous plant aconite so that they could have a serious talk. She admits to killing him, though says she did it “accidentally.”

This is also when it’s revealed that Love also poisoned Joe during their conversation, and he falls to the ground, temporarily paralyzed.

So it looks like Love did, in fact, kill her husband James. Of course, we don’t know for sure if it was on accident or not, but she claims that it wasn’t on purpose.

Unfortunately in the end for Love, she meets the same fate as James when Joe poisons her with the aconite and kills her. It’s a sad end for this character audiences have come to love, and we can’t help but wonder if she’ll be back for You season 4 somehow.

You season 4 is confirmed to be in the works, so we’ll find out eventually! In the meantime, you can watch all 10 episodes of You season 3 on Netflix right now.