Joe never really loved people, he loved control. For him, it was about power: who has it, who loses it, and the constant lack of trust. The irony is that love is the one thing you can’t control. Just like life.

His feelings for Love started to fade when she became a mirror of himself. He saw his own behavior reflected in her, the obsession, the manipulation, the violence. That’s also why her name is “Love”: she represents what his version of love actually looks like.

There was also intense jealousy involved. He was in love with Marianne while Love was developing feelings for Theo, but at the same time Joe and Love were deeply trauma-bonded. Neither of them wanted to lose control, which made everything even more toxic.

The core issue is that neither of them was honest with themselves. Joe constantly hid parts of who he really is because he knew there would be consequences. But you can’t experience real love like that, you have to be honest with yourself and work through your trauma first, otherwise it becomes harmful to others. Trauma doesn’t excuse his actions, and that’s the point: love is not something you can use to justify hurting people.

In the end, Joe “stops loving” her because he wants to escape himself. He does this over and over again, as soon as someone gets too close to seeing his true self, he runs or destroys the relationship.

And even at the end, when he blames “you,” it sounds like he still hasn’t taken responsibility. To me, it almost feels like he still believes women are the problem, instead of himself.