Throughout the five seasons of You, Netflix has told one of the most enthralling serial killer stories in television history. Told through the eyes of Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), You follows a predator who charms the audience and his victims with grand romantic gestures, to the point where many fans buy into the twisted justifications he creates for his crimes. However, as the seasons went by, it became harder to cheer for Joe, as his dark nature was ever more present and his actions were increasingly perverse. It all comes crashing down in Season 5 of You, which forces Joe to face the consequences of his horrible actions.
WARNING: Spoilers below for Netflix’s You Season 5
Set three years after Season 4, Joe and Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie) have rebuilt their lives in New York City as a married couple. Kate is now the CEO of her father’s company, constantly steering the megacorporation towards non-profit endeavors that put her on a collision course with her cutthroat capitalist sister, Reagan (Anna Camp). When Kate faces some corporate troubles, Joe uses his White Knight syndrome as an excuse to unleash his darkest impulses, forcing Kate to face the truth about her husband. As charming as Joe might be, he is a monster who relishes in the pain he causes other people, and his crimes are far more severe than she imagined. After that, Kate is determined to stop Joe for good, thrusting her into a desperate investigation that unearths the many murders Joe has silenced over the years.
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To complicate matters, in Season 5 of You, Joe finds a new romantic interest, Bronte (Madeline Brewer), a wannabe writer who’s secretly seducing him to uncover the truth about the death of Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), his primary Season 1 victim. Unfortunately for Bronte, by getting closer to Joe, she becomes ensnared by his charm, eventually believing his innocence. Meanwhile, Joe commits the usual atrocities behind everyone’s backs, including convincing Kate’s sister Maddie (also Anna Camp) to kill her twin, Reagan.
How Does Kate Plan to Take Down Joe in You Season 5?
The point of no return of Season 5 of You happens in Episode 9. To uncover the truth, Kate uses her wealth and power to release Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman) from prison, serving a sentence for a crime Joe committed. Together, they also track down Marianne (Tati Gabrielle), who faked her death in Season 4 to escape Joe’s clutches, with the help of Nadia. Together, the three manage to lock Joe inside the glass cell he keeps at Mooney’s basement, trying to get him to confess to his crimes. When that fails, Kate sends her allies away, taking the task of killing Joe, which she sees as the only way to stop him for good. The farewell allows Joe to escape with a key he had grafted inside a wound in his arm, leading to a bloody confrontation with Kate, where both end up severely injured.
While Kate and Joe fight in the basement, Maddie comes to Mooney’s for revenge. After killing her twin sister and impersonating her in public to keep the lie Joe crafted, Maddie starts to spiral down and abuse drugs. Eventually, Reagan’s husband (and Maddie’s lover), Harrison (Pete Ploszek), finds the truth. Although Harrison and Maddie swear to secrecy, Joe still plants incriminating evidence to send them both to jail. Harrison signs a confession to free Maddie, and once unleashed, the unstable Lockwood decides to set Mooney’s on fire. Even though he got out of Kate’s cage, Joe is still locked in the basement while the bookstore is consumed by flames.
In their final moments, Kate manages to get Joe to admit to killing Love (Victoria Pedretti), a voice recording she immediately sends to Nadia. The truth is unveiled, and Joe is about to die by Kate’s side when fate intervenes. Bronte rushes inside the burning bookstore and drags Joe out, saving his life. He interprets the gesture as the ultimate proof of Bronte’s undying love. However, Joe doesn’t know that Bronte gets to talk to Marianne earlier in the evening, finally realizing the ugly truth about Joe’s so-called “love.” Bronte is determined to bring Joe to justice, so she can’t let him die before the whole world sees him for the monster he is.
How Does Bronte Manage to Send Joe Goldberg to Prison?
The final episode of You is partially narrated by Bronte, and viewers get to learn her deepest thoughts as she wakes up and realizes how devious Joe really is. After escaping the flaming bookstore, Joe and Bronte drive north, towards the Canadian border. Joe has summoned the help of Will Bettelheim (Robin Lord Taylor), a returning Season 2 character whose hacking expertise allows him to help get fake passports. Joe plans to flee the country, let the dust settle, and buy himself time to fight Kate’s incriminating audio message. However, to wait for the passports, Joe breaks into a charming cottage near a lake, a secluded place he tries to pretend is romantic.
Bronte plays along, hoping to get Joe’s guard down. When the time comes, she threatens Joe at gunpoint, revealing her true intentions. Bronte forces Joe to edit a copy of Beck’s book, crossing out with a marker every addition he made to her work — as Bronte puts it, Joe not only took Beck’s life, but also her voice once he decided to finish her manuscript to fit his narrative. While Joe is working on the edits, Will manages to connect Joe’s phone to a game server used by his son, Henry (Frankie DeMaio). During his last conversation with his son, Henry makes it clear that he understands his dad is a monster and never wants to speak with him again.
With little to lose, Joe attacks Bronte once she tries to call the police, using her gun to shoot her in the stomach. Bronte escapes into the nearby woods, hiding behind the trees and waiting for Joe to follow her supposed trail before returning to the house. Once inside, Bronte desperately tries to use Joe’s phone to call 911, a challenging task considering she’s bleeding and the phone’s screen was cracked in the previous brawl. Joe rushes back home when he realizes he has been deceived, prompting Bronte to jump out of a window for survival. She finally connects to the police, but her sprained ankle prevents her from getting away from Joe.
Unaware he’s being heard by police attendants, Joe lashes out at Bronte. He admits to having sprayed her ankle himself days earlier, to ensure she wouldn’t run away. He also promises to show Bronte how he killed Beck, before choking her. In turn, Bronte pierces Joe’s torso with a sharp brass knuckles she bought in secret at a gas station. She tries to use a boat to escape into the lake, but Joe intercepts her, drowning Bronte.
Hearing sirens in the distance, Joe realizes what happened and tries to escape. He kills a police officer and keeps running deeper into the woods until he’s stopped by Bronte. She survived the murder attempt and is in control again, with a gun in her hands. Realizing there’s no way out, Joe begs Bronte to kill him. He prefers to die rather than to face a lonely life in prison, and wants Bronte to pull the trigger. Bronte refuses, knowing that the world needs to understand how dangerous Joe is, so that women everywhere become aware of the bloody fate that awaits people who ignore red flags in the name of love. To force Bronte’s hand, Joe lunges at Bronte, leading her to shoot him in his penis to stop him. Just like that, Joe is caught by the police, with blood dripping down his legs.
What’s the Final Fate of You‘s Main Characters?
Once Joe goes on trial, the whole truth is revealed. Dr. Nicky Angevine (John Stamos), who had been serving time for Beck’s death since Season 1, is released. Bronte’s friends, Dominique (Natasha Behnam) and Phoenix (b), use the fame they got from exposing Joe firsthand to advocate for justice for other victims of abuse. Maddie has to go to trial for murder and arson, but the extenuating circumstances of her crimes mean she serves no sentence and is only forced to go to rehab. The last time we see her, she is in a happy relationship with Harrison and pregnant with twins.
Nadia regains her will to tell stories, becoming a writer and a teacher, and dedicates her life to helping other women deal with trauma. In her turn, Marianne can pursue her career as an artist since she no longer needs to hide from Joe. She is helped by Kate, who survived the bookstore fire, deeply scarred but happy to use her influence to support Marianne’s work. However, she no longer works at the Lockwood corporation. Once the dust settles, Teddy (Griffin Matthews), the new Lockwood CEO, turns the company into a whole non-profit organization, marking another happy ending for a You character.
Bronte fixes Beck’s book, leveraging a reprint that maintains the original text and removes everything Joe previously added. The new book is an instant hit, surpassing the sales of the previous one. Although she can’t bring Beck back, Bronte wants to at least honor her memory. As for herself, she finally escapes Joe’s shadow, learning to trust herself instead of depending on external validation.
Finally, there’s Joe, doomed to spend his life in prison. In the final scenes of You, Joe ponders his unfair punishment and how the loneliness is even worse than he imagined. However, even behind bars, Joe keeps receiving fan mail from women who fantasize about being controlled and punished by Joe. Joe uses this to wonder if he is the only guilty party for his actions, after all, every person is a product of their environment. So, in a certain way, a culture that celebrates toxic love and serial killers incentivizes people like Joe to do what they do. The final shot of You has Joe looking directly into the screen, and asking if the audience is somewhat complicit in his crimes. It’s a chilling finale that addresses the show’s controversy, and all the love Joe Goldberg gets from fans despite his cruel actions.
What did you think of the ending of You Season 5? Was it a satisfying conclusion to the TV show? Join the discussion in the comments!
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