Actor Penn Badgley returns as Joe Goldberg in the highly popular crime drama series You, now in its fifth and final season. For those unfamiliar, Joe is a manipulative serial killer who views himself as a ‘white knight’—eliminating those he deems threats to the women he loves. However, the relationship usually ends when the women find out the truth about Joe, leading to chaos and, often, murder. The fans were eagerly anticipating the release of season five as it marks the conclusion of Joe Goldberg’s chilling saga. The latest season picks up with Joe being married to Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie), himself becoming the ‘Prince Charming’ of New York and reuniting with his son Henry (Pete Ploszek). But his past refuses to stay buried, only for it to destroy Joe’s present.
Following the familiar pattern of obsession and destruction, this season explores Joe’s twisted relationship with the notion of love. The anti-hero is careful, manipulative, but sabotages his stable lifestyle for ‘the one.’ After marrying Kate, he begins an affair with Bronte (Madeline Brewer), a mysterious bookstore employee. But what he doesn’t know is that Bronte is not who she appears to be—she is catfishing Joe to expose the truth about Guinevere Beck’s (Elizabeth Lail) murder from season one. Towards the end of the season, the makers of You not only took the bold decision of giving Joe the retribution he deserves but also made the audience confront a disturbing question about a sociopath – why do we sympathise—or even fantasise—about a serial killer like Joe?
Story: You season 5 begins with Joe enjoying the perks of power and wealth after marrying Kate. He gains power, wealth, and his real identity after faking it for years in London and also gets reunited with his son Henry. But all is not well in paradise. With power comes new enemies. After entering the ultra-luxurious club of the New York billionaires, Joe gets a taste of complex family dynamics in the Lockwood family. After Kate takes over as CEO of the Lockwood Corporation, her ambitious stepsister, Reagan (Anna Camp), schemes to take over the company, creating tensions that threaten Joe’s newly formed family.
While Joe figures out a way to deal with the evil stepsister, he meets Bronte, a troubled young woman who frequently breaks into his bookstore, Mooney’s. After realising that she has no job or a place to stay, Joe gives her a job at the bookstore and an apartment upstairs, not knowing that Bronte is going to turn his world upside down.
Joe seeks to protect his ‘Queen Kate’ by attempting to kill Reagan. But the plan backfires disastrously when he accidentally kidnaps Reagan’s twin sister, Maddie. From there, Joe spirals into damage control, with the stakes growing ever higher.
Bronte, chaotic and attention-seeking, captivates Joe. While Joe and Kate become distant in their marriage, Joe convinces himself that Bronte is ‘the one’—someone who can truly accept him for who he is. But his illusion shatters when Bronte turns out to be a vindictive catfisher who was trying to trap Joe into a love affair, only for the world to realise that he killed Guinevere Beck in season one.
As the world turns against Joe, he comes face to face with his past love, Marianne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle), in the finale episodes. In a major turn of events, Bronte rescues Joe from an assassination attempt, and the two flee to the countryside, with plans to cross the border. Will Bronte continue to love Joe after his truth, or will she turn against him and send him to jail is the suspense of the finale episode.
Review: You season 5 is a thrilling and chilling ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat, eager to see what dark secrets unravel next. The characters from the last seasons come to haunt Joe in mysterious and haunting ways that are both intriguing and entertaining. The series takes the audience inside the complexities of Joe’s childhood, shedding light on his mother abandoning him at an early age and how it continues to shape his distorted perception of love and morality.
The arrival of Bronte’s connection brings out the vulnerability in Joe. She sees his trauma and is willing to accept him for who he is. At one point, Bronte even convinces Joe that he no longer has to be ‘the white knight’ for his queen by killing people to prove his love. Their love feels genuine, raw, and redemptive—until it spirals into tragedy.
Bronte too is a complex character with a backstory. She is in a romantic delusion, trapped by indecision and emotional conflict. In the finale, when Joe brings out the hollowness of Bronte’s personality, you almost agree with him. She deceived Joe and came back to him multiple times, not making her the typical heroine and placing her in a morally ambiguous space.
But the makers of You had a different arc in mind. Rather than letting Bronte become another tragic casualty of Joe’s obsession, they offer her a chance at moral growth. By making the ‘right choice, in the end, Bronte emerges as a redemptive personality that challenges the audience’s expectations. The climax of the series is bold but a little too direct. While the world knows about actor Penn Badgley’s vocal criticism of his character, the finale turns the moral authority on us, forcing the viewers to confront their own fascination—and fantasies—about Joe Goldberg.
Verdict: You season 5 is decent but does not measure up to the expectations set by the previous seasons that kept the audience hooked to the screens. While the series tries to wrap up Joe’s journey, the latest instalment relies heavily on predictable tropes like Bronte. Her charm and randomness throw off the audience, making them suspicious of her, only to discover that they were right the whole time. This predictability takes some of the thrill out of what was once a cleverly twisted show.
As a longtime fan of You, the ending did not stand up to my expectations. Kate, who herself has a morally grey past, suddenly takes a moral high ground, determined to bring Joe down. This shift feels forced and unearned. The narrative does not give the time to sink in character’s emotions as there is simply too much happening at once. The present is clashing with the past while Joe makes a plan for the future. Flashbacks, present conflicts and future plans are all mingled together, leaving little room for emotional nuance or character development. While I personally wasn’t rooting for Joe to be punished, I do recognise the importance of that choice. It sends a clear message about accountability and consequences, even if it doesn’t offer the emotional payoff some fans might have hoped for. However, I can’t help but wonder how much more impactful the ending could have been if the makers had gone for something more ambiguous—something like Dexter’s finale, where the protagonist simply disappears into the unknown, leaving viewers haunted by moral uncertainty.
You season five
Watch on: Netflix
Writer and director: Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo
Cast: Penn Badgley, Madeline Brewer, Charlotte Ritchie, Anna Camp, Pete Ploszek, Griffin Matthews
Rating: 2.5 stars
