You, Netflix series that made us all feel just a little too obsessed with a charming stalker, finally ended with season 5 – and, oh, what an ending it was.
The fans who endured five seasons, hoping to find some kind of closure, were left with a bad taste in their mouths. What was once a viewers’ guilty pleasure spiraled further into a mess of badly planned plot twists and an identity crisis its creators couldn’t quite solve. This last season, Joe Goldberg played by Penn Badgley, still doesn’t know if he is a hero or a villain-neither does the show.
When Joe first hit the screen, there was just something undeniably creepy about him and his stalking and obsession, yet somehow, his charm and twisted worldview made him oddly captivating. The show fell hard for the notion of him as some kind of dark antihero. But in this final season, Joe’s character seems to have devolved into something far less interesting, far more frustrating. Is he some kind of misguided, misunderstood soul or just a sociopath who somehow manages to charm his way into our hearts? It was never fully answered, and that’s part of what makes this ending so unsatisfying.
Joe’s final arc brings him back to New York, the city in which it all took place. He is married to the rich Kate Lockwood, played by Charlotte Ritchie, and they lead a life that seems simply perfect. But as expected, Joe cannot stay out of trouble for long. He becomes obsessed with a new woman, Bronte, played by Madeline Brewer, and the familiar pattern of stalking and violence begins again.
This time, Joe is not hiding behind a false identity; he is a public figure. He is not pretending to be someone else, but the show never explains why this change of scenery is different and we should believe Joe has really “changed.” It attempts to sell this season’s Joe as a better man, using his influence and power for good, but honestly, this new Joe seems just as ridiculous as the old one. He goes from saying how great it feels to “rid the world of assholes” to getting tangled up in an emotional mess that’s been done to death in previous seasons.
The show sets up this weak contrivance in an attempt to redeem Joe, and it falls flat. There are attempts at making us think that Joe might finally realize the damage he’s caused, but these moments are short-lived and lack the emotional weight to make us actually believe in any transformation.
Where the satire made the first few seasons entertaining, it was largely replaced with convoluted plots and endless twists that ultimately go nowhere. Yes, there are some attempts to revisit the dark humor that originally made the series fun, but such moments of comedy get lost in the mire. One minute, the show is poking at the ultra-wealthy, and then it takes itself so seriously, trying to make us believe Joe can really be a sympathetic character. That’s where the show completely loses its audience.
By the time we reach the finale, Joe’s journey seems less about growth and more about giving fans a few final, superficial moments to hold on to.
The big problem with You’s final season is not just the repetitive plot twists or lack of resolution on Joe’s character; it’s how the show approached its audience. That final scene, which is supposed to wrap up Joe’s arc, does so in a manner that comes off as an insult.
Instead of giving viewers a satisfying conclusion, the show points the finger at us, suggesting the real problem wasn’t Joe all along; it was how we consumed his story. This ending tries to pass itself off as a smart commentary on the audience’s own complicity, but actually, it feels a lot more like a cop-out than anything else.
You’s Season 5 could have been a great opportunity to finally unravel the complexities in Joe’s character and the moral ambiguity of the show. Instead, it throws all that away for a lazy, unsatisfying conclusion that comes off more like a slap in the face than a fitting goodbye to a character we followed for years. Ultimately, the show never solves the question it set out to answer: Is Joe a hero or a villain?
And perhaps that’s the greatest tragedy of all. For a series that spent so much time exploring obsession and morality, it couldn’t be bothered to give its audience a payoff that felt earned or meaningful.
- Kim Kardashian Shares Shocking Brain Aneurysm Diagnosis, Blames Divorce with Kanye West - October 24, 2025
- Shocking ‘Ghost Adventures’ Episode Captures Aaron Goodwin Finding Out About Wife’s Murder Plot Arrest - October 24, 2025
- ‘Nobody Wants This’ Review: Bell and Brody Spark an Electric Connection - October 24, 2025
