You season 5 spoilers ahead.
After almost seven tumultuous years, Netflix sensation and TV adaptation of Caroline Kepnes' novels You has come to an end. And if you felt that the You season 5 ending left you with more questions than answers, you're not alone.
The fifth season's 10 episodes ties up Joe Goldberg's bloody story – but does he get what he deserves? Critics of the show have in the past pointed out that the romanticisation of his character, a serial killer and stalker, is unhelpful in the face of our very real violence against women and girls (VAWG) epidemic. So does the show honour this problem in its final episodes?
Here's everything we know about the You season 5 ending, including our take on whether You tackles this issue appropriately.
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The You season 5 ending explained - here's what happens to Joe
The show's final episode, and the tenth from season 5, sees Joe and Bronte – played by Madeline Brewer and a central love interest/obsession of Joe's this season – run away together. Bronte worked as a shopgirl at bookshop Mooney's while Joe was restoring it (a throwback to season 1) and seemingly fell in love with him while trying to expose him for the murder of Beck, the first love interest/obsession of Joe's from back in season 1. It turns out Beck is Bronte's former university tutor, meaning the former set out for revenge.
Cue the intensity. Joe believes that Bronte is his ultimate chance for true love, seeing as she keeps coming back to him, despite her reservations and knowledge of the murders he has committed. While she may get taken in by Joe's manipulations throughout the series, by the final episode Bronte is resolved, particularly after a conversation with another of his victims Marienne (Tati Gabrielle). She plays nice until they are alone, stargazing on a sail boat, leading to a rather sexy scene after they kiss passionately.
Then, Bronte pulls a gun on Joe, demanding he revises the edits he made of Beck's memoir. Various physical fights between the two ensue, as well as a terrifying chase through the woods.
But what about Joe's ultimate fate? Well, he ends up being shot in the penis and imprisoned. He is convicted of the murders of Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) and Guinevere Beck, as well as season 1 characters Benji Ashby and Peach Salinger. He also becomes the subject of a mocking meme of him being shot in his private parts.
We see him delivered a fan letter in his jail cell, though, which describes sexual fantasies the writer wants to do with Joe. It causes Joe to question if he is in fact the problem, or is it actually “you”? I.e, in quite a meta point, the show is asking, are we perpetuating the notoriety and power of violent and criminal men like Joe by fixating on and sexualising him?
It's an interesting question to end on, acknowledging the obsession around Joe Goldberg from the show's beginning and the discomfort that surrounds that. Why is there a Netflix hit show about a male stalker and serial killer? Why do some find his character sexy and sympathetic?
While You season 5's ending may not “fix” its many storylines of VAWG, it does ask us to explore our own psyche as well as Joe's. As he says, is he – at least to a certain extent – a product of his environment? It certainly asks us to take accountability for contributing to an obsession with 5 seasons centred around a murderer of so many women, and perhaps what it says about us as a society.
What happens to the remaining women in You?
So let's start with Bronte – she narrowly escapes and starts a new life as Louse. She reworks Beck's manuscript and deleted Joe's additions, with the newly released edition becoming hugely successful. It details her story with Joe and his murders. Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) makes her company non-profit after taking over as CEO, after surviving a fire set at Mooney's. She also supports and champions Marienne's career as an artist, who is safe to be in the public eye after Joe's imprisonment.
Charlotte Ritchie recently predicted a “mixed reaction” to the You season 5 ending. She told Radio Times: "I think this is such a larger than life character that finding an ending that satisfies everybody based on all of the various feelings they have about him, like in his life, I don't think that's possible, but I think it's a nice nod to the kind of relationship we have with him, which I think is quite fun and quite kind of inclusive, weirdly."
She will co-star alongside Too Much and The White Lotus actor Will Sharpe.
