Joe Goldberg now sits behind bars. There, I said it. No need for spoiler alerts because viewers of Season 5 belong to three distinct categories: diehard enthusiasts or people who watch to criticize or those who exhausted all other Netflix choices. The audience can agree that the long, bloody and often confusing journey has finally reached its conclusion.
The initial psychological thriller about digital-era creepiness and obsession transformed into a bizarre soap opera across five seasons by introducing murder cages and British academic themes alongside billionaire romance and the ability of the main character to evade justice despite his extensive body count. Yet here we are today.
Joe 5.0: Now With a Billionaire Wife and No Shame
Season 5 sees the main character Joe played by Penn Badgley go without using his past methods of deception through fake identities and deaths. Joe has abandoned his secret identities and fake deaths because he now exists openly with his wife Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie). He is living in New York with his son Henry and pretending to be a family man despite having killed numerous people in different parts of the world.
The absurdity of this situation becomes obvious to the show which acknowledges it openly. Instead of embracing the dark satire which made previous seasons entertaining You maintains the possibility that Joe might find redemption. Spoiler: he’s not. The whispered monologues Joe delivers cannot deceive us anymore because he remains the ruthless killer he has always been despite the audience’s being manipulated into seeing him differently.
Enter Brontë (Because of Course There’s Another One)
Brontë (Madeline Brewer) enters Joe’s bookstore as a lost-soul playwright who quotes Ibsen then immediately becomes his new obsession. The story follows the identical pattern where he falls deeply then becomes fixated on her before things turn ominous while viewers question if he will actually murder her. Of course he will. Or try to.
The twist? The actual identity of Brontë differs from what she presents to the world. The character Bronté turns out to be Louise who has ties to Guinevere Beck from Season 1 and seeks revenge against Joe. Finally, someone in this show makes sense.
The show presents glass boxes together with internet mobs and weak themes that fail to convince.
During a crucial segment of the season the production attempts to recapture its original themes. The series presents short moments that depict online sexism and incel behavior and examines whether dangerous individuals can transform into positive figures through murder. These concepts are presented like seasonings because the show does not develop them properly.
The murder cage returns in this season. The series needs to conclude with Joe confined to his symbolic glass box which represents his state of denial and delusion. It’s poetic. It’s also exhausting.
The Conclusion Delivers Justice to Its Characters.
The consequences of Joe’s actions eventually catch up to him although he receives only a partial comeuppance. The authorities successfully uncover his schemes before giving him a life prison term. The conclusion provides an appropriate conclusion by giving the villain the appropriate consequence which stands as an achievement for a prestige series. But in classic You fashion, the finale still tries to turn the blame around on the audience. The audience members are portrayed as perverts because they continue watching. Nice try, Netflix.
Final Verdict
The series should have concluded after its second season. The show’s conclusion provides both a satisfying finish and much-needed consequences for the characters despite the extensive messiness throughout Season 5. Joe Goldberg ends up exactly where he deserves to be: imprisoned behind bars and erased from our viewing list.
GeekScore: 6/10 – Justice served, but cold and a little overcooked
