After five seasons of romantic delusions, poor impulse control and way too many literary references for one lifetime, "You" has wrapped its final chapter.
When "You" first debuted on Lifetime in 2018, few people noticed. Then, Netflix picked up the show, and suddenly Penn Badgley's Joe Goldberg was everywhere: brooding in bookstores and libraries, murdering people in the name of “love” and somehow becoming the internet’s most problematic crush.
Over the course of five seasons, the show managed to become both a guilty pleasure and a dark satire, poking holes in the idea of the tortured nice guy who's just a romantic at heart.
"You" season 5 takes Joe back to New York, where his serial killing truly began. But he is no longer hiding; he’s rich, powerful, and rebranded, thanks to his wife Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie). But Joe will be Joe, which means his return to NYC is less redemption arc, more descent into glossy, unhinged chaos.
All 10 episodes of "You" season 5 dropped today (April 24). Maybe you're the type who likes to read the last page before starting the book. Or maybe you fell off somewhere between Joe's moves to California and London and want the TL;DR summary.
Either way, I'm spilling all the tea on the ending of "You," FAQ-style. Obviously, massive spoilers lay ahead!
Does Joe finally get caught?
It's the question all "You" fans (and former viewers) want to know.
The short answer is: Yes.
The longer answer is that Joe ends up in prison, courtesy of a team-up of women he's harmed in the past.
Yessss! Who brings him down?
The primary instigator of Joe's downfall is his current wife, Kate, whom he met in London in season 4. When season 5 begins, they are blissfully married and have won custody of Joe's son, Henry. Joe has even become famous as a wife guy who holds Kate's handbag.
But when Joe returns to his ol' killing ways, Kate begins to have doubts. She fully turns on him when she finds out he's responsible for the death of her sister, Raegan (Anna Camp).
Kate manages to trap Joe in his own glass cage. Alongside her is Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman), Joe's student from season 4. If you recall, Nadia was framed for a murder that Joe committed.
Joining the two of them is Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), a librarian Joe met in Madre Linda in season 3. He kidnapped and held her in his London hideout. She got out only because Nadia found her and helped her fake an overdose.
When Joe manages to escape the cage and disarm Kate, he's locked in by Maddie (also played by Anna Camp), Kate's sister and twin to Raegan. Joe had previously kidnapped Maddie and forced her to kill Raegan. Maddie sets fire to the bookstore to let him burn.
But the nail in Joe's figurative coffin is hammered in by Bronte (Madeline Brewer), whose real name is Louise and who has a tie to season 1's Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail).
Wait, who's Bronte?
Bronte is a completely new character introduced in "You" season 5. She's played by Madeline Brewer, who you may know as Janine from "The Handmaid's Tale" and Tricia in "Orange Is the New Black."
Joe meets Bronte when he catches her breaking into his bookstore. Charmed by her pluck, wit and literary knowledge, he hires her to reopen the store. When his marriage to Kate begins to fall apart, he — no surprise — becomes obsessed with Bronte. She becomes the "you" he addresses in his inner monologues.
Bronte's troubled past and rocky relationship with a seemingly violent ex stirs up Joe's protective instincts and ardor. They tumble into an affair, which only hastens the end of his marriage.
And then — truly a surprise — it turns out Bronte is catfishing Joe. Her real name is Louise and she's part of a group of Redditors who all believe Joe killed Beck. Their aim is to bring Joe to justice. At a confrontation, he kills Bronte's "ex."
However, Bronte has fallen in love with Joe and tosses aside her friends and common sense to defend him to the police. So he gets away again.
So how is Joe caught?
After the trio of women — Kate, Nadia and Marienne — trap Joe in the cage, they try to force him to confess. They also plan to kill him while making it look like a suicide.
Unfortunately, Joe is able to escape, thanks to a key he had surgically implanted in his arm. He wounds Kate and flees as the bookstore burns down.
Later, he reconnects with Bronte, who has finally woken up to Joe's depravity, thanks to a good talking-to by Marienne. However, she pretends like she still loves Joe so that she can bring him to justice for good.
Joe and Bronte flee to a cabin in the country, where he plots his next moves — particularly how to get his son, Henry, back. Meanwhile, Bronte connives a way to force a confession.
When she confronts him with a gun, a tussle ensues and Bronte nearly drowns. But she manages to save herself and shoot Joe — right between the legs (if you know what I mean).
The police arrive, Joe is arrested and convicted, he becomes a meme, and he goes to prison.
That, my friends, is karma. With a nod to Taylor Swift, karma tracked Joe down, step by step from town to town, and it's sweet like justice.
What happens to everyone else?
It's a mostly happy ending for the women that Joe terrorized:
- Kate managed to survive the fire and retains custody of Henry.
- Nadia returned to writing and began teaching.
- Maddie didn't have to serve time for arson or her sister's murder. She got pregnant with twins.
- Bronte/Louise edited Beck's book so it returned to solely her own writing.
Has Joe learned his lesson?
Ha! No.
Joe may be in prison for the rest of his life, but he's the same toxic, narcissistic psychopath/sociopath.
The problem isn't him ... it's you.
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