The psychological thriller You is back for its fifth and final season, and Netflix has promised “a killer finale”. Hello, you.
The unsettlingly creepy drama is having its full circle moment this season, with Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) finally returning to New York, supposedly to live a normal life with his now-wife Kate (Charlotte Ritchie). Sure.
Could there possibly be a happy ending for someone who has so far avoided any repercussions for an extraordinary number of murders? How will the season end?
Joe Goldberg first appeared on our screens as a lovable bookstore manager in 2018, but he quickly showed his true colours as a darkly obsessive stalker and murderer. He has a knack of disposing of anybody who gets in his way, and according to Netflix Tudum, his body count sits at an impressive 18.
He hasn’t got away completely scot-free so far though – he’s been investigated by the police a total of eight times, but so far they haven’t been able to make anything stick. Can it last?
Badgley teased the finale, saying: “Every season they managed to find new space to make it interesting and relevant. And this season, I think somehow coming back to where it started allowed for it just become grounded in the way that it needs to also have this kind of spectacular finish.”
So, what sort of spectacular finish are we expecting? There are plenty of loose ends to be tied up – Kate has become complicit in at least some of Joe’s crimes, but she’s just inherited her father’s business, so they may start receiving more critical attention.
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Plus, one of Joe’s obsessions, Marienne, (Tati Gabrielle), managed to escape Joe’s clutches in season 4, but it’s rare that his exes survive. In fact, they never do.
And there are a few other people in his history that know his gruesome tendencies who may come back to haunt him – Nadia and Dawn were both framed for his crimes last season, and I don’t imagine they’ll just ignore that.
There are plenty of theories being aired in the lead-up, so let’s have a look at some of the convincing ones, as well as some of the less convincing ones.
Joe’s past catches up with him
Many Reddit-users are convinced that the finale will involve Joe having to face the music and being confronted by people he’s set up in the past.
One Redditor, u/dhhdhshF, thinks Joe will have to finally face the consequences of his actions: “Joe is getting killed or arrested. I believe his downfall is gonna be the witnesses/victims.
“For example: Paco witnessed Joe killing Ron and he likely knows that he killed Beck too, and Marienne, [because] Love told her everything about Joe killing her ex and Love told her to run away and Joe literally kidnapped her but thankfully she escaped. And Nadia.”
Gabrielle, who plays Marienne, is confirmed in the fifth season, and so is Amy-Leigh Hickman as Nadia, so this could well be a good bet. Nadia is also in prison because of Joe, so she must be pretty angry with him.
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Another Redditor also thinks that Marienne will have a role to play in this season: “I predict that Joe will ask Kate to marry him only to kill her unbeknownst to her. Joe will track down Marienne after he finds out she has survived the deadly injection and try to rekindle their love.”
Nobody seems to think it will go well for Joe this season. “I feel as though the cops already have him in mind because of a lot of loose ends he left. There’s a building case on him and there will be a jury scene, like I’m so confident this is going to court” commented u/Plenty_Ferret_6142.
It certainly seems from the trailer that Joe may start getting caught up in his historic crimes (finally), with references to even one of his earliest murders, Peach from season one, mentioned.
He does still have fans though. “Am I nuts for actually hoping he gets away with all his crimes and has the chance to live a normal happy life?!” Redditer u/Original-Food-8774 posted.
Some fans have argued that seasons 1-3 portray Joe as a psychopathic murderer, but the most recent season showed his desire to live a quiet life finally. Others aren’t convinced.
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There are also some more off-the-wall predictions floating around the internet. U/Bigniceenergy69 has a sceptical view of the finale: “[My theory is Joe] is in a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane, we see his psychiatrist is named Dr. Nicky, he has nurses named Beck, Kate and Marienne, and they tell him he’s been there since he was a teen, after he killed both his parents and a lot of what we think happened were just his delusions.” Could it really all have been in Joe’s head?
So it seems it’s still all to play for when it comes to the last season, but one thing’s for sure: not everybody will be getting a happy ending.
You Season 5 will premiere on Netflix UK on April 24 2025.
