You Season 5 Review: A Perfect Reckoning For Joe Goldberg

SPOILER ALERT: Turn back now if you havent seen the final season of "You".

The series finale of "You" just dropped on NetFlix. The show is loosely based on a book series by Caroline Kepnes. There are 3 books in the collection: "You" (2014), "Hidden Bodies" (2016), and "You Love Me (2021).

For five seasons we've watched Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley) love and kill his way through New York, then London, then back to New York. Joe seems like the perfect guy. He's in love with the idea of "love". We know this because Joe also serves as the show's (unreliable) narrator. In reality Joe is a monster (wrapped in the disguise of a knight in shining armor). When he meets a woman, Joe becomes obsessed with her. So much so that he'll kill anyone who gets in the way of their relationship. But Joe, not being a stable dude, grows discontented and the cycle begins again with someone. See my previous reviews here

The final season starts with Joe (still married to Kate). They are back in New York. Joe has his son Henry back. Joe decides to reopen Mooney's (the bookstore). This is where he meets Bronte (a woman sleeping in the closed store). She is played by Madeline Brewer. He asks her to work there...and we're off to the races with his newest obsession.

We meet Kate's family-- twin sisters Regan and Maddie (Anna Camp excellently portrays both), Uncle Bob and half brother Teddy. They are busy haggling over the company their father left to Kate.

In a big reveal, it turns out Bronte is not some naive, innocent girl that falls for Joe. She is actually Louise who was previously a student of Guinevere Beck's. She has been working with online sleuths (Phoenix and Dominique) to catch Joe. They've joined forces with Clayton (the son of Dr Nicky). As you may recall Dr Nicky was framed for the murder of Beck in season 1. Some of the few people that Joe allowed to live in his past, make appearances on social media to condemn him. We have Dottie Quinn (Love's mother), Shirley and Cary Conrad (they wrote a book about their experiences), Annika (Beck and Peach's friend), and Ethan (Joe's previous employee at the bookstore).

Remember Nadia (Joe's student in London)? He killed her boyfriend and then framed her for it. She is bailed out of jail by Kate. Marienne (Joe's obsession last season) also joins forces with Kate and Nadia to take Joe down.

When he's finally exposed, Joe goes on the lame with Bronte. Does she really love him? Maybe but she's playing a long game. She pulls a gun on him. He of course wrestles it away and shoots her. She is badly bleeding and flees. Joe just wearing his boxers chases her around outside. This is where we truly see the monster. Is he going to kill Bronte and get away with it AGAIN? It looks like it when she appears to drown. But nope she's still alive. I'm not sure how but whatever. The cops close in on Joe in the woods. Bronte grabs the gun from the cop Joe just killed. Joe asks her to kill him. Bronte says that ending is too good for him. He lunges and she shoots him... in the groin. Looks like he won't be using that again. How aprorpriate. Everyone FINALLY learns the truth about Joe. He is convicted of the murders of Beck and Love. See his final kill count below.

The series ends with Joe alone in a prison cell (never to see the light of day again). This is a fitting end for him. He is incapable of self reflection and STILL blames everyone else. Joe's last words hit home in a new way though. He's getting fan mail from crazy obsessed fans. "Why am I in a cage, when these crazies write me all the depraved things they want me to do for them? Maybe we have a problem as a society. Maybe we should fix what's broken in us. Maybe the problem isnt me. Maybe... it's you." And Joe finally says something that's true. It's a real indictment of today's society. Why are we all so obsessed with guys like Joe?

What I especially like about this show is how it tries to make viewers (especially women) look at why they "settle" for these types of relationships. They want someone to rescue them and make everything perfect. Trouble is, that person doesnt really exist. The "protective boyfriend" is in fact just an abuser. What women need to realize is that we have to save ourselves. No one else is going to do it for us.

Joe's final kill count- 23

His mom's boyfriend
Beck- Joe's first obsession (that we see)
Benji- Beck's sorta boyfriend
Elijah- a record exec
Peach- Beck's best friend
Ron- next door neighbor who is abusive to Paco and his mother
Ryan- Marienne's ex husband
Jasper- debt collector of a guy who Joe stole his identity
Henderson- a comedian who is preying on young girls
Love- Joe's wife (who turned out to be just as crazy as him)
Malcolm- a fellow professor with Joe in London
Simon- artist, his death starts the search for the "Eat The Rich" killer
Vic- Lady Phoebe's driver and bodyguard
Gemma- friend of Kate and Phoebe's
Rhys- Joe thought he was the "Eat The Rich" killer
Tom Lockwood- Kate's father
Hugo- Tom's bodyguard and driver
Edward (Eddie)- Nadia's boyfriend
Uncle Bob
Reagan- twin of Maddie and sister of Kate
Dane- tried to kidnap Bronte
Clayton- Dr Nicky's son
a police officer (in the final scenes)

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). Excellent! The final season provides a perfect ending for Joe Goldberg IMHO. Penn Badgley deserves all the awards. He can be loveable and sympathetic one moment and a crazed killer the next. What is it about Joe that makes him so appealing to women? Everyone wants to be loved. When someone is focusing that much love and attention on you, it becomes addictive. Problem is when they take over your world and kill everyone around you (either figuratively or literally). They then decide you weren't all you were cracked up to be. The spell is broken and you become the next target of their rage. Then it's time to start the cycle all over again with someone new. .It's a fine line between loving partner and obsessive stalker. And you may not know which it is until it's too late.