Realistic or not, the Netflix thriller comes full circle.
Clifton Prescod/Netflix
If you’ve ever dated a narcissist, you’ll probably loveYou.
If you’ve ever dated a narcissist who’s also a prolific killer, you’lldefinitelyloveYou.
Penn Badgley as Joe in the ‘You’ series finale.Credit:Clifton Prescod/Netflix
One of those women, Beck (Elizabeth Lail), comes back in a big way this season.
That leads us to theYouseries finale.
Does Joe die?
Penn Badgley as Joe in the season 5 premiere of ‘You’.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
No, Joe does not die in theYouseries finale, though not for lack of trying.
“I deserve it,” he pleads.
“You know you have it in you.
This is how our story ends!”
Joe rushes Bronte, surprising her so that she pulls the trigger.
Her bullet, though, goes not into his heart, but his crotch.
That’s right she shoots off his penis.
Some might call it a fate worse than death.
Does Joe go to prison?
Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg gets arrested in the ‘You’ series finale.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
Yep, Joe is slapped with enough life sentences to ensure parole isn’t ever a possibility.
The trial was messy, the evidence horrific, and the truth undeniable."
One thing’s clear: Joe Goldberg will never be free again."
Tati Gabrielle as Marienne in ‘You’ season 4.Netflix
Is there justice for Joe’s victims?
While no one can resurrect Joe’s victims, justice arrives for both the survivors and those he killed.
Remember Dr. Nicky, the therapist played byJohn Stamoswho was framed for Beck’s murder?
Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood in ‘You’ season 5.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
Well, he gets his sentence vacated.
Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), too, enjoys some karmic retribution.
“Ultimately, we felt it would be important to hold Joe accountable,” they told EW.
Anna Camp as Maddie Lockwood burning down Joe’s bookstore in ‘You’ season 5.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
Do the Lockwoods make it out alive?
The rest of the Lockwoods, though, get endings perhaps happier than they deserve.
Kate, for example, survives the fire that appeared to kill her in the penultimate episode.
Madeline Brewer as Bronte in the ‘You’ series finale.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
(Let’s be real, though: She should be in prison, too.)
He and Maddie live happily ever after, and we learn she’s pregnant with his twins.
Does Joe kill Bronte?
Madeline Brewer as Bronte in season 5 of ‘You’.Matt Infante/Netflix
Louise, survives Joe’s final assault, but just barely.
Joe does everything in his power to kill herandshatter her will.
“I think I love you more than you love yourself,” he says.
Frankie Demaio as Henry in the ‘You’ series finale.Jocelyn Prescod/Netflix
Joe, she says, will eventually “just be some asshole I dated.”
How does Bronte get revenge for Beck?
“You took what was hers and made it yours.”
Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg in prison in the final scene of ‘You’.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
During the epilogue, we learn that Beck’s book was republished without Joe’s words.
What happens to Henry?
Well, so long as you consider Kate “good hands.”
Penn Badgley as Joe in ‘You’ season 5.Clifton Prescod/Netflix
And evenhegets to tell Joe off.
It appears Teddy spilled the beans to the boy, but he’s handling it better than most grade-schoolers.
“Do you remember when you used to tell me there were no monsters in my room?”
You’re the monster."
This drives Joe over the edge, yet he still manages to make it entirely about him.
“I give a shot to love, and every time it falls apart,” he laments.
“It’s me.
Is this what I deserve?”
As the episode closes, Bronte envisions a future in which Henry falls in love.
How didYouend?
Youends with a strikingly short-haired Joe readingNorman Mailer’sThe Executioner’s Song(subtle!)
in a prison cell.
Oh my god, the loneliness," he intones.
“No hope of being held.
Knowing this is forever.
It’s unfair, putting all of this on me.
Aren’t we all just products of our environment?
Hurt people hurt people.
I never stood a chance.”
Letters arrive in which women fawn over him.
But their words offer little comfort.
From his cell, he can’t control them.
So he blames them.
“Maybe we have a problem as a society.
Maybe we should fix what’s broken in us.”
He breaks the fourth wall, then, staring right into the camera.
“Maybe the problem isn’t me,” he says.
“Maybe it’s you.”
We must admit that’s a pretty perfect note to close on.
“It was a lot about Joe having to face what he is,” co-showrunner Foley told EW.
“He gets close, but of course in the end he can’t do it.
He has to blame us.”
Where can I watchYou?
All five seasons ofYouarestreaming on Netflix.
