The series finale of You just dropped on Netflix, and viewers bore witness to some of the most intense scenes ever shown in the hit psychological thriller. It didn’t help that it took place in a dark and moody forest either!
The fifth season began three full years since Joe last committed murder, and he’s a seemingly reformed man: a loving father and husband to billionaire Kate (Charlotte Ritchie).
It appears as though Joe managed to escape his sordid past before Bronte stepped in, who was secretly enacting a plan to entice, and later expose, Joe and his crimes. As it turns out Bronte is actually Louise Flannery, a former student of Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail): Joe’s first victim from season one.
Throughout the season, it’s revealed that ‘Bronte’ was built as a fake persona and trap — alongside other co-conspirators — who want to see Joe brought to justice.
The final episode was focused on the plan finally playing out and Joe’s story finally brought to an end. Drama!
Goodbye,You…(Source: Netflix)
The final episode had main character Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) open up about his traumatic childhood, strip down, and be at the mercy of his current obsession, Bronte (Madeline Brewer). It was also chock-full of fourth-wall breaks, asking the audience whether or not they are culpable for Joe’s crimes.
It was an all-around heart-racer, so let’s sit down and debrief everything that happened in the last episode of You. Buckle up baby, this one’s a doozy!
Warning, massive spoilers ahead for the final episode of You. You have been warned!
Let’s unpack all the chaos that went down in this final ep!! (Source: Netflix)
A brief recap of You’s season finale
The tenth episode saw Louise and Joe on the run, with their internal monologues switching back and forth. Louise struggles not to empathise with Joe, while Joe antagonises over her finding out the truth of his murderous past.
The two end up squatting in an uber-luxe lakeside house, while Joe’s bestie Will (Robin Lord Taylor) supplies fake passports for the pair so they can leave the country.
A bunch of shenanigans ensue; including fake kisses and nighttime riverboat rides, before Louise finally puts Joe in his place via a gun to the temple.
“Tell me how you killed Guinevere Beck,” she demanded. (Yes girl, finally!!!!)
Here we go people!! (Source: Netflix)
Joe is unbelievably shocked, believing that Louise’s mind has been ‘poisoned’ by his other transgressors. Louise then chucks her former mentor’s paperback directly at his noggin, angrily insisting that he redact his editing attempts over her story.
While he attempts to black out lines in the book and reveal the truth to Louise, the phone suddenly rings. It’s his son Henry, who begs him to tell what happened to his mother (Kate).
It’s at this point when Joe realises that he’s actually the bad guy, and breaks down.
Before, of course, coming to the conclusion that Louise has to die (in typical bad guy fashion), overpowering her and shooting into her side.
Louise still manages to escape from his clutches, planting her necklace near the water in order to make Joe believe she is there, before running back inside to grab his phone.
She’s too injured to get the device up and running, and ends up spraining her ankle after jumping out the window in order to escape from Joe.
The chase continues on, before police sirens are heard and Joe sprints into the dark forest as the rain pours on.
Louise finds him again, revealing her real identity to him, leading Joe to beg her to “end it all”.
But Louise doesn’t want Joe to get off too easy, and wants him to finally atone for his actions. The police close in, and Louise shoots him on instinct.
Louise came in clutch this episode!! (Source: Getty Images)
He survives, and his trial is quickly shown and described via Louise’s voiceover.
Joe’s time in court is “messy” and public sentiment is against him — mostly because Louise shot his dick off, not because of the whole ‘murdering and imprisoning women’ thing.
The camera shifts back to a Joe in prison, who is now rocking a buzzcut. He’s reading fan-mail sent to him by women, who describe what they want him to do to them sexually.
The episode ends with Joe monologuing about how society is broken, and whether or not it can be fixed. He looks directly at the camera, addressing the audience, and ponders whether or not we are culpable for his crimes.
“Or maybe, the problem is you?”
What happened to the rest of the characters?
In the end, everyone’s fates are revealed: Joe is doing time behind bars without parole for his crimes, Dr. Nicky’s conviction is vacated, while Dom and Phoenix become social media stars via their true crime podcast.
Nadia also becomes a published author, while Maddie goes to rehab and is pregnant. It’s also revealed that Kate survived the fire of the previous episode, and embraces her scar as a sign of “rebirth”. She also becomes an established painter, alongside son Henry.
Louise re-publishes Guinevere’s book, without Joe’s flimsy editing choices, and it becomes a bigger bestseller than it was before. Good for her!
Also, rapper (and You superfan) Cardi B also happened to make a cameo via an X post.
“He WAS a 10 now he’s a 2… inches.”
Super-fan Cardi B even made a lil cameo!! (Source: Getty Images)
Was justice really served?
Well…we’ll let the audience decide on that one.
The episode explores heavy topics like the consumption of true crime, and whether or not the spectacle that ensues after helps or hurts its victims.
Joe is finally behind bars, but he’s treated to an influx of raunchy letters on the daily, showing how he still has devoted followers despite his actions.
But in the end, Joe ended up in a cage of his own making. What a finale!
The post You Season 5 Finale Explained & Everything You Missed In *That* Big Ending appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
