When we last left Joe (Penn Badgley), he had finally found his match in Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) and embraced their shared killer instincts. She accepted him and his murderous past because her own history was littered with bodies. Together, they were all set for a rich and powerful life leading Kate’s family company, the Lockwood Corporation, elevating them above the law. I was ready for this new power couple to fully embrace Joe’s dark side and enter their revenge era.
But then…they didn’t. At least at first. Three years have passed by the start of season 5 and Joe and Kate are firmly committed to doing good. They’ve turned the Lockwood Corp into a vehicle to help others, regained custody of Joe’s son Henry (Frankie Demaio), and rehabilitated Joe’s image into a loving husband. All in Joe’s beloved home of New York—back where it all began.
Of course, with such a happy, normal life, it doesn’t take long for Joe to fall back into his old habits. He meets Bronte (Madeline Brewer), a young woman who breaks into Mooney’s bookshop and captures his attention. She needs a job and a place to stay and a comforting shoulder to cry on. Joe can’t resist. And the cycle starts again.
Only this time, we know the end is nigh. How will YOU end? Will Joe finally get what he deserves? I can’t tell you, but what I can tell you is that this season didn’t go the way I was anticipating. Sending Joe back to square one with another “you” may have been an intentional choice to prove how his nature is a spiral into madness and it is up to the women around him to break the cycle. I get it…heavy-handed as it is…but…
But it didn’t quite achieve what it was going for; instead, it felt like more of the same. While I don’t keep coming back to YOU because of its groundbreaking storytelling, the show had grand ideas for the final season but the execution falls short. The characters often flip-flop between decisions and the twists are easy to see coming. It could have been so much smarter and shorter—a tight eight-episode season may have worked better.
There are also some cringe-worthy moments; the show seems hellbent on adding as many topical buzzwords about topics of abuse and the patriarchy as it can, as well as some social media commentary. Sometimes the snark works, but more often it doesn’t. The same goes for the music choices; sometimes they’re ridiculously fun, and other times they’re a little too on the nose (even for this series).
That’s not to say I didn’t have a good time watching. Joe’s spiral into the brutal world of consequences is highly enjoyable. Penn Badgley gives a gripping performance that nightmares are made of, showing Joe’s unraveling with an unsettling intensity that sucks you in every time. And his narration is still deeply disturbing in all the best ways. Charlotte Ritchie plays Kate with a fierce poise that proves to be Joe’s greatest obstacle. And Bronte is a classic final girl wrapped up in a manic pixie dream; Madeline Brewer portrays her with nuance.
Kate’s half-sisters, twins Reagan and Maddie (both played by Anna Camp) are two sides of the same coin—you can tell just by body language who is who and Camp deserves applause for her performances. And half-brother Teddy, oh Teddy, what did you do to deserve being caught up in this mess? Teddy is perhaps the only rational one in this entire show and Griffin Matthews embodies him with a lovable charm.
Past characters also come back to haunt Joe—no spoilers here on who but S5 pulls out all the stops in his undoing. It’s a somewhat satisfying goodbye to characters Joe threw away like forgotten toys; seeing them get the closure they need is healing.
As for achieving a truly satisfying ending? With such a twisted character and series that you love to hate, it was always going to be hard to achieve. The fact the show managed to get renewed for five seasons by Netflix is a miracle in itself; after this long, there were only so many tricks the devils in the writer’s room could pull and, if we’re being honest, it’s hard to surprise longtime fans anymore. But if you’ve watched Joe’s journey for this long, S5 is still an entertaining binge-watch, even if it means falling out of love with the allure of YOU, just a little bit.
