Netflix’sYoufollowsGossip Girl’s Penn Badgley as the twisted Joe Goldberg, a man who seemingly has nine lives. Over four seasons, we’ve watched Joe follow his disgusting and dark impulses, becoming obsessed with and stalking multiple women — notably, Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti),Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabriele), and Kate Galvin (Charlotte Richie). While doing so, Joe has found himself at the center of darkness, entangled in a web of multiple murders. No matter how horrible the crime, how close he comes to getting caught, Joe manages to flee just in time. He’s started over multiple times with new identities and a new lease on life after barely escaping the mess he created, though he can’t ever seem to escape or suppress his unnatural and murderous impulses. With each life he ruins and/or takes, Joe becomes more confident in his skills, more dangerous, and more deadly. But, after multiple seasons of essentially the same story, you may be wondering: How could there be a fifth season ofYou?
InYouSeason 4, Joe finally takes a long, hard look at himself and what he has been doing since he met Candace (Ambyr Childers) many years ago and, subsequently, ruined her life. (You know, before Love unexpectedly killed her in the second season, even though Candace was trying tohelpher.) With Joe’s new life in London under the pseudonym Jonathan Moore, it’s not long before he is thrown back into the darkness of his old life when he wakes up next to a corpse. From there, Joe believes he is being stalked by the killer who is trying to frame him, which we are led to believe is Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers). But, as the season progresses, we learn that Joe has been hallucinating a version of Rhys after Joe kills the real,innocentRhys. Therefore, every murder that has been committed was done by Joe’s own hand, and he had blocked the memories out because, even after everything he has done, Joe wasn’t able to accept the monster he is deep inside. That is, until the season finale, which changes everything.
Finally, Joe is forced to confront his actions. At first,he hates himself enough to attempt suicide. But, he survives, deciding he wants to live and own the monster within him. Joe frames Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman) for the crimes he committed after telling his new love interest Kate the whole truth about his past and what he’s done — supposedly. With a rich woman who accepts him, much like Love did before Joe drove her to the brink of madness, Joe returns home to New York City as a newly-minted billionaire hero who escaped the insane murderess Love Quinn and regained custody of their young son. At least, that’s the story that Kate’s money was able to sell to the press. However, unlike Joe’s other new starts throughout the series’ run, Joe isn’t looking to escape who he is anymore. Before the finale fades to black, Joe sees Rhys’ reflection as he looks out the window at the city, signaling to the audience that the monster is still within.
RELATED:‘You’ Is Ending With Season 5 — Good!
‘You’ Season 5 Will Likely Be Much Different
Going intoYou’s fifth and final season, things are going to look quite different. As explained above, Joe is a different character now. He has accepted his role as a full-fledged villain, no longer needing to justify his actions or the people he hurts to get what he wants. Considering the series has always painted him as something of an anti-hero, at least until the end of the fourth season, this must come with a major shift. He’ll have no qualms or remorse whatsoever over his actions, making bolder moves and blatantly hurting anyone who gets in his way. This is a much different path for Joe, which will also likely strip the series of some of the dark comedy that has made it such a hit with viewers. As we’ve always known, and the show is finally confirming, this is the story of a serial killer and predator that must be stopped.
Joe also has his relationship with Kate and a son to contend with now, but it’s the former that is particularly interesting. We don’t know exactly what or how much Joe told Kate about himself. After his suicide attempt, Joe seemed somewhat remorseful over his actions, but we know that was a flat-out lie. Not long after did he frame Nadia and kill her friend,embracing the monster within himself. Could she really accept and forgive him for killing her father and many of her so-called friends? Not to mention everything he did before London. Regardless, even if he did tell her the whole truth, it won’t be long before their relationship falls apart if history is any indication. Joe’s wandering eye is going to find him with a new target to stalk when the series returns. And, given he’s living off of Kate’s money, how will this change his behavior as well?
Going Out with a Bang
Additionally,Youis likely setting up a team, of sorts, to take down Joe in the end. Of course, that team could consist of many familiar faces related to those Joe has wronged in the past, though here are the most obvious choices: Marienne, Nadia, and Ellie (Jenna Ortega). Marienne, for instance, is in the perfect position to work against Joe. After the fourth season, he believes she is dead, so she can lurk in the shadows and watch him like he’s watched her and so many others for years. While Nadia probably won’t be too much help, her entire future is on the line as he framed her for multiple murders. Meanwhile, Ellie has known what Joe is capable of since the second season after her sister Delilah (Carmela Zumbado) was murdered by Love, though she thinks Joe did it. Ellie wants pure revenge, which makes her the biggest threat to Joe as she seemingly has nothing to lose. Her return is inevitable, especially asshe was reportedly supposed to return during the fourth season. Given how Season 4 played out, there’s zero chance the writers are building up to Joe’s happily ever after. Now that he’s accepted he’s a monster, he is going to fight harder and be a bigger threat for this team to take down.
