Yep. That’s the article.
I’ve been a die-hard You fan since the show first came out. Yes, I know it’s based on books, but I haven’t read them and probably should. However, this will be based on the Netflix series.
Season 1 of You came out in 2018, and it turned into the first show I shared watching. My girlfriends and I all watched it in our own time, but together. Know what I mean?! We would come together and discuss episodes, our thoughts, the plots, the schemes, and so much more. When Season 2 was announced, my husband was voluntold to watch it with us, and I have the best picture of it that makes my whole being smile. This one:
Cuddled up with a pillow, watching the serial killer do his thing. But it didn’t feel like we were watching a murderous psychopath, which is the entire purpose of You. Similar to The Last of Us, it makes us sit back in our seats and go “hmm.” “Did he need to kill that person?” “I can see he meant to do the right thing, and things escalated…”
Let me stop you right there. Hot take: Murder is murder. No matter the reason, context, or situation. It is up to no human to take another human’s life.
Now that we have that out of the way, what about Joe? Joe isn’t extremely good-looking, but he has a way about him that causes him to get away with things. He has the charm of a guy who means no harm. Think Ted Bundy or even John Wayne Gacy for my serial killer nerds. Charm and intelligence. Brings all the girls to the yards.
Facetiousness aside, You has been captivating audiences since 2018 and for good reason. Penn Badgley (we share a birthday!) has encapsulated this character’s growth and unraveling through his 5 seasons. We have watched Joe move from one city to another, even one country to another, leaving a wake of pure devastation and chaos. While the show takes us into his mind for the “is this right or wrong” moments, he meets some fellow atrocious folks on his way. He even has a cage. A real-life cage that he puts people into and slowly tortures them by way of making them feel their most vulnerable. Let alone being stuck in a cage.
Let’s break down the cage for a second. What began as something out of perceived necessity turned into a physical metaphor for his bipolar lifestyle and Jekyll and Hyde way of living. It was a way for him to gain the control he felt he didn’t have his entire life, beginning with his parents. Shew. Which can then lead to the “is it nurture or nature” question that leads to people like this?
All that to say, Season 5 is the conclusion and the finale to this series. Did the ending hit or miss?
Season 5 concludes with Joe getting captured, put through a trial, getting convicted of several murders he committed, and being in jail. I have seen some conflicts as to whether or not this is a good path for the show, and while it may seem a bit anticlimactic (i.e., Cersei in GoT season 8), it is what needed to happen (i.e., Cersei in GoT season 8).
If we follow the story and relate it to real-life serial killer stories, we see how many similarities the show follows. Often, murderous psychopaths truly do think they are doing it for good until they realize they need or want to do it again, just because. They enjoy watching the light go out of their victim’s eyes. As daunting and downright scary as that is, it is the same evolution Joe goes through.
He also starts to get sloppy, which is what happens in real true crime. The killer gets overly confident, or cares less about the potential impact of getting caught, and starts slipping up. Once Joe comes into his ‘full’ potential and realizes it’s who he is and not just what he does, he starts to unravel and make simple mistakes a younger version of him might not have. He sees through the obvious hesitations of his partner because he has ‘been there, done that.’ He’s on his second marriage+more relationship, and he gets cocky. Even his son doesn’t stop him from being who he is.
So, for Joe to sit in jail and read fan mail, it is telling a real story. It’s what would happen, just like the majority of the rest of the show. He says it for himself when he is settling into his cell, that it is the worst punishment he can imagine. Being alone. Forever. Because of the mess he made.
I think I can confidently say no one else will be able to play Joe Goldberg the way Penn Badgley plays him. He needs to enter the conversations of “who plays a character so well you can’t unsee it.”
And the fan mail? Also, a real thing that happens. Now, I know you’re wondering where my true crime gravitas and knowledge comes from, and while I’d love to be exciting, the truth is I’m just your basic white girl sitting on the couch under her Halloween blanket watching every True Crime documentary ever made and listening to Morbid (after I finish this week’s Watching Now).
What did you think of Season 5? Is it an appropriate ending? Sound off in the comments and stay tuned for more soupy goodness!
