For the past five years, the Netflix hit show You has topped viewer charts and had millions of people, myself included, hooked on Joe Goldberg’s life. This past month, creators of the show finally released the long-awaited final season, but it didn’t have the effect that the producers wanted. Fans were disappointed at the ending and overall plot of the last show, and I would have to say that the hate is rightfully deserved.
If you aren’t familiar, You follow the life of Joe Goldberg, a serial killer with a troubled childhood. He lures unsuspecting women into his life, charming them with his self-proclaimed handsomeness and witty personality. Becoming obsessed with their every move, he stalks and eventually kills them. By the end of the show, Joe has killed 23 (yes, you read that right) people, and he has an excuse for every single one of them. He claims it’s out of love, and he is just protecting them. He even fools the audience, as many fans are on his side while watching. This show keeps people coming back for more, as there is always an unexpected plot twist and a gruesome murder around every bend. If you are a fan of psychotic thrillers or are someone who loves intense mysteries, this show is surely for you.But if I were you, I would just skip the final season, because the long-awaited finale was not all it was cracked up to be.
Season 5 follows Joe, his son Henry, and his new wife Kate as they settle into New York again. Joe is still in possession of his bookshop from Season 1, and stepping inside brings up all of the memories of his first love and first kill: Guinivere Beck. but much to his surprise, as he stumbles inside, he finds a new woman who claims to be escaping her abusive ex, whom he offers a job at the bookshop and an apartment to. He quickly becomes obsessed with her, and we soon find out that her name is Bronte. But bigger problems are arising, as Kate’s half-sister Reagan, is threatening to cut her out of the family corporation. Since Joe thinks his job is to protect Kate no matter what he has to do, he does what any person would do and kidnaps Reagan, locking her in a cage at the bottom of his bookshop. But wait, he didn’t actually kidnap Reagan. He accidentally kidnapped her identical twin sister, Maddie, who is always in the shadow of Reagan’s presence. Maddie is diabetic, so she is seen threatening to die if Joe doesn’t get her insulin. Joe finds himself in quite the predicament, since he needs Reagan to die, not Maddie. So after deciding what to do, he decides to break into Reagan’s house, kidnap her, and lock her in the cage with Maddie. He tells Maddie if she wants to live, she must kill Reagan and take over her identity. She ends up doing this, and somehow no one notices the fact that she is acting as her sister. By the end of the season, Joe is finally caught because we find out that Bronte isn’t actually who she says she is and is actually a part of a group trying to get Joe to admit to his actions and pay for what he did. Eventually, he ends up caught and is sentenced to a life sentence.
Overall, I loved every minute of this intense show. It is complete drama and action-packed, and you never know what’s happening next. However, I had a lot of trouble watching the fifth season. There were many plot holes, and I felt that it wasn’t nearly as captivating and suspenseful as the other seasons. The main issue I had though is that the whole point of the series is his actions go unnoticed and unpunished. Joe is such a calculated and pristine killer that no one ever finds out, because the people he kills basically just disappear off the face of the earth or blame it on. For instance, in season 4 he kills his beloved wife, Love Quinn, who is essentially a woman version of Joe. To pull off her murder, Joe injected her with poison and set his own house on fire with her inside, blaming the arson on her and her craziness and claiming she burned the house down while trying to kill him. And while she definitely was insane, people never expected her to do that, which is why it was so shocking and believable. Joe was able to escape scot-free. This is why in the fifth season it’s so ridiculous that he got caught and is being punished for his murders. He never would make such a big mistake, and it would have been more believable if he caught on to Brontë’s act and killed her, leaving no trace.
In short, I really did enjoy this show in all its twists and turns, but I honestly think it should have just stopped at the fourth season. While the idea of a fifth and final season seemed good in idea, it was executed very poorly and was quite unbelievable if you have been a fan of the show for a while.
