I just finished season 5 of ‘You’ and this series has been one of the most satisfying ever. The internet is rightfully crazy about Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg because he has delivered a performance no short of iconic in this series.
From season 1, Joe Goldberg’s weirdly obsessive romantic personality that leads him to kill people even without meaning it is kept as the persistent motif. From season to season, the writers pushed the boundaries of Joe’s world (literally even) and yet he kept returning to that spooky cage in his basement with a new victim every single time. How wonderfully profound he is at articulating his reasons for being what he is. We cannot help but feel lost about wanting to resonate and sympathize with the diligent serial killer who is ever so charming, well-read and dangerous. I daresay Joe Goldberg is one of the most well written characters in popular culture. He is complex, profound, romantic, and utterly and completely messed up and yet, we cannot decide if we must love him or hate him.
(Spoilers ahead)
Until season 4, Joe Goldberg was trying hard ‘to be a good person’ despite his sad, circumstantial ‘misdeeds’. However, season 4 ended with a concerning cliff-hanger where he ended up marrying a rich enabler named Kate Lockwood and was now embracing himself as a killer. There was to be no more attempts of reasoning and escaping who he was. I assumed that season 5 would be where the writers would unleash a monster into the world; but that did not happen ; at least until a few episodes in.
Kate Lockwood doesn’t continue to be enabler so a new love interest is introduced to the show – Bronte. Honestly, she’s a little underwhelming in comparison to Joe’s previous lovers/victims. Season 2 and 3 were graced by Love Quinn, Joe’s lover and wife (also the mother of his son Henry) and we cannot seem to forget her. She was a perfect match for Joe, given the fact that she was a psychopathic murderer too, and it would have been poetic justice to end Joe’s story with her but that didn’t happen because Joe killed her in Season 3. Every season he finds a new girl who he’s ‘protecting’ from the world and in the final season it is Bronte. Joe and Bronte’s story is chaotic to say the least – because it turns out that Bronte/Louise was in fact catfishing Joe and all that – but the woman cannot stick to a plan for the love of God. The finale unfolds with her playing the lead but I honestly don’t know what to think of it.
Did I like the ending? Yes, certainly, because Joe got what he deserved, even though its less than what he deserved. But it somehow didn’t feel enough of a full circle. Most of the characters from the previous seasons were brought back – especially Beck – who drove the show to the climax through Bronte, and yet I cannot put a finger on what’s missing. It might be that Bronte’s character wasn’t established as deep enough to get to the depths of Joe – even though she tried aplenty – because one short conversation with Marienne had her flipping again. I think I would have loved it better if Marienne, Nadia and even Ellie Alves (Delilah’s sister played by Jenna Ortega) had come together to draw a finale. It would have been a little too dramatic, yes, but season 5 wasn’t devoid of drama anyways so what’s a little more!
Caroline Kepnes, Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble and April Blair – the writers of ‘You’ have done a phenomenal job with the series. Penn Badgley and the entire cast has done its magic too. I think You is the kind of series that you’ll watch once and remember forever simply because it stands out from everything else. Thanks to the insane plot and the wonderfully written character of Joe, You is an unforgettable experience on Netflix. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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