
The Final Twist of You: Farewell to Joe Goldberg and the Audience's Dark Fascination
2025-04-25
Author: Jessica Wong
Spoiler Alert: Let’s dive into the thrilling conclusion of Netflix's iconic series, *You*. After eight intense seasons, Joe Goldberg, the charming yet deadly protagonist, faces his long-overdue reckoning.
For years, fans have watched Joe skillfully evade justice, but in the gripping finale, he finally faces the consequences of his actions: a life behind bars, shunned by society, while those he manipulated thrive without him.
With a new creative team at the helm, including writers Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo, the fifth season of *You* brings Joe back to his roots—running a bookstore in New York, where his deadly past continues to haunt him. This time, he’s married to Kate, a wealthy socialite, yet his old patterns emerge as he becomes obsessed with a woman named Bronte, revealing the cyclical nature of his violence.
In an interview, Foley reveals the aim was to turn the tables on the audience, flipping the script on Joe’s narrative. As he becomes embroiled in Kate’s family power struggles, his obsessions reignite, leading to deadly consequences.
Anna Camp’s standout roles as Kate’s twin sisters, Maddie and Reagan, bring a fresh, exaggerated flair to the show, living up to the series’ tradition of larger-than-life characters that challenge Joe’s sinister charm.
Bronte emerges not just as Joe’s target but as a reflection of his own self-obsession. As a true-crime enthusiast, she knows Joe better than he realizes, making her an avatar for the audience, challenging them to confront their complicity in rooting for such a flawed character.
The finale pushes viewers to reassess what they’ve been watching since 2017. It’s a call to acknowledge our fascination with Joe—an illusion shattered when Bronte confronts him with the reality of his monstrous nature.
Indeed, throughout the series, there’s been an ongoing tension between love and violence. The writers consciously crafted Joe's character to make audiences grapple with moral dilemmas, questioning why they found him relatable.
In the finale, the stakes escalate with a showdown between Joe and Bronte that symbolizes the culmination of everything the show has represented. Their confrontation serves as both a reflection of Joe’s internal struggle and the critical perspective on societal norms surrounding love and obsession.
As the series came to a close, the story transformed from a singular narrative about a vigilante-like murderer into a broader commentary on toxic fandom and romantic fantasies that often obscure the harsh realities of violence.
In a powerful twist, Joe's ultimate fate leaves viewers with a bitter aftertaste, as even from his prison cell, he tries to maintain his position as the misunderstood antihero. His parting line—'Maybe the problem isn’t me, maybe it’s you'—serves not just as a last-ditch manipulation but as a critique of the audience’s troubling fascination with his character.
Thus, the haunting beauty of *You* lies not only in the evolution of Joe Goldberg but also in how it deftly unpacks the layers of obsession, complicity, and the dark corners of love that captivate viewers, leaving them with more to ponder than ever before.