For years, Joe Goldberg terrorized the women in his life – first as a stalker, then as a lover, and finally, as a killer in ‘You’. Of course, his murder board has many more names, but what’s truly terrifying is how he deluded himself as the knight who’d do anything to preserve the idea of romance. In this quest, he had no qualms in even eliminating the women who couldn’t embrace his dark side just the way he wanted.
The Netflix thriller series concluded with Season 5. Joe met his end in a way that destroyed every semblance of his being. But, did his fate avenge his victims? Let’s explain the series finale and actor Penn Badgley’s take on it.
What Happened To Joe In ‘You’ Season 5 Finale?
In ‘You’ Season 4, we saw the breakdown of Joe Goldberg’s psyche as his past came to haunt him. Kate Lockwood helped him cover his tracks, and in the final season, we see them trying to be a perfect family. Joe’s son with Love Quinn, Henry, completes this picture. Kate loves him; she loves Joe, but she despises the way they connect over dark tendencies. And, Henry is starting to show some violent behavior. This family is certainly a mess.
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While his marriage falls apart, Joe finds a kindred spirit in Bronte, whose real name is Louise. Unbeknownst to Joe, she was Joe’s ex-girlfriend Guinevere Beck’s student and friend. Yeah, the same Beck Joe killed when she didn’t get behind his psychopathic ways. But lo and behold, even Bronte’s books-loving crafted persona falls for him in the end. Sure, he kills her concocted abuser, Dr. Nicky’s son, who is rotting in jail for Beck’s grisly end. But Bronte thinks Joe was trying to protect her.
So, how did Joe meet his comeuppance? Kate saw through his schemes, his sinister ways of solving her business problems, and destroying her family. She gets Nadia out of jail, whom she had framed to save Joe from the fallout of Montrose’s murder case. These women band together. Marienne also makes a reappearance. They trap Joe in the same cage he built and plot to kill him.
As has been established, Joe knows how to manipulate his way through tough situations. This is what he is thinking when Bronte comes for him in the basement of Mooney’s bookstore as fire engulfs it. It was set by Kate’s half-sister Maddie, who, in her own way, was Joe’s victim. What next? Bronte keeps up the charade of being his lover in order to expose him. She has finally seen Joe for the monster he is due to Marienne’s tale. So, Joe and Bronte run for safe haven. He is paranoid, but wants to believe he deserves love after “those women” from his past wronged him. So, he secures passports in the names of Ezra and Ella to live out his romantic fantasy.
After much drama, though, a cat-and-mouse chase ensues. Cops arrive, but Bronte is the one who holds the gun. Joe tries to instigate her to pull the trigger. But there’s no mercy for this sociopath. He has to face his reckoning.
Joe’s story ends with multiple life sentences in prison. Everyone knows he was beyond redemption. But finally, he sees it too. He is alone, tormented by his deeds, all the faces of the hapless men and women he murdered.
As Bronte narrated, “In the end, Joe Goldberg was made to see all of himself. The trial was messy, the evidence horrific, and the truth undeniable.” Now his evil is contained, the beast caged forever.
Penn Badgley Believes Joe Met An “Appropriate End” In ‘You’ Finale
The ending of ‘You’ might have been a shocker, but some fans believe Joe Goldberg should’ve died. However, Penn Badgley is convinced that the heinous man got the right punishment he deserved.
“The finale, to me, it’s doing everything that could possibly be done in a satisfying manner. I think he’s delivered to his truly appropriate end. And then the only thing left is to realize there is no ending that could satisfy anyone 100 percent, because justice for a man like Joe isn’t in and of itself satisfying. I mean, he’s an abuser. He’s a killer. He’s a bad person. So I think being satisfied is a positive thing,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
Now, the question arises – how is being behind bars justice? Maybe some more gore in his demise was pertinent. Badgeley reflected on that viewpoint and made his stance clear that if Bronte had shot him, his misery would’ve ended quickly. He might’ve also emerged as a victim due to his traumatic childhood.
He added, “With Joe, we’re brought to finally, possibly, like, a neutral place in the end. Because if we were to be satisfied by his end too much, I think that would be bloodlust. That would be like you want to see him be torn apart; you want to see him tortured; you want to see him killed brutally by the women who’ve hurt him. But that would be horrible for them. That would be off. That would be bringing them closer to his level and us.” So what awaits Joe for the rest of his life are “time and perspective.”
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“If you were to think of this as a real man and a real story and real victims, the only thing that can truly heal and satisfy is time, as long as justice has been served. And I think, in the case of Joe, justice has been served — especially because of the extra little twist of the blade with the removal of his genitalia,” the actor stated. Yeah, Bronte shot him right in that spot.
Joe never saw himself as a predator. He took pride in “protecting” his damsels in perceived distress. So, once that’s snatched away from him, his entire sense of being unravels. Bronte makes it clear that he is a misogynist. That’s probably the worst curse for Joe. He couldn’t have died in his cage, as much as poetic justice it may have served. But his capture needed to be in the real world, to start a revolution and raise awareness about charming killers like him who fool everyone.
The last scene of ‘You‘ Season 5 is telling: a defeated Joe holds the book titled ‘The Executioner’s Song’ in his cell. His last declaration? “My punishment is even worse than I imagined. The loneliness is unbearable. There is “no hope of being held. Knowing this is forever. It’s unfair, putting all this on me. Are we all products of our environment? Hurt people hurt people. I never stood a chance.” He questions the depraved souls of the society who still have faith in him. He knows something is broken, which is much bigger than him. He finishes with the thought, “Maybe the problem isn’t me…it’s you.”
