Season 5 of YOU opens up with the series’ main character Joe Goldberg attempting yet another fresh start in the only place he has to call home: New York City. Three years after leaving London, Joe settled into his married life with Kate Lockwood and their son, Henry, and even reopened Mooney’s Bookstore. Publicly, the couple is considered very well-off due to Kate’s high-profile attention. Yet beneath the polished facade, Joe remains haunted by his past, lurking beneath.
Brontë, a new character this season, walks into Mooney’s one day and ends up in Joe’s glass cage hidden in the bookstore’s basement, causing Joe to fall into one of his deepest troubles. Sophomore Brady Marks describes this moment as “A recurring issue that Joe never learns from.” Quickly, they begin to have an affair that reignites Joe’s darkest impulses. Unknown to him, she isn’t just into books; she’s waiting for the truth behind Joe’s charming act.
As Joe juggles his double life, cracks appear in his marriage with Kate. Episodes such as “MyFairMaddie” and “Impostor Syndrome” represent Kate’s growing suspicions about what Joe is truly doing, despite using desperate justifications. Kate hires Bontë, secretly a detective, and they begin to find the lies that Joe has told about his past. The tension between Joe and Kate escalates when evidence of Joe’s prior murders arises, forcing him to confront the truth.
In “Folie à deux,” when Brontë’s true identity is revealed, chaos erupts. Joe, cornered in the basement cage, uses a key to break free and shoots Kate, only to be trapped once more by Maddie, who barricades the exit and lights the building on fire. As smoke fills Mooney’s, Joe and Kate share a final chilling confession. Joe admits to the murders of Love and Kate’s father, while Kate is recording every word. Outside, Brontë is stunned by Marienne’s intervention, realizing the full extent of Joe’s manipulations. Junior Tommy Hartnett found this scene to be especially chilling as he says, “I thought it would be over for him, I thought he was going to be burnt alive.”
In the final episodes, the women whose lives were ruined by Joe unite under #JoeGoldberg, and they plan his capture. Kate broadcasts Joe’s confessions to the world. In the end, death was perceived as too simple of a punishment, so ultimately, Joe is sentenced to life in a high-security prison. The series represents how darkness can be masked as love. Many viewers are extremely happy with the ending of the binge-worthy series, YOU.
