‘You’ Season 5: How Does Joe Goldberg’s Story Finally End?

Note to reader: major spoilers ahead.

Bad news, You fans: the hit Netflix series has officially come to an end after five gripping seasons. The good news? The final chapter was just as—if not more—harrowing than the four that came before it. Season 5 opens with Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) being reborn, shedding his former self with the help of Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie) and the immense wealth and influence she brings. Despite the new identity and upgraded circumstances, Joe’s core remains disturbingly intact. If anything, he’s more deluded than ever—convinced that his violent acts are justified by love, and that his capacity for murder gives his life meaning.

It’s this toxic mix of self-righteousness and entitlement that makes Joe especially dangerous in the final season, where we see the full extent of his descent. After years of manipulation and murder, the season finally delivers answers about what becomes of TV’s most charming sociopath. 

Keep scrolling to read details on You Season 5's cast, release, controversial ending, and more.

You Season 5 Cast

The season marks a thrilling return to the twisted mind of Joe, by his side is his wife Kate, whose new title as his wife places her squarely in the chaos to come. Viewers also see the return of Joe’s young son, Henry (Frankie DeMaio), and introduce Bronte (Madeline Brewer), whose role promises to stir things up. Among the fresh faces are Natasha Behnam as Dominique, Tom Francis as Clayton, b as Phoenix, and Pete Ploszek as Harrison. Nava Mau, recently seen in Baby Reindeer, joins the cast as the sharp Detective Marque, ready to investigate the secrets Joe can’t quite bury.

But perhaps the most intriguing additions come from Kate’s side of the family. Viewers meet the Lockwoods, an eccentric, powerful clan with their own dark entanglements. Anna Camp plays both Raegan and Maddie Lockwood—twin sisters with hidden motives. Raegan’s husband, Harrison (Pete Ploszek), and their daughter Gretchen (Lillian Tardie) complicate the picture, while Griffin Matthews portrays Teddy, the black sheep of the family and the result of patriarch Tom Lockwood’s affair with the housekeeper. Add in the affable but suspicious Uncle Bob (Michael Dempsey) and Saturday Night Live alum Heidi Gardner as an influencer-journalist circling the family’s secrets.

You Season 5 Release Date

No need to wait—season five of You is already here. All 10 episodes are now streaming on Netflix.

A Controversial Ending?

Goldberg returns to New York this season, where he seems poised for a twisted happily ever after with Kate and Henry. But true to the show’s DNA, a new obsession arises in Brewer's Bronte—who is soon revealed to be Louise Flannery, a former student of Guinevere Beck, catfishing Joe to avenge her mentor’s murder. Her plan culminates in a tense confrontation at a remote hideout, where she manipulates Joe into redacting Beck’s manuscript before turning a gun on him. In a chaotic clash, Joe shoots Bronte, seemingly drowns her, kills a police officer, and flees—only for Bronte to reemerge, shooting him in the groin and ending his spree. Joe is finally arrested, tried, and sentenced, left to rot in prison as he reflects on his solitude—yet still receives disturbing fan mail from admirers.

The finale resolves every key storyline, if not controversially. Kate survives and hands over the Lockwood empire to her brother Teddy, who transforms it into a nonprofit, while championing Marienne’s art and raising Henry. Nadia returns to writing and mentoring survivors. Harrison is cleared of charges, while Maddie—tried for arson and murder—avoids prison, instead entering rehab and preparing for twins with Harrison. Bronte lives to publish a redacted version of Beck’s book, which becomes a bestseller.

Though the series delivers closure, many fans were left wondering: Why didn’t Joe die? With no season six on the horizon, You ends not with justice or redemption, but with a chilling echo of the twisted charisma that made Joe Goldberg unforgettable.