Paid Post: TV Review--"You" (Season 5)
The fifth season of the hit Netflix series reveals Joe for the monster he's always been, and forces us to confront the monster within ourselves, too.
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Warning: Spoilers for the series follow.
There’s always something bittersweet about a series finale, particularly when it comes to a series like You. From the first season to the last, this remarkable show has challenged us as viewers to really grapple with our dark love of characters like Joe Goldberg, an undeniable psychopath who has left a trail of bodies in his wake. This season marks the end of his journey, as he finally has to face the music, though not before managing to kill a few more people and entrance us with his cruel beauty.
When the season begins, Joe has managed to carve out a new life for himself, thanks in no small part to his marriage to Kate, whose wealth and power has insulated them both from the consequences of their actions (including, you know, the fact that Joe has murdered several people). However, it’s clear that not all is well. Not only are there fractures in their marriage–Kate is finally starting to grasp what it means to be married to a serial killer–but they also face some professional threats from other members of her family. The most dangerous of these comes from sister Reagan (played by the appropriately named Anna Camp, who also plays twin sister Maddie).
While all of this is going on, Joe–in typical Joe fashion–ends up pursuing a romance with yet another woman-in-need, in this case a young woman who wanders into his bookshop. Claiming that her name is Bronte, and played with delightful complexity by Madeline Brewer, she soon shows that there is far more to her than meets the eye. Like so many other women whose paths have crossed with Joe’s, she realizes that his beauty and his monstrosity go hand-in-hand, that behind that tortured exterior there’s a brutal and ruthless killer who takes pleasure in ending the lives of others.