You Season 5 Wishlist: 8 Things We Want From The Final Episodes (2024)

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for all seasons of You!

You season 5 will be the last season of the show, and there are many storylines that the final episodes need to wrap up before audiences find out how Joe's story ends. Joe, the serial killer who considers himself a nice guy, is played by Penn Badgley. He has brilliantly brought the character to life over the past few years. Badgley's dedication to the role has ensured that viewers understand that Joe isn't a hero to root for. Badgley's hatred for Joe means season 5 will likely see him get what he deserves.

After the thrilling events of season 4 saw Joe escape without detection once again, the You season 5 cast and story have been confirmed to satisfyingly wrap up one of Netflix's most iconic TV series. Familiar faces will pop up, and the loose ends Joe has been running from will doubtlessly come back to bite him. The story will pick up in New York, where Joe and his girlfriend, Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), moved after leaving London in season 4. How Joe reacts to finally coming home and returning to his roots will likely inform his decisions.

8 Seeing Beck One Last Time

Joe's story wouldn't be complete without the woman who started it all

Although Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) has been dead since You season 1, her ghost has come back to haunt Joe before. Though he had a pattern of stalking and killing women before they met, Beck was the first victim the audience saw and got to know in season 1. She was an excellent character, and her death was the moment when it sunk in that Joe was a monster beyond redemption. Everything that's happened since season 1 was set into motion by Beck's death and the fact that Joe had to flee New York.

Returning to New York means all the memories of Beck and what he did to her will come flooding back, and the bodies that Joe has left in his wake since then have been piling up. Additionally, there are people in New York who still remember what Joe did, including Beck's therapist, Dr. Nickey (John Stamos), whom Joe framed for her murder. Going back to New York is a risky move. It shows how confident Joe is in his ability to evade the law. However, his subconscious showing him Beck could lead to his undoing.

7 Rhys Following Joe To New York

The Rhys that Joe has been imagining throughout season 4

Rhys Montrose (Ed Speeleers) was the dark killer taunting Joe throughout You season 4, but his true identity revealed much more about how deeply removed Joe is from reality. In London, Joe is taunted by the Eat-the-Rich killer, who is revealed to be Rhys, a prominent figure running for mayor of London who's been outsmarting Joe at every turn. You's Rhys twist was foreshadowed since the beginning of the show, as Joe has always tried to separate the good and the bad parts of himself to live with what he's done.

However, in season 4, Joe's personality finally splits, and it turns out that Joe is hallucinating Rhys, and he has been the one blacking out and committing the murders the entire time. Rhys's appearance is the result of the psychosis he created to maintain his view of himself as a good person. Even when Joe thinks he's safe and has made it back to New York, he sees Rhys again in his reflection, driving home the point that Joe will never change.

6 Madeline Brewer Shaking Things Up

She has been confirmed to be joining the cast for season 5

Madeline Brewer's character, Bronte, will be added to the cast in season 5. Bronte has been described as a playwright who starts working at Joe's bookstore, and based on Joe's pattern, it's not difficult to imagine her fate. Every season, Joe falls in love with a new woman who he believes will fix him and that he can change for her. While You has effectively subverted this formula and added interesting twists throughout the narrative, it would be interesting to see Bronte as the character who finally stops Joe once and for all.

Many have tried to take him down, but somehow, Joe keeps getting lucky and covering his tracks. However, few have attempted to take him down from the inside. Bronte is a playwright who bonds with Joe about literature, culture, and a love of New York. Joe will inevitably become obsessed with her and has his head turned away from Kate. This character almost sounds too good to be true, as if she was created solely to draw his attention so that he would come out of the shadows and his true nature would be revealed.

5 Jenna Ortega Returning

As her season 2 character, Ellie

Ellie was a major part of You season 2 after Joe fled to Los Angeles in the wake of Beck's murder. He lived in the same apartment complex as Ellie and her older sister, and Ellie was suspicious from the start, as her character was a precocious teen who could see through everyone around her. Her storyline went unfinished as Ortega was unable to come back for season 3 due to scheduling conflicts, but Ellie's story is far from over as she suddenly left town after her older sister was murdered.

Although it was Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) who killed Delilah, not Joe, he was directly responsible for the events that led up to her death, and Ellie was suspicious, to say the least. She proved herself as an investigator and a tech-savvy teen who would have no trouble digging up the secrets Joe had worked so hard to bury. Now that it's been a few years and she's grown into an adult, Ellie will have the skills and resources to be more than a match for Joe.

4 Kate Turning On Joe

After helping him cover his tracks, will she stay by his side?

The growing intimacy between Kate and Joe is one of the biggest stories You season 5 needs to tie up. It's unclear what Kate's motivations are for helping Joe cover up his murders, and if she's aware of the extent of his track record. She has a few dark secrets herself, and throwing in her lot with Joe means she's starting to succumb to her dark side. Although she doesn't know it yet, New York is not a place anyone should go with Joe, and it won't be long before someone else becomes the object of his obsession and desire.

How Kate will react if and when Joe falls for someone else will determine if she'll be his enemy or ally in season 5. Her family background means she has plenty of money and resources and the ability to bury Joe if given the opportunity. It wouldn't be the first time that Joe's love interest turned on him, and usually, it's too late, but Kate has survived this long and isn't going down without a fight. Many people in New York are waiting to tell her about Joe’s past.

3 Nadia Getting Out Of Prison

She put together the pieces of Joe's past and is ready to use them

Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman) was one of the best characters in You season 4 because she was able to see that Joe wasn't who he said he was from the beginning. Although she did some excellent investigative work, it ultimately led to her downfall, and Joe framed her for a murder he committed, landing her in prison. However, before this, she helped Marienne escape Joe's box and find her daughter in Paris, so someone out there knows the truth about what happened to Nadia.

Joe made sure to emotionally destroy Nadia before framing her. This fact might be why she hasn't revealed anything since being there. Most likely, Joe thinks he's gotten away with everything, but leaving Nadia alive, even though she knows about his past, is a big mistake. She's too smart to stay behind bars for long and will learn from her mistakes, taking her time to gather evidence and ensure that when she comes after Joe again, she’ll succeed.

2 Nadia, Ellie, & Marienne Teaming To Take Joe Down

Three women wronged by Joe who slipped through the cracks

Of all the characters who can defeat Joe in You season 5, it might take three of the most significant women he's wronged to do the job. It would be fitting for a group of women to take him down after the endless violence he has committed against women he claimed to love. While Joe has been known to diligently cover his tracks, Nadia, Ellie, and Marienne represent the people he's left behind but never had the chance to silence.

Due to this, these characters have become beloved and are the ones to root for in the final season. Each one has lost something because of Joe, and each one has something to gain by defeating him despite the risk it poses. Getting close to Joe is a dangerous business, and these women will be putting a lot on the line to stop him from hurting anyone else. However, between the three of them, they have enough information to be one step ahead of him.

1 Joe Getting Caught

There's only one way for the show to end

If You season 5 ends without Joe getting caught, it would be a bleak ending, but based on interviews with Badgley and the trajectory of the show, it's been a long time coming. Getting caught doesn't necessarily mean that he'll end up in prison or that the authorities will be the ones to get him. However, justice outside the law isn't something the series has been afraid of, and many of the women in Joe's past deserve the chance to see him taken down once and for all.

The show's themes will come full circle if Joe gets caught, and everything is set up for his past to catch up with him. He's back in New York, the place where it all began, and there are too many people running around who know who he is and what he's done for him to stay anonymous. Whether Joe ends up behind bars or dead, there aren’t many other ways that the series can come to an end.

You

TV-MA

You is a drama-thriller series based on the novel by Caroline Kepnes that follows an obsessive and dangerous bookstore owner known as Joe Goldberg. The show sees Joe meeting women that he becomes transfixed with and goes to terrifying lengths to insert himself into their lives. To accomplish his goal, Joe will remove each obstacle - and person- in his way.

Cast

Elizabeth Lail , Michaela McManus , Ambyr Childers , Victoria Pedretti , Luca Padovan , Scott Speedman , Travis Van Winkle , Penn Badgley , Jenna Ortega , Shay Mitchell

Release Date

September 9, 2018

Seasons

4

Showrunner

Sera Gamble , Greg Berlanti