‘You’ Review: The Netflix Hit Series Ends On A Confusing Note
Hello, you… Are you still there?
Of course, you are.
I know I don’t have to ask, but you like that I ask. You like that I remember to ask about you.
Isn’t that what you’ve always come here for? A taste.
…Of what? You know… Don’t you?
Haven’t you always known?
Maybe you have always known what you wanted from Netflix’s You, dear reader. But whether or not the show knows what it’s delivering to you in its final murderous season remains unclear. I could say that it’s an ambitiously self-aware thriller romance series that ultimately flopped its final season with a headline like: You… Got to Be Kidding Me? Or that You really doubled down to gift die-hard fans a calculating and concerned look at why people (maybe like them) romanticize serial killers and Joe all over the internet. (Yes, people have and do. See here for some of the internet’s deeply concerning thirst-traps for Joe.) But neither is quite the case.
Admirably, the first few entries in Season 5’s ten-episode final season lay the groundwork for what feels like a naturally fitting ending for Joe (Penn Badgley). We’re back in New York City, Mooney’s bookstore is a main set-piece again, and the ultimately predictable cyclical pattern of our monologuing predator is on display with a new romantic obsession. As always, we ask: Who will spot the real Joe? Who will figure him out? Not another woman in love with him!
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While You does take a new way to answer this question and lean into the troubling expectations we have for Joe’s love interests, it’s really the familiarity of format here that maintains the series’ shine. That aspect of the show is perhaps its best meta-narrative play here, as it represents how abuse, and all its traumatic patterns, often repeat for both perpetrator and all those involved like an ever-growing cobweb—stickily latching onto all that is, all that was, and all that could be until time doesn’t even seem discernible or real anymore. Everything is malleable yet stuck together in a mash of memory. Until the end of anything is as unanswerable as when it all started. Even Joe is stuck in his web. After a point, the “who next” question doesn’t matter as much as the “why must this continue” design.
However, from Season 1, Episode 1, we know this is a television show focused on a homicidal sexual predator and his narcissistic viewpoint that makes him inherently believe he will always find a way out or through, or overcome any odds. The show has to end, so how do you do it, especially since we signed on to follow a killer’s viewpoint for hours of entertainment? If you were someone watching to wonder what this is all for, I don’t know if you will feel that purpose answered in the show’s final moments.
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While there are clear cause-and-effect plotlines on display that might satisfy some wondering about character or story endings, there are other narrative snags that make it hard to feel satisfied. Namely, the noticeable absence of the interrogative tension that Victoria Pedretti’s Love delivered. Having Joe enter more of a cat-and-cat dynamic—not to mention the warped deliciousness of seeing a romantic woman serial killer predator on-screen—unnerved and unwound him in a way that crafted dynamic character moments, bubbling with all the murderous sickly-sweet potential you could imagine. The series is at its best when it surprises Joe by platforming whatever aspect of his love interests that he undermines to prove that he really is a deluded idiot. What he finds most fault with in his obsessions is usually linked to their unique abilities, perspective, and capability to surprise and overtake him, even momentarily.
Sadly, Season 5 does and doesn’t realize this idea fully. Personally, I’ve never seen the allure of Charlotte Ritchie’s Kate, which the final season mostly revolves around. This isn’t a slight to the actor so much as a critique of the storylines she’s given. Perhaps if they delved more into the Succession-like complicity of evil she wrestles with, it would be different. But as it is, her arc somehow undermines the crafty businesswoman she was introduced to us as. Instead, she becomes more naive and inept at her job in service to the plot rather than being tied to any deeper character development or scheme that shows off her capacity to its fullest.
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Similarly, the show’s latest love interest, Bronte (Madeline Brewer), falls victim to a similar fate, with the show setting up the character with the potential to play 3D chess and yet only having a checkerboard available in her toolbox. Given this came out after the recent debut of films like Red Rooms or Strange Darling, it feels like this is a classic example of thriller writers needing to expand their horror horizons to truly appreciate the art of cathartic comeuppance. Don’t expect too much from the show’s ultimate handling of Joe or its survivors.
Still, there are twists and surprises for those willing to look past these flaws and settle into appreciating the strong cast deliveries this season. Anna Camp performs masterfully and now is my new favorite pick to star in a slasher—hell, make it a musical to keep all the gays happy here. The Flight Attendant’s Griffin Matthews comes to play with his signature sly wit and empathic delivery. But please, for the love of all thriller shows, stop casting him in the role of a “supporting a misinformed and chaotically dangerous white woman,” and give him not just a seat at the table, but a whole damn feast.
To his credit, Badgley sends his last performance of Joe out with… many whimpers and bangs! The levels of Joe he digs into are fascinating to watch, and it’s clear that he deeply believes in the show’s ending message, which given today’s political climate, might be better deemed as being “handed” to the viewer than heavy-handed. Sure, You could have used more bite, but it’s not toothless.
Netflix’s You debuts its final season on April 24.
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Summary
While the final season of ‘You’ may not satisfy all of its fans, it’s an admirable enough send-off for the hit Netflix series.
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