After five seasons of obsession, deception and bodies, Netflix’s You has finally come to a close after five seasons — and series star Penn Badgley thinks it couldn’t have ended any better.
In a post-mortem conversation with Blavity’s Shadow and Act timed to the final season and last episode, Badgley reflected on what it took to wrap up the story of Joe Goldberg (Badgley), the charming but chilling antihero who’s been dodging consequences since Season 1.
How did ‘You’ Season 5 conclude?
The season ended with Joe in jail for the murders of Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) and Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), with more allegations coming forward resulting in more legal pile-ups for him, including his involvement in the murders of Benji Ashby (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Peach Salinger (Shay Mitchell). After being outsmarted by Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) and Bronte (Madeline Brewer), they all live while he is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
As we told him the series ended perfectly, Badgley said, “I agree. And if I didn’t, I just wouldn’t say it. But I very much agree that it is, it’s not only surprising, but it’s a truly satisfying ending. And that’s hard. I mean, it’s truly hard for any show, no matter if it’s been on for 5, 6, 7 seasons. It’s hard to land any plane like that. And this one with this kind of protagonist is especially difficult and important to stick to the landing because of what a true villain he is, in a way.”
How did the ‘You’ finale tie up Joe Goldberg’s story?
Badgley praised the show’s writers for knowing where the series was headed — and working backward to make that destination feel earned.
“I think I always trusted that it would end well. The writers, they outdo themselves every season. I think they kind of work backwards. If I remember how they’ve described, they do it. They know where they want it to end, so then they have to work backwards from that,” he shared. “I could be wrong about that, but I think there’s some aspect of that because you have to figure out logically what are all the boxes that need to be checked. And some shows I think it’s the right thing to not think about the viewers. You just kind of got to do what’s right.”
That said, You didn’t ignore its audience — instead, it subtly incorporated fan expectations without becoming beholden to them.
“I think we took what viewers want just enough into consideration. You know what I mean? It’s like this sphere of the internet and people weighing in, we incorporated that in, I think just the right way to acknowledge what this is all about,” Badgley explained.
Is ‘You’ really about a serial killer?
He also challenged a common perception about the show: “There’s a little bit of a misnomer that he’s a serial killer, that it’s a show about a serial killer, and I’ve even said that, but it’s not really what it’s about,” he said. “It’s about a man who embodies all of our tropes about love and follows them to their logical end, which you realize then is like, this is not love anymore. Desire has changed it into possession and manipulation and abuse and coercion and jealousy, and we’re all responsible for that, but in microwaves, not in the big awful ways, hopefully, right?”
As for Joe’s final reckoning?
“So to me, what we’ve done is we’ve reminded people that that’s what it’s about. He doesn’t face his demise in the box, he faces it in the bedroom. He’s frozen and caught with his pants down literally in the bedroom. And then he is deconstructed in the most literal way. They took his balls. Did they not?” Badgley said with a laugh. “So there is no, people have been asking me, can he come back? I’m like, I don’t know. Do you want a dickless Joe? Nobody wants a dickless Joe. It’s a sad social truth.”
The final season closes the chapter on Joe Goldberg’s twisted journey, offering what appears to be a definitive end to his story.
You Season 5 is now streaming on Netflix.
