Netflix’s thriller series You has had audiences in a chokehold since Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) first charmed and alarmed viewers back in 2018. From stalking in bookstores to scheming among London’s elite, the show has kept fans guessing — and cringing — every step of the way.

Now that You has officially wrapped after five wild seasons, it’s time to look back and rank each installment. Here’s how all five seasons stack up, from good to absolutely unforgettable.

Season 5

There may be some recency bias here. But at the very least, Season 5 is a top-two season of You. The show ends perfectly, and it also ends in really the only way the show could have ended. It is the closest thing to a “happy ending,” and it is all surprising and satisfying at the same time. We also got a return of Tati Gabrielle as Marienne.

The highlight of the season is a dynamic, standout and scene-stealing turn by Anna Camp as twins Reagan and Maddie Lockwood — probably the best supporting characters since Shay Mitchell’s Peach in Season 1. Charlotte Ritchie’s Kate is given a much, much better storyline and development after the character was one of the weaker parts of Season 4. Madeline Brewer’s twist on Joe’s “You” for the season, Bronte, threw viewers a loop, and it all ended with the greatest showdown in the show’s history. While it would have been great to close the show with a Jenna Ortega or Shay Mitchell surprise cameo, it’s 10s across the board for You Season 5. Following two seasons that don’t rank as high on this list, the show fully regained its mojo to go out on a high note.

Season 1

It’s hard to get better than the original. When watching this Lifetime original, it was hard to deny that this show would explode once it found the right platform and audience. It was disturbing and unsettling to watch a show where… a stalker is the lead? But somehow, it worked. Elizabeth Lail is so endearing as you see her perspective as the inaugural “You.” The aforementioned Peach is a hoot, and John Stamos is creepy and charismatic. You don’t think the show is about to do what it does, and it does it anyway… and yet you can’t see it going any other way. This is a great season of television.

Season 2

Season 2 was heavily engaging due to the fact that the show didn’t flounder under the success of Season 1 and had a super compelling and strong co-lead with Victoria Pedretti’s Love Quinn. However, a divisive aspect of the season was Love’s brother Forty (James Scully) and their storyline.

Still, somehow the show was able to flourish post-Beck (Lail) and reinvent itself, some parts new and some parts old. And that moment when the audience learned that Love was just trying to match Joe’s freak, so to speak… gagworthy!

Season 3

This is where things get tricky. While Seasons 5, 1 and 2 are pretty clearly the top half of this ranking, Season 3 is where things start to get really mixed. Season 3 had a genius, new center of Joe’s affection in Gabrielle’s Marienne. It also had incredible comic relief in Sherry and Cary (Shalita Grant and Travis Van Winkle).

However, Love and Joe’s tit-for-tat, while it started off great, began to lose steam as the season went on. Also, Madre Linda just wasn’t as exciting as New York or Los Angeles. This season also kind of changed what we know to be the formula of the show. Then, there’s the ending where Love was left for dead and framed by Joe. We saw it coming, but still, something felt a bit off.

Season 4

While not a bad season at all, it is clear that Season 4 is the weakest of the bunch. The location change to London had potential, but the supporting characters that surrounded Joe this season weren’t as interesting as in past seasons and didn’t have a lot of depth. Kate was introduced this season as Joe’s new “You,” and while this isn’t any fault of Ritchie’s, Kate was no Beck, Love… or even Marienne. Fortunately, Kate was done justice in Season 5.

Similar to how we learned that Joe’s interactions with Marienne were in his head, it was revealed that Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers) was also in Joe’s head once he killed him. This is a decent, watchable season of the show, but it just isn’t as good as the others.

Penn Badgley

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week