Goodbye, Joe Goldberg
“Hello, you.” As welcoming as this sounds, Joe Goldberg not only weaponized this to greet his victims but also successfully seduced all of one age group of the audience into his contorted persona.
YOU comes again with a final season that brings Joe Goldberg full circle of places where his roots were connected – back to New York, Mooney’s bookstore, and back to his dark obsessions. As the final season wrapped up, fans were left breathless and strangely nostalgic. Penn Badgley’s performance as Joe was phenomenal, and it grandiloquently elevated the series beyond any average psychological thriller. Season after season, the lines between the art of romance and obsession got blurry as stalking turned into a disturbing, addictive narrative.
The final season of YOU is set against the backdrop of New York, where Joe and Kate pledge to start over and settle, but their marriage runs into obstacles when betrayal and deception strike close to home. The marriage gradually fails as Joe finds it as claustrophobic as the white-picket hurdles of Madre Linda, the place where Joe and Love Quinn lived their fairytale. Season 5 introduced several new characters, not to mention the unexpected plot twist that put an end to Joe’s never-ending murder spree. The character Bronte, played by Madeline Brewer, initially is portrayed as a catnip for a delusional Joe. However, in the season’s latter half, she causes a stir once her backstory is unveiled.
As the curtain fell on Joe’s tale, the audience was filled with satisfaction as justice was served. Many critics think YOU have overstayed its welcome. They find the final season drawn-out and confounding as it lacks charisma and creative spark.
