How Netflix’s You Mastered the Thriller Series Finale

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Netflix adds new shows and movies every day, but many series don’t deliver satisfying endings. After disappointing finales for shows like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, GLOW, and The Umbrella Academy, viewers have become cautious about how their favorite series conclude. However, one crime thriller, starring Penn Badgley and others, managed to avoid this pitfall. The show ran for five seasons and ultimately provided a conclusion that fans found truly satisfying.

The Netflix series You, based on Caroline Kepnes’ novels, centers around Joe Goldberg, a man who appears romantic but is actually violent and obsessively fixated on the women he pursues. Each season followed his dangerous relationships with different women who became his victims. Though some seasons were stronger than others, the show consistently delivered satisfying endings, especially given Joe Goldberg’s character.

Netflix’s You Had An Unsettling Premise Which Got Creepier With Each Season

Joe Goldberg first appeared as a charming and polite bookstore employee, but his thoughts revealed a darker side. Guinevere Beck was his initial target – a graduate student and writer who unfortunately responded to his advances when she visited the bookstore.

Joe had a disturbing pattern: he’d pick a woman, for any reason, and deliberately insert himself into her life. He’d track her, stalk her in person and online, and create opportunities to “help” her. Once he was in a relationship, he’d gradually increase his control and manipulation, testing boundaries with each successful act.

What initially seemed like sweet or romantic behavior was actually a deeply disturbing pattern for Joe. His idea of love was based on control, taking advantage of others, manipulation, and even cruelty, and he believed this behavior was okay. The most unsettling part of the show was seeing what was going on inside his head, as it revealed his true, harmful intentions. He saw women as objects, created elaborate and disturbing fantasies about them, constantly invaded their privacy, and always found a way to excuse his actions. Despite all of this, many people surprisingly found themselves supporting him.

Joe’s surveillance led him to Benji, a former partner, whom he harmed with a deliberate peanut allergy. He also eliminated Beck’s friend, Peach, who opposed him and hurt Beck, and anyone else he saw as an obstacle to their relationship. This pattern of violence continued, revolving around the women he became obsessed with, culminating in a final, violent act. Joe killed Beck when he discovered her infidelity, but this wasn’t the end of the cycle.

After narrowly escaping his ex-girlfriend Candace – who surprisingly survived his attempt to bury her alive – Joe relocated to Los Angeles in Season 2. There, he found a new object of affection in Love Quinn, but had to conceal his dark side to maintain the relationship, keeping secrets from people like Delilah and Forty. Ultimately, Love proved to be just as manipulative as Joe, and even more cunning, revealing a disturbing similarity between them.

Joe continued a pattern of harming others, especially women, throughout the series. Initially seen as a romantic figure, his violent tendencies escalated, leading him to commit horrific acts – including murder – by Season 4. The turning point for many viewers came in Season 3 when he killed his wife and abandoned their child, fully revealing his dangerous and ruthless nature. Despite the devastation he caused, he couldn’t stop his cycle of abuse.

You Was One Of The Few Controversial Shows That Stuck The Landing

Honestly, watching Joe in Season 4 was frustrating. After everything, he seemed to just lean into being awful to women, and it was really disturbing. He went right back to his old pattern of killing people he saw as threats to Kate, claiming he was ‘protecting’ her. Then he started obsessing over this new woman, Bronte, which was just… predictable. But here’s the twist – Bronte wasn’t who she seemed! Turns out she was friends with Beck, and she didn’t believe Joe was responsible for her death, so she was there to investigate him. It was a crazy development, and I was totally rooting for her to expose him!

Okay, so this season really delivered on exposing Joe for who he truly is. For years, he’d carefully crafted this perfect public persona with the help of his wealthy wife, but Bronte and her friends absolutely dismantled it. I was expecting some dramatic, instant arrest, but honestly, the way it unfolded felt much more realistic. They really had to fight to be heard – Joe’s money and social standing meant no one was listening at first. It wasn’t a single reveal, but a slow burn of evidence, showing his disturbing behavior and the tragic consequences of his actions, that finally opened everyone’s eyes. It took a lot of effort to get the world to see what was right in front of them.

Bronte’s feelings for Joe were understandable, and it made sense that she was drawn to him. However, Joe’s true nature was becoming increasingly obvious, especially during the final season of You. Despite Kate and Marienne’s attempt to kill him by setting Mooney’s shop on fire, Bronte surprisingly saved Joe, which, in the end, was arguably the most effective outcome.

Joe’s death in a fire wasn’t enough justice for the terrible things he did to women. While he had a troubled past – shooting someone to defend his mother and then being abandoned – that didn’t excuse a lifetime of hurting others. Simply killing him wouldn’t have brought closure to his victims and their families. True justice meant revealing his crimes and holding him accountable for his actions in the public eye.

Bronte was playing a risky game, pretending to love Joe in order to get him to confess to her murder. She understood that a conviction would only be possible with a direct confession from him. Their trip to Canada became incredibly tense as Bronte realized how dangerous the situation was. Joe proved to be volatile, and the mounting pressure culminated in a shocking moment: Bronte pulled a gun on him while they were in bed.

She forced him to confess to all his murders, including Beck and his other victims. This confession revealed his true, hateful nature. He viciously criticized Beck and Bronte, claiming she was worthless without him simply because she was a woman. The brutal confrontation between Bronte and Joe made it painfully obvious that he didn’t see women as equals. He was skilled at hiding his disdain behind romantic gestures, but at his core, he despised women and wanted to control and harm them.

As a total movie buff, I have to say, Bronte didn’t just solve the case – she nailed it. Getting Joe to confess was amazing, but sending him to jail? Even better. He was practically begging for it to be over, and honestly, a quick ending would have been too easy for a guy like that. The real punishment was everyone finding out what a fraud he was, and him being left to face it all alone in a cell. It was a truly satisfying conclusion, and honestly, it’s raised the bar for how season finales should be done.

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2026-01-28 07:17