In You season 5’s ending, Joe Goldberg finally got what he truly deserved. [Spoiler Alert] His new romantic interest, Bronte, aka Louise Flannery, decided to pretend a little longer and play along so she could gather evidence against him and get the answers she had been looking for. The only reason why Bronte saved Joe from the fire at Mooney’s was because she didn’t want Joe to get an easy death. She wanted him to stand trial so all his victims, including Louise’s close friend, Guinevere Beck, could get justice. In the season 5 finale, Bronte trapped Joe in his own game and pretended to be his partner and his lover, the way Joe pretended with all those women he had been with all his life. He’d always believed that he saved those women, while in reality, all Joe was looking for was validation. He had always been a sociopathic lover who didn’t want his partner to abandon him, just like his mother abandoned him in childhood. This, once again, was the reason why Joe didn’t want to lose his son, as he knew the pain of getting separated from one’s parents would destroy Henry’s life. The truth was, Henry was better off without his father’s dark shadow upon him, but Joe, being a narcissist, couldn’t accept his defeat and cut ties with people he loved. His mind wouldn’t let him do that and manipulated him to return back, growing again like a weed, which was why someone like Bronte had to step in and get the monster arrested so he could no longer be a threat to anyone.
Bronte Confronted Joe
In episode 9, Kate made a recording of Joe’s confession, where he admitted to poisoning his first wife, Love Quinn, and killing Kate’s father, Tom Lockwood, which she later sent to Nadia Farran so she could hand it over as evidence to be used against Joe in a court of law. This means Joe knew he couldn’t return to his former life, because the moment he would step into the city, he would be arrested and convicted for the crimes he had committed. Joe’s endgame was to move to Canada with Bronte, and he had even arranged fake passports under the names of Ezra and Ella, the immortal protagonists from a book Bronte was reading earlier in the season. I think this was Jessica Davis’ The Phantom but do correct me if I am wrong. However, before Joe and Bronte could cross the border, Bronte pointed a gun at Joe and asked him to answer her questions. Bronte wanted to know how he killed Beck, but Joe wouldn’t tell her, right? I guess Bronte realized this fact quickly, which was why she gave him another task and asked him to redact all the words he had added onto Beck’s manuscript to erase her voice. Well, Joe could see the irony that, in the end, it all comes back to Beck, likely the first girl he had killed. And now the “last girl” he had fallen in love with is seeking justice for Beck’s murder. Bronte wanted to erase Joe’s existence so no one would remember him.
Henry Called Joe A Monster
At first, Joe didn’t give in and tried to play his usual mind games with Bronte; however, Joe’s resolve was shaken the moment his son, Henry, called him a monster. I guess, by this point, Henry’s uncle and Kate’s half-brother, Teddy, had told the young kid how his monstrous father had tried to hurt his mother and how she ended up in the hospital because of him. This might be the reason why Henry started hating Joe, reminding Joe of his first wife, Love Quinn’s dying words, “He’ll know what you are.” So, as you can see, Henry now knows the true face of his father, which made him realize there’s no way to undo this. The realization crushed Joe’s spirit completely and he started howling like a kid.
But even during a breakdown, Joe saw himself as a victim, and all he could think of was how his life had fallen apart, how he’d turned into a monster, and how he was unlovable. It was something Kate and every girl Joe had dated had pointed out: that Joe couldn’t think about anyone but himself. If he’s helping someone or doing someone a favor, he is doing it for himself, which further suggests that Joe wanted Henry just so he could be a father and that he hardly cared about the young boy. If he had been a responsible father, he would have walked out of Henry’s life, just like Quinn had told him to. Before taking her last breath, she’d told Joe that even though they were perfect for each other, they would never be good for Henry. Well, it took Joe really long to understand Quinn’s words.
Joe Was Put On Trial
In You season 5’s ending, Joe tried his best to kill Louise like the rest of his victims, but thankfully she survived the odds and was able to call 911. I don’t know how that happened, because the phone’s touch screen was broken, and Louise couldn’t press “1” on the dialpad, yet she somehow managed to make the call after she dropped the cell while jumping out of the window. Joe, on the other hand, caught hold of her and tried to drown her in the lake. When Louise and Joe first arrived at the house, she had predicted that she’d find herself at the bottom of the lake if she tried to confront Joe with the truth. Seems like Joe had gotten a lot more predictable.
However, as soon as Joe drowned her, or at least believed he did, Joe heard police sirens and ran towards the woods, killing an officer there. He tried to escape once again, but to his shock, Louise returned from the dead and pointed a gun at him. It was likely the same gun that the police officer Joe killed had on him. Joe begged Louise to kill him as he didn’t want to be put on trial, but Louise didn’t want him to get an easy death and therefore shot him between the legs when he tried to run. The officers heard the gunshot and quickly arrived at the scene to arrest Joe and brought him back to New York, where he was put on trial.
The writers wrapped it all up by calling the trial messy, which means you don’t need to worry about the details here. I mean, we know the crimes Joe had committed because we sat in front of our screens watching him kill people in cold blood, yet we don’t know how many of those crimes were admissible in court. Calling the evidence horrific doesn’t give us the closure we had been looking for, especially in a season finale. Well, I think the makers thought we’d be happy knowing that Joe was exposed to the world. He was convicted for the murder of Quinn and Beck, and more convictions followed, but what convictions are these? Well, good luck figuring it out. It’s irritating when you try to end a story through a voice-over but leave out the important details. Louise further revealed that Joe spent the rest of his life behind bars, meaning he likely received two or more consecutive life sentences.
Nadia Farran Started A New Life
Nadia was one of Joe’s students when he had escaped to London. At the end of season 4, Joe pulled off his mind manipulation tricks and convinced Nadia to take the fall for him. He had killed Eddie and wanted Nadia to confess to his murder. And in exchange for this false testimony, Joe spared her life and promised not to hurt her family. Nadia had been in prison for three long years and never shared the truth with anyone until Kate met her in prison and told her how her vicious husband had deceived them all. But with Joe behind bars and his crimes exposed to the world, all the charges against Nadia were dropped, and she started a new chapter of her life. Before Joe came into her life, Nadia always wanted to be a writer and after Joe was sent to prison, she went back pursuing her dream as a writer and a teacher. According to Louise, Nadia, in her free time, helps other women process their traumas. Well, that’s what actually “helping” looks like, Joe Goldberg.
All charges were dropped against Maddie and Harrison Jacobs
At the beginning of the season, Joe had manipulated Maddie into killing her twin sister, Reagan. As per Maddie, Reagan had not only bullied her since childhood but also exploited her for her own benefit. Maddie was having an affair with her sister’s husband, Harrison, and wanted to start a life with him, but she knew Reagan wouldn’t let them be in peace so long as she was alive, which was one of the reasons why Maddie took Joe’s evil advice and killed her sister in his glass dome. However, when she later confessed the truth to Harrison, he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to be a part of a murder plot. In the end, Maddie somehow convinced him to never discuss it with anyone, but Joe had his doubts. He believed Harrison could betray him, which was why he planted Reagan’s teeth in his bag and framed Maddie and Harrison for Reagan’s murder.
Well, long story short, no one was convicted for Reagan’s murder, as the court found out that Harrison had no part to play in it. While Maddie was tried for both the murder and arson at Mooney’s, but because she was pregnant with the twins (irony), the court decided to drop all charges. In short, she didn’t have to serve time because her sister, Kate, was rich and likely pulled a few strings so her sister didn’t have to suffer in prison. I don’t know if something like this would have happened in real life, but the makers of You wanted us to have a “fairytale” ending, so here it is. I guess, after this whole fiasco, Kate would give Maddie her share in the properties owned by the Lockwood Corporation so she could live the life of luxury she had been living so far and spend the rest of it in privilege without worrying about anything.
Kate Didn’t Die In Arson
From season 4, Kate Lockwood had tried her best not to end up like her vicious and ruthless father, Tom Lockwood, who could go to any lengths to serve his financial interests. Back in the day, Tom had used his power to get rid of anyone who went against his wishes, and that was exactly what Joe had been doing his whole life. He would stick around someone until he found a new target. Kate had been through that hell, which explained the reason why she could see the pattern in Joe’s actions and therefore decided to cut him off from her and Henry’s life as soon as she could. However, in You season 5’s ending, Joe left Kate no other option but to kill if she really wanted to get rid of him. She trapped Joe in his own glass dome and later got a confession out of him, though it was pretty bad timing that Maddie showed up at the bookstore at the same time and burned the whole place down. Well, Kate didn’t die in the arson. She survived. She had burn marks on her shoulder, which she wasn’t afraid to hide from the world. She saw those scars as some sort of penance for the things she had done to protect Joe and her father. The stark difference between Joe, Kate, and her father was that Kate always had a guilty conscience, unlike the two men in her life, which meant she deserved a second chance in life.
According to Louise, Kate was a phoenix who had risen from the ashes. The old Kate burned in Bronte’s inferno and a new Kate was born from those very ashes. In the end, Kate even received a painting depicting the same, which was painted by none other than Marienne Bellamy, Joe’s former girlfriend who went into hiding after our lead protagonist tried to kill her. Well, now that Joe’s in prison, Marienne isn’t afraid to use her real name to sell her paintings.
Kate Went Back To Her Former Life
Kate always believed that her father’s company was built on the blood of innocent individuals, which was why she wanted to give it all back in order to help as many people as she could. In You season 5’s ending, Terry, the new CEO of the Lockwood Corporation, told Kate that the company was now 100 percent non-profit, which means none of the owners of the company would get any financial gain from the company’s operation, and all of it would go to charity and helping people across the globe. It was also Kate’s way to seek atonement for the sins she had committed in her life. Soon after, Kate left the life of luxury and went back to her former profession, that is, being an artist. In London, she used to work as an art gallery director, and I guess she will continue the profession she had built up from scratch without her father’s money or influence. And yes, she already had an artist to sign, Marienne.
In the previous episodes, Kate had told her friend, Phoebe, that she was literally done with men, which, I guess, could imply that she won’t be dating or marrying anyone anytime soon. I am sure she will try her best to raise Henry as a single mother and never leave his side so he doesn’t turn out like another Joe Goldberg, and the way Henry looked at his mother’s scar, I think it’s suggestive enough that he wouldn’t dare to walk in his father’s footsteps and hurt people like he did. So yes, there’s some glimmer of hope.
Louise Republished Beck’s Book
Louise, like her friend Beck, had always wanted to be a writer; however, she had to leave her course in the middle after her mother, Joyce, was diagnosed with lung cancer. After Joyce passed away, Louise had no family or friends left, which was when she took refuge in an online community and went down a rabbit hole trying to find out what exactly happened to her friend from college. But now that Louise has finally found some closure for Beck, I think she will be able to move on in life and focus on her own writing career. She started her journey by republishing Beck’s book, removing all the changes Joe had made to Beck’s manuscript. According to Louise, the newly redacted version was even more popular because it had Beck’s voice in it, but no matter how much people praised Beck’s writing, she wouldn’t get back the life she always wanted because Joe killed her. While Louise tells us that she has no idea what she wants in life, I truly believe that she will walk on Beck’s path and become a celebrated writer to make her friend proud, wherever she is.
Joe Yearned For Death
In You season 5’s ending, one could spot Joe reading The Executioner’s Song. This 1979 book by Norman Mailer is centered around a real-life American criminal, Gary Gilmore, whose gruesome murders led to nationwide debate over the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. At the end of the trial, Gary became the first person to be executed after capital punishment was reinstated in the country, and Joe Goldberg reading this book only implies how much he yearns for death. He no longer wanted to be a prisoner locked inside a box, though it was the punishment he deserved the most considering that’s what he did with his victims; however, in Joe’s case, who was put on trial in New York, I don’t think he’ll ever be getting a death penalty, which means Joe has to make peace with what his life is going to look like until he passes away. But before he could overthink his bleak future, he received another letter from a female fan who had written to him about how she was fascinated by the nature of his crimes and all the depraved things she wanted him to do with her. Well, it’s a classic Ted Bundy case, about how society glorifies serial killers and idolizes their toxic personality. Joe once again has found a way to victimize himself. He entertains the thought that it is not him who is at fault here but the society itself that creates a monster like him and celebrates their existence. I guess, these letters will keep Joe entertained for a long period of time and validate his crooked philosophy till the end of his time.
