You Season 5 Ending Explained: Does Penn Badgley's Joe Goldberg Get Caught After Years of Escaping Justice?

Season 5 of You, released April 24 on Netflix, brings Joe Goldberg’s long-running story to a dramatic close. After years of stalking, manipulation, and murder across major cities, Joe (played by Penn Badgley) finally faces the consequences of his actions.

The final season sees Joe attempting to escape to Canada with his wife Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie), after surviving a fire in his bookstore basement. But Kate wasn’t working alone, she secretly teamed up with survivors Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) and Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman) to stop him. Their goal: trap Joe in his infamous glass cage.

The trio also managed to turn Joe’s latest obsession, writer Louise Flannery aka Brontë (Madeline Brewer), against him. Brontë, who had her suspicions, realized the truth about Joe after learning more about the death of her mentor Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), killed in season one.

After rescuing Joe from the fire, Brontë played along. When Joe proposed, her inner thoughts revealed her true intention: “I’m the only person in the world that can stop you.”

The couple went on the run to upstate New York, hiding in a remote cabin. Brontë was momentarily tempted by Joe’s charm but stayed focused. During a romantic boat ride, she called it 'peak romance,' but the moment didn’t last.

That night, she confronted Joe in bed, pulling a gun from behind the pillow. She forced him to admit what really happened to Beck and made him remove the parts he wrote in her posthumous book.

The confrontation was interrupted when Joe received a call from his son Henry. “You tried to kill Mom,” Henry said, calling his father “the monster under my bed.” The words hit Joe hard. “I love him so much. Maybe he deserves better than me,” Joe cried. “Why? How? How did I become this person?”

Joe attacked Brontë and shot her in the side. The two fought in the woods. Brontë called 911, and with police closing in, Joe begged her, “Kill me. I deserve it…You get to be the one who kills me.”

Brontë refused. “I’d rather you live the rest of your life alone in prison,” she said. Joe lunged at her again. This time, she shot him in the groin, and both were arrested.

Joe was later convicted in court for murdering Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), Beck, and Beck’s friends Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Peach (Shay Mitchell). “In the end, Joe Goldberg was made to see all of himself,” Brontë said in the final narration. She also added, “I accidentally turned him into a walking d--k joke,” referencing the injury Joe suffered.

Kate survived the bookstore fire and decided to help Marienne’s career as an artist. Her brother Teddy (Griffin Matthews) transformed Lockwood Corp into a nonprofit.

The series ends with Joe in prison, reading The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. In a voiceover, he says, “The loneliness, oh my god. The loneliness…This is forever. It’s unfair. Aren’t we all just products of our environment? Hurt people hurt people.”

Then, after reading a fan letter, he adds, “Maybe we have a problem as a society. Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe it’s you.”

ALSO READ: Penn Badgley Reveals Gossip Girl Helped Him Through Financial Struggles Early in His Career: ‘I Was Close to Being Broke’