Netflix's 5-Part Thriller Masterpiece Series Has The Perfect Ending

Netflix is known for its exciting thrillers, and one of the streaming service’s very best projects stands the test of time for being able to stick the landing with the perfect ending. Finding the ideal way to end a show is hard, but it is necessary, as poor finales can derail a project’s public image, as Game of Thrones‘ ending did.

Many of Netflix’s thriller series don’t end up having to deal with that problem, as the streamer has a number of book adaptations and limited series that ensure the story remains tied in a nice bow. That said, when a show becomes immensely popular and goes on for multiple seasons, the audience begins to fear the ending will not measure up to the series. This Netflix show didn’t have that problem.

Netflix’s Thriller Masterpiece Made The Audience Fall For A Serial Killer

You arrived on Netflix in December 2018, a month after its first season had finished airing on Lifetime and was cancelled by the network. The series quickly became a hit internationally for the streamer, with You becoming a Netflix Original series for seasons 2 through 5. At the start of the show, Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg seemed like a hopeless romantic.

However, that is simply the image he projects to other characters, the audience, and to himself, as Joe is a serial killer who is also a bona fide sociopath and a psychopath. That is what makes You so interesting. Despite knowing exactly the kind of deranged and dangerous man that Joe is, the audience can’t help but feel drawn to the character.

Joe is charismatic and even outright hilarious in many of the show’s darkest moments, balancing the show’s serious themes with a dose of levity. Every season, viewers watched as Joe wooed a new obsession of his, and just like those women, viewers fell for Joe’s spell. By the end of the show, that led to many questioning what would be You‘s perfect ending, and the show delivered it.

You’s Ending Perfectly Addressed What The Series Set Up And Was Fitting For Joe Goldberg

Audiences spent so much time with Joe’s narration, which made the character more sympathetic than most serial killers, as we could see Joe’s struggle with who he was and even some desire to change — though that was never really what the character wanted deep down — leading to some feeling a desire to see Joe survive or escape being sent to prison in the final season.

You season 5’s ending was the perfect tale for the character, with Joe surviving, but being sent to prison to live with his failure, his fear of being alone, and paying for his crimes. Additionally, You addressed the topic of people who connect with serial killers and even the viewers who cheered Joe on as he killed people and pursued women.

In You’s final scene, Joe directly talks about people who fall for serial killers and the women who send fan mail to convicted criminals in jail. Penn Badgley’s character highlights how there is something wrong with society, and he finishes with a remark that both shows how Joe can’t accept his flaws and touches on the show’s biggest debate, saying, “Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe it’s you.”

Release Date: 2018 – 2025-00-00
Showrunner: Sera Gamble, Greg Berlanti
Directors: Marcos Siega, Lee Toland Krieger, Cherie Nowlan, DeMane Davis, Kellie Cyrus, Marta Cunningham, Martha Mitchell, Victoria Mahoney, Erin Feeley
Writers: Justin W. Lo