After watching You season 5, I felt relieved to see Joe Goldberg behind bars

You season 5 marked the end of one of the most popular psychological thriller TV series. The protagonist, a psycho serial killer named Joe Goldberg, ended up behind bars, effectively putting an end to his reign of terror on every woman who survived his brutal attempts to kill them.

Many women on the show saw Joe as their hero, but later realized he was actually the villain, often when it was too late.

Initially, I was disillusioned by the hope that Joe would realize the damage he did every time he killed someone for his personal gain. Just like all those women he claimed to love and later killed or at least tried to, I was fooled by his charm and dangerous mind games. So, I was relieved to see him put behind bars in that climactic final episode of You season 5.

Joe Goldberg was never the hero he claimed to be

Portrayed by Penn Badgley, Joe Goldberg was one of the most fascinating and controversial characters in recent shows. On the surface, he was a well-read, charming, and romantic man. It was his internal monologues that gave people the complete picture; he was a deeply disturbed person who justified stalking, manipulation, and murder in the name of love.

Also read: Elizabeth Lail’s cameo in You season 5, explained

Over five long seasons, Joe travels from New York to Los Angeles to London on a hunt for his 'you' and leaves behind a trail of bodies. Each time he killed someone, I would hope that maybe he would realize the gravity of his actions, but that did not happen, and the count kept increasing.

The scariest thing about Joe was how convincing he was with his justifications about why he killed those people. It was a result of this manipulation that many viewers like me rooted for him the first few times. As more and more bodies fell, the unease rose, and so did the anticipation for Joe coming to justice.

Also read: Does Joe die in You season 5? Details explored

You season 5 wasted no time in highlighting Joe Goldberg's manipulative nature

You season 5 opened three years after the events of the previous season and was quick to remind viewers who Joe Goldberg really was beneath the facade of a man who only wanted love. He went back to his old habits in no time - from cheating on his wife to killing people.

Enter Madeline Brewer's Brontë, who appeared to be in a similar situation to the viewers like me. She fell in love with Joe despite knowing his true face until she decided that this cycle had to end. Joe's sick and twisted mind games almost cost her her sanity and her life, but she survived.

In the finale, Brontë came out of the lake after her apparent death, and while pointing the gun at Joe, she said:

"The fantasy of a man like you is how we cope with the reality of a man like you."

And wasn't that true? In the real world, men often mask predatory behavior behind their charm and power, and some women fall for it. Fantasy is used to rationalize trauma, danger, and manipulation.

Joe begged Brontë for death in You season 5, but that would not be justice to all the people he killed and, more importantly, all the people he fooled into believing that he was a good person. So, the police arrested him after she shot him, ironically, in the genitals.

People deserved to know that dangerous men did not roam around with machetes on the streets. Sometimes, the most dangerous people escape undetected from right under our noses.

Also read: You season 5 soundtrack: A list of every song in the series

Joe Goldberg's imprisonment in You season 5 felt like a long-awaited closure

For the longest time, our sympathies were toyed with and moral boundaries compromised. Joe was a murderer, but more than that, he was a test of how far we’d go to rationalize evil if it came in a likable package.

Watching him be held accountable felt like closure, both narratively and psychologically. It reaffirmed that no matter how cleverly a story is told, actions still have consequences.

Joe getting imprisonment set an example. It proved that justice comes to every criminal sooner or later, and this time, his charming ways would not get him anywhere. Goodbye, you.

The show is available to stream on Netflix.

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