If the idea of spending your time involves stalking the stalker and his obsessive loves, then you know that you need help (just kidding!). Donned his creepy stalker role for the fourth time on Netflix on March 9, 2023, our very own Joe Goldberg is now all set to wear it like a cape for the fifth and final time.
Based on the books written by Caroline Kepnes, You has become one of the most critically acclaimed thrillers, with its popularity skyrocketing with the release of every new season. Starring Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, who has stalked his favorite women in the world’s most attractive places, including New York, Los Angeles, fictional Madre Linda, and now Paris, the series is developed by Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti.
With the second part of season four culminating in gory bloodshed that left a trail of bodies in his wake, the psychic stalker of Netflix can’t seemingly wait to renew his life once again. But experience says that it does not come without the expense of other lives stripped of any chance to be renewed ever again.
However, it will take some time before we get to watch our stalker stalking another woman because of WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. With that said, one of the burning questions brewing in the fans’ minds is: When will You Season 5 arrive on Netflix?
Here’s what we know so far about it.
You Season 5 Release Date: When can we expect the new season to arrive on Netflix?
At the time of writing this article, Netflix has not revealed the exact release date of You Season 5. Not only that, but the streamer has also not unraveled much regarding the production status owing to the strikes. The nexus of this strike traces back to the time when the studios and networks refused to agree with the terms of the writers over wages and the application of AI over human resources.
Additionally, creator Sera Gamble, who recently stepped down as showrunner for season 5, as mentioned previously, shared certain photographs on Instagram from the picket line. This leads us to assume that writing for You season 5 is currently ceased.
However, earlier, Netflix announced the release window of You season 5 on Twitter, saying:
“Joe Goldberg will return for the fifth and ~final~ season of YOU in 2024.”
Goodbye… YOU. Joe Goldberg will return for the fifth and final season of YOU in 2024. pic.twitter.com/1PIP0pRizK
— YOU (@YouNetflix) March 24, 2023
That being said, we expect the final swansong of Joe Goldberg to be released in the summer of 2024, considering that it was renewed a few months back. However, that can only materialize into reality if the strikes cease to continue and a fair deal is reached. Sera Gamble will continue to serve as an executive producer of the show for season 5. However, producers Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo will serve as co-showrunners for the final season.
Before the show was renewed for a fifth season, the showrunner Sera Gamble hinted at the possibility of the show having more future while engaging in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter. She said:
“We have an idea for season five that we’re excited about.” Be that as it may, it did not come without a condition:
“It was never anyone’s intention to run this one into the ground. When we’re done, we’ll be done. And we’ll pack it up. Even in the early conversations with Penn, the idea was not to crank out episodes forever; it’s to feel like we have told the complete story. And though I feel like tonally, we’re very different and we are not trying to sell Joe as any kind of a hero with a straight face. This is a show that is in the tradition of these single-lead shows with a guy who does increasingly bad things. The beautiful thing about it is that when his arc is complete, so is the show.”
In a conversation with IndieWire in 2023, Badgley revealed his thoughts on the show’s future, saying You needs “to do another season.” He said:
“It feels to me like Joe needs to get what’s coming to him, and now he has further to fall because he has all this power and wealth. But of course, that’s not up to me. I don’t know where it’s going. But to me, with this concept and with this character, we always wanted to be responsible and it’s not just the kind of thing we can let keep going because it’s doing well.”
He further added, “I know the creators of the show always had this next season in mind as its last, should there be another one. And then it will probably be a spectacular resolution because it feels to me like something is in the works by the very end of this season.”
What can we expect to happen in You Season 5?
As a part of the global fan event TUDUM, the streaming giant released a short clip featuring Penn Badgley, who hinted at some of the major plot tangents that season 5 could take (the link has been attached above).
In the video, Badgley revealed that there would be “many loose ends from Joe’s past” that he kept tight-lipped and will resurface in the upcoming season.
Now that Joe will come full circle in season 5 and the news of his death is debunked, we suspect, based on the teaser, that season 5 will predominantly delve into Joe’s past and unravel the deepest caverns that have been unexplored as of yet.
The fourth season seems to have tied up all the loose ends of the main characters, which rules out the possibility of anything concrete to materialize related to them in the fifth season. But that does not mean Jenna Ortega’s Ellie will never show up again. Although most of the characters are in the ground or behind bars and with no real story arcs to elaborate more upon, the fifth season will possibly focus on Joe Goldberg’s past, considering that he has now fully come tete-a-tete with the cavernous parts of his real self.
However, the possession of money and power that his girlfriend Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) boasts, he can use to further his own privilege and shield himself from the ramifications of his crimes. By the end of the fourth season, the viewers see a completely new, invincible Joe Goldberg, flanked by an entire PR Team at his disposal who would help him clean up all the messes. What’s more, he has also managed to find a partner who can fully overlook all the darkest parts of him.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in February 2023, Gamble said, “You’ll know what the next season would be when you see the end of this season. We tell you what the idea is.”
Commenting on the season 4 finale in the previously-mentioned IndieWire interview, Badgley said that if the show ends with that conclusion, it would be “somewhat satisfying.” However, he adds, “But I think what’s particularly dystopic or chilling about it is he has effectively won. You have taken this man and shown him going out on top. In that sense, I don’t think it’s the conclusion that anybody wants.”
You season 5 will certainly feature a more callous Joe who might not even justify his killings anymore. But how would he juxtapose his part-time criminal life with his romantic life with Kate? That’s the question. But we know one thing for sure: Joe surely does not possess a Midas touch. In fact, something quite opposite to it. Everyone that he loves ends up dead. What does this mean for Kate?
Talking about Joe’s intentions, Gamble told Elle, “In many ways, when you’re not in denial about your intentions, you can plan better. So it’s less that we think he’s going to cut a bloody swathe in New York City, although we also wouldn’t put it past him. It’s more that he is just more conscious of this side of himself, and he’s less likely to be like, ‘Oops, I totally didn’t think I was going to shove that guy down the stairs. Now what am I going to do?’”
Since he arrived in New York, his life has come full circle. Gamble added, “He looks and sounds like Joe Classic. He has regained his name and now he is much more in the circles that he used to watch from afar and just judge. He can have all of that access, all of those resources, and none of the anonymity that he used to have in New York.”
Speaking to Hollywood Reporter, Sera Gamble stated that the plan is for Joe to suffer through some consequences of his actions because that would be the perfect ending for You. She said:
“The conversation we have among the writers, between Greg and I, and a lot with Penn is about the fact that it would be nice to end his arc with some form of justice. Guys like this don’t usually see a lot of justice from the world. That’s challenging to plot. How does Joe Goldberg go down in a world where he’s been branding people with bricks in broad daylight for years? And he’s cute! And he gets away with it. The deeper question that we frequently pitch in the writers’ room is, ‘What’s real justice? What would hurt him the most?’”
Commenting on Marienne’s ending and her life, Tati Gabrielle, who plays the role, hopes that justice is served. In conversation with The Wrap, she said, “Marienne’s story feels still feels unfinished, and [it] still feels like she has something else that she needs to see through. I don’t think that Marianne is a vengeful person, so I think that she would want justice not necessarily revenge.”
Who are the expected cast members of You Season 5?
Netflix has confirmed that the fifth season of You will be set in New York City, where the first season also took place. Interestingly, this brings the series to a full circle after Joe escapes to various places, including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and London. It’s the right finale rizz!
Based upon that, we obviously expect Penn Badgley and Charlotee Ritchie to reprise their roles as Joe and Kate, respectively, in season 5. In addition to them, it’s hard to predict which characters will reprise their roles for the last hurrah! It’s not completely imprudent to consider whether the fifth and the final season will also reshuffle the entire cast, save the two protagonists.
Be that as it may, there is a lot of uproar regarding the return of Jenna Ortega, especially after Wednesday became one of the biggest Netflix shows in history. Per the reports, Wednesday was the reason why Ortega couldn’t return for You season 4. This could point to the possibility of plans of exiting to bring back her character, Ellie Alves.
With season 4 end, fans find Marienne, played by Tati Gabrielle, escaping the clutches of Joe, thanks to Nadia ( Amy-Leigh Hickman). However, Nadia finds herself imprisoned, but she doesn’t testify on her own behalf or disclose any detail regarding Joe or his disguise as the “Eat the Rich” killer.
Despite being imprisoned for Joe’s crimes, Amy Leigh-Hickman is optimistic about Nadia’s return. In a conversation with Digital Spy, Hickman said:
“I would love to come back and play her again. I think that if she can pull off everything she did in season four, there’s not much she can’t do. So I wouldn’t put anything past her, I wouldn’t past Joe as well. I think that’s something they have in common, weirdly.”
Nevertheless, we expect the following cast members to reprise their roles for the fifth season, owing to their history with Joe:
- Dylan Arnold as Theo
- Scott Speedman as Matthew
- Shalita Grant as Sherry
- Travis Van Winkle as Cary Conrad
- Robin Lord Taylor as Will Bettelheim
In You season 4, Marienne is successful in breaking herself free from Joe’s clutches and is able to reunite with her daughter Juliette in Paris. Be that as it may, Tati Gabrielle wishes to come back as well. Speaking to Digital Spy, Gabrielle said, “I would love to come back again. I feel like she hasn’t gotten her piece yet, and I do think she deserves that. She’s had a hard life, man. She just needs a break. I would love to see more for Marienne. If she’s not part of taking down Joe, I just want her to be able to witness it.”
For more release date updates on You season 5, stay tuned to Web News Observer!