- You season 5 was released on 24 April
- It is the final season of the Netflix drama show starring Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg
- Joe Goldberg has had many girlfriends, but who ranks where?
You season 5 marks the end of an era for Joe Goldberg and Joe Goldberg’s girlfriends. The hit Netflix drama starring Penn Badgley follows his character Joe as he follows a toxic pattern of becoming obsessed and stalking women in various locations. Once his obsession grows tiresome, he assumes a new identity and goes somewhere else, burying the casualties alongside his past life.
Warning: This article will contain spoilers for You season 5. You have been warned!
Finally, in season 5, Joe was outed via a live stream over his terrifying ways, and his victimization came to an end. At the end of season 4, thanks to his rich wife Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Richie), he managed to spin a PR masterpiece in his favor. But it can only last so long…
Read more: Penn Badgley broke a personal rule for You season 5
But no more! With his tendencies and ability to charm, Joe has had many girlfriends over five seasons. But who did we rank first, and who is sitting at the bottom? Read on to find out! This list will not include flings Joe had, only significant relationships.
Joe Goldberg’s girlfriends: Who is the best, including You season 5?
1. Marienne Bellamy
Undoubtedly, one of Joe Goldberg’s girlfriends who is a better fit for him is Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle). He meets her in season 3 in Madre Linda, where she works as a librarian. In terms of morals, Marienne is one of Joe’s better love interests. She has been through a lot in life, from being an addict and dealing with an abusive ex who wants to take away her daughter. He falls in love with her without the obsessive control at first, which is more than we can say for Candace or Beck.
Despite their relationship being genuine, Marienne saves herself by trusting what Love, his wife, Victoria Pedretti, said about him. She warns Marienne of Joe’s behavior, and in season 4, she manages to escape Joe’s obsessive clutches by tricking him into thinking she’s dead. Additionally, she gets Bronte/ Louise (Madeline Brewer) to see Joe’s true colors, which makes her badass in our opinion.
Wholeheartedly, she sees through Joe’s BS, and we love her for it.
2. Love Quinn
Second to Marienne is Joe’s first wife, Love Quinn. By far, Love is the most important relationship that Joe has throughout the series, as he marries her and first plays happy families when learning she is pregnant with his son.
However, she is one of Joe’s top love interests, not because of what she gives him, but because she is a mirror of him. Disturbingly, Love’s thirst for blood and violence, as well as her obsessive love for Joe, mirror his for her. In contrast, Love accepts who she is and owns it, whereas Joe likes to see himself as a noble white knight saving the ladies.
Love does not need saving, she is just as capable of manipulation and murder as Joe. And there are plenty of occasions where she does that to him, she even outsmarts him, resulting in his almost-death.
Overall, they have the most interesting dynamic, as Love forces Joe to confront his own obsessions and behavior, whereas his other Love interests do not, as they always seem to need ‘saving’. Even though Joe does not change, his disgust for Love’s true personality shows his true disturbing and hypocritical character, a side of him you don’t see until he gets with Love.
3. Kate Lockwood
Surprisingly, Kate takes the third spot. In season 4, fans did not like the introduction of Kate, a rich woman who is an art dealer. At first, it seems she is just a nepo baby, but in season 5, she proves otherwise.
While romantically, Kate and Joe may be a snoozefest, Kate not being an inherently good person is central to her character. She is complicit in deaths, and her thirst for power leads to her questionable decisions at work. In the first five episodes of You season 5, Kate comes to the slow realization that she helped create a pedestal for the monster that is her husband.
Instead of running, Kate smartly extracts Joe’s son from the situation and calls him out. Yes, she does ask him to kill a man who is a threat to their business, but she admits it. The difference with her is that she acknowledges to Joe she is “disgusted” by that side of herself.
Ultimately, Kate’s character development shows her finally using her resources for good and allows her to play a part in bringing Joe down. She’d be higher if she had a better characterization in season 4.
4. Gunievere Beck
Many people love Gunievere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) because she is Joe’s original love interest. The way he meets her is the most natural at Mooney’s Bookstore. Beck is a troubled teaching assistant with many flaws, but she does start to see through Joe.
Beck’s character is interesting, she is morally grey because she is deeply troubled and has a physical relationship with her therapist, Dr Nicky. However, she also willingly falls into Joe’s clutches, but she does genuinely love him. Also, Beck is not afraid to call Joe out on his creepiness, as she does this one day when she catches him surveying her.
But her downfall comes because Beck is a passive participant in the story. Her attempts to fight back aren’t nearly as satisfying as Joe’s other love interests. In conclusion, she is also not the best person, which makes her death less impactful for fans.
5. Candace Stone
Candace Stone (Ambyr Childers), Joe’s first girlfriend in the You universe, is one of the worst. No, Candace doesn’t deserve what Joe did to her and how he treated her, and her surviving what he did to her is amazing, but the setup for her character has little payoff in season 2.
Candace assumes the name of Amy Adam and grows close to Forty Quinn, Love’s brother, so she can get close to Joe in season 2 when he flees to LA.
This plan is very lame, and Candace does a terrible job of taking Joe down. She’s reckless, and her return was supposed to be Joe’s first big opposition to his character. However, her return falls flat. Her attempts to confront him are cringe, and considering how sneaky she is, she should know better in how she confronts the situation.
Instead, she ends up dead, and the audience doesn’t really care because even with what she went through, she isn’t fleshed out enough for the audience to feel anything.
7. Bronte/ Louise Flannery
Without a doubt, Joe’s worst love interest is Bronte/ Louise Flannery. While the twist on her motivation for bringing Joe down is a brilliant addition to the story, it falls flat when she falls in love with Joe. We know that is the point of the show; Joe is charming, manipulative, and gives a woman princess treatment until she falls off the pedestal, but Bronte falling for those charms and abandoning her plan is a letdown.
Even if it’s only temporary, what point does it prove to have her fall in love with him, and go back on her and her Reddit friends’ plan just because he sort-of saved her?
Also, the way she makes out that Clayton, Dr Nicky’s son, wanting revenge for his dad being falsely imprisoned, is wrong is ridiculous.
Yes, Bronte is an important plot device to show Joe is arrogant and sloppy with his killing, and also that he will be brought down. With that being said, her role is lacklustre. As for the way she acts, she screams ‘pick me’ every time she is around Joe, which is insufferable to watch; it’s hard to tell if it is an act.
In summary, she’s a catalyst for Joe’s downfall. Even as Louise, there is no development, just her mom with cancer and her surface-level relationship with Beck as her student. She is the worst of Joe Goldberg’s girlfriends.
