- The satirical thriller has concluded after five seasons
- Its showrunners have shared how they settled on an ending for Joe
- We see the murderous man get his comeuppance eventually
*Spoilers for You season 5’s finale follow*
You’s showrunnners have revealed how they settled on Joe’s fate in the series finale.
To conclude the Netflix show’s fifth and final season, viewers see Joe get his wildly overdue comeuppance. It comes about as a result of his former victims teaming up to ensure justice is done.
Some of Joe’s previous victims returning, including ex-girlfriend Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) and former student Nadia, who Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) sets free from prison.
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In the end, however, it’s Louise – the real identity of catfish Bronte (Madeleine Brewer) – who hands him over to the cops. Following a showdown in the woods in which he begs her to shoot him, she fires the gun at his genitals just as the police arrive. Joe is arrested and receives a life sentence in prison.
“The question we asked for the final season was: ‘What does he deserve?'”
Co-showrunners Justin Lo and Michael Foley spoke to Variety about how they decided how the show was going to end. They knew they wanted there to be some semblance of justice – “He was not going to ride off into the sunset, ever,” said Foley. Ultimately, the main question was whether he lives or dies – a decision that they said “went down to the wire”.
“We had the general plan in terms of the fact that Joe wasn’t going to get away with things, and that he’d have his comeuppance,” said Foley. “The actual capture versus death and whatnot, that was a decision that went down to the wire. The question we asked for the final season was: ‘What does Joe deserve?’ He deserves to not get away with what he’s done. We don’t want to redeem him. We want him to face those whose lives he’s ruined. But most of all, we wanted to have him face himself.”
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Eventually, they came to the conclusion that death was “too easy” an ending for Joe.
“We needed Joe in a cage,” Foley pointed out. “Not just for the image of it, the strong visual, but also we wanted him to not know the feeling of a lover’s touch. Beyond not having his freedom, it would be more punishing for him to end the series alone.”
“We really wanted to let these women have a chance to have their voices heard”
In addition, the pair mentioned why they wanted to bring back some other characters from earlier in the show.
“We really wanted to let these women, these victims of Joe, have a chance to have their voices heard,” said Lo. “For them to be able to stand outside a cage with Joe in it, and tell him what he did to them and to see if he would take any accountability for it. We also just love these characters. Nadia and Marienne, we wanted to give them the opportunity to close their stories in a satisfying way.”
