The five-season globetrotting of that rascally seductive serial killer, Joe Goldberg, has finally come to an end. Circling around to where the series began, You finds Joe back in the Big Apple, living in the limelight as he and billionaire wife, Kate, make the rounds of high-end restaurants, soirees, fundraisers and fashion shows. They're the IT couple of the moment and, with the sudden flush of celebrity, Joe has become a high-profile heartthrob for millions of New Yorkers. His past activities apparently laid to rest (ahem), Joe lives a charmed life with Kate--now occupied with running her late father's business empire--and his young son, Henry (who you may, or may not, remember was born in season 3 during Joe's sojourn in California with the late Love Quinn). Joe would seem to be home free but, unfortunately, this is the winter of his discontent. 

Kate needs help dealing with the swarm of hateful relatives/business associates circling around her, but she insists on handling things in her own civilized manner, not Joe's (a frustrating pact they made when they married). She certainly doesn't want murder on her conscience. That is, until she does. 

The deed, once done, preys heavily on Kate's heart but only whets Joe's appetite for violence. What a rush, Joe realizes. He's been hemmed in for far too long and is elated to get back to basics--to the real Joe Goldberg. But is Kate grateful to Joe for dealing with this one thoroughly unpleasant (and potentially devastating) problem when there are still several other corrections to be made? Not to Joe's mind. As Kate becomes ever more preoccupied with the family business, she forbids Joe to engage in any further murderous actions, on her behalf or on his own impulses. Damn that Kate! Feeling neglected and underappreciated by the headstrong Kate, Joe needs something---or someone--to help him reclaim his lost masculinity. 

Thanks to his wife's largesse, Joe is able to acquire his old stomping grounds, Mooney's Bookstore, which has apparently been closed for business since the conclusion of season 1. Joe finds the store just as he left it, complete with shelves of dust-covered tomes and that sinister plexiglass cage in the basement. This will allow Joe the freedom to pursue his true interests which, of course, involve more than selling books.

Enter a waiflike young woman named Bronte (yes you read that right), who Joe catches squatting in the shop's office. After a tense first encounter (and a second B&E incident) Joe lets down his guard and swoops in to rescue this obvious damsel in distress. Once again, he's the Knight in Shining Armor in his own story. So, he hires this red-headed street urchin to be his assistant and chief (only?) bookseller and, inevitably, one thing leads to another. Faster than you can say Bob's your uncle, Joe moves Bronte into the vacant apartment above the shop. Just to get her off the street, don't you see, except we all know where this is heading. Sure enough, the smart yet gullible Bronte falls for Joe's charms, even after declaring "I don't sleep with married men!" Oops. Well maybe this once. 

With Joe spending more and more time at the bookshop, Kate begins to get suspicious. Knowing Joe's instincts, she's sure that something is brewing at Mooney's and sets out to discover exactly what it is. Meanwhile, Bronte seems to be growing ever more attached to Joe, even after discovering his homicidal manuscripts hidden away in a box that, literally, any nosey parker could find without having to look beyond the end of their, um, nose. But, is Bronte really who she says she is? Joe seems to think so but he also thought that about Love and look how that turned out. Of course, Bronte has some really obnoxious friends with their own agenda tagging along in the shadows. Between Bronte's pals and those corporate asshats surrounding Kate, Joe is all set up to have a grand old time in the killing fields. Except that Joe is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. In fact, he's been more lucky than smart for the past five seasons. He's also losing control more often now, and it's become clear to all and sundry that something isn't quite right about Joe Goldberg. Eventually, everyone--including Joe, himself--finds themselves in jeopardy. When familiar faces from seasons past show up, Joe freaks the fuck out. Not that this was a big leap for him anyway. Who will make it to the final fadeout and what will become of Joe in the end? 

Since this is the final season of You, we get all the answers but, when it's all said and done, I'm not sure that's what I really wanted. You has always been an over-the-top killer-thriller with archly comic overtones; it's seldom had any guardrails. That's what I initially liked about the show. It's sort of like American Psycho meets Melrose Place, with beautiful people doing despicable things, and plot twists aplenty. Because much of the last two seasons have been reworkings of previous episodes, there have been few surprises in store for viewers--even the twists are predictable. I found myself annoyed that season five's last episode (#10) seemed to drag out forever. In my opinion, it should have ended at the halfway mark of episode 9. Everything was set up for a perfect (and perfectly ironic) ending. But, not satisfied to leave well enough alone the show's creators turned the series finale into a fight-for-life horror showdown more befitting the climax of one of the Friday the 13th movies. At the tail end, we're shown what the survivors (how some of them survived I know not) are up to now and it just seems like we could have been left with some sense of mystery. With that all said, You has never been anything less than bingeable. It's deliciously dark, and Joe's ongoing internal dialogue is often funny, primarily because he's so self-unaware. 

For five seasons, Penn Badgely (formerly of Gossip Girl) has done a fantastic job playing the sweet-talking psychopath who effortlessly charms the ladies even when they're caught off-guard by his intense personality and suspicious intentions. With good looks and charisma to spare, Badgely is a nicely subtle actor who knows when to let the beast roar and when to pull back. Badgely is funny, charming, and menacing, and does a fine job with the scripts he's been given. This final season brought back the talented British actor, Charlotte Ritchie as Kate, a prickly character and smart cookie who managed to survive season four (and marry Joe), only to find that her fierce independence might get her killed. Madeline Brewer rounds out the season five love triangle as Bronte (God, that name!), the unpublished playwright and poet who captures Joe's heart and may even break it. Brewer is both naive and a little shady so it's hard for us (and Joe) to know what to make of her. Frankly, the character is a little wishy-washy but Brewer is suitably enigmatic in the role. I also liked Anna Camp who plays Kate's identical twin stepsisters (one wicked, one ditzy), although I kept anticipating an interesting plot twist with these two that never came to pass. Maybe that's for the best. It was also nice to see Nava Mau (Baby Reindeer) in a minor role as a detective investigating the death of one of the characters. Other actors from earlier seasons are resurrected in scenes that are well-played, if unlikely. 

You was never a series meant to be taken too seriously. It's chock-full of cliffhangers and murders and sex, but it's not Shakespeare (although he could have written something like it if he'd been around for Henry VIII's reign). I've enjoyed You more than it's disappointed me and, while I won't miss it, I'm glad that I watched.