Now that season 4 is over, is a fifth season of You on the cards?
Warning: this article contains major spoilers for You season 4.
Following the release of the second half of season 4 of You on Netflix, naturally thoughts are already turning towards season 5.
Well, there’s both good and bad news on this front: while a fifth season is certainly looking very likely, it will almost certainly be the last.
Penn Badgley, who plays main character Joe Goldberg, recently told Zavvi that a potential season 5 would end the story for good.
“Where I want him to go should he continue and what I want to happen is, I actually think, what the showrunners are planning to happen,” said Badgley. “So I can’t tell you, unfortunately.”
He continued: “But I can tell you that, should there be a season 5, I think it will bring it all to a really, really satisfying and beautiful conclusion.”
Showrunner Sera Gamble previously echoed Badgley’s comments in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying: “We have an idea for season 5 that we’re excited about. 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.”
She added that while the show has changed tonally over the seasons, it’s not “trying to sell Joe as any kind of 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,” she explained. “The beautiful thing about it is that when his arc is complete, so is the show.”
Read on to find out everything we know about a potential You season 5 on Netflix.
Will there be a season 5 of You?
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Netflix has not confirmed if there will be a fifth season of You, but it’s looking very likely given Gamble’s recent comments.
Back in 2021, when You season 4 was announced, there was no mention of it being the series’ final hurrah so we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed for now.
Hello, you.
— Netflix (@netflix) October 13, 2021
For you, YOU has been renewed for Season 4! See you soon. pic.twitter.com/mIqXwvUDIl
You season 5 release date speculation
Although Netflix hasn’t announced if season 5 of You will be going ahead, season 4 was announced in the run up to season 3’s premiere in October 2021. So, if that’s the case, we could very well be getting some good news soon.
Filming for season 3 was impacted by COVID in 2020 resulting in delays till 2021, with filming for season 4 taking place a year later in March 2022.
With season 4 part 2 having landed this March 2023, we could be anticipating any filming for a potential season 5 to kick off this year, with it airing sometime in 2024.
What could You season 5 be about?
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Well, seeing as season 4 started off as an English whodunnit, there’s no telling what a potential season 5 could be about. Speaking about season 4 initially, Penn Badgley had said: “It’s structured differently. We’ve taken the format and it is evolving, you’re not just seeing Joe in a different city, it’s a different kind of like journey that we’re on.”
Of course, the series is based around the books by Caroline Kepnes so it could very well be that her third novel could be the source material for season 5. The script and tale for season 4 strayed away from Kepnes’ books but who’s to say that the series may not revisit her novels in season 5?
You Love Me was published in 2021 and is the third instalment in her You book series. It follows Joe as he journeys to the Pacific Northwest and meets lovable librarian Mary Kay DiMarco, who he falls intensely for. But he’s ready to prove he’s a different man and tries to court her without his usual obsessive acts, even securing a job in the sleepy town.
While Mary Kay sounds similar to Marienne, it could be the case that her plot line could be revisited again in season 5 or Joe could somehow weave his way into the life of another librarian, who also happens to be a mother and friend.
But Kepnes is also bringing out a fourth novel in her You series, due for release in April 2023. For You and Only You follows Joe to the hallowed halls of Harvard, where he earns a coveted place in a writing fellowship. Like in season 4, he’s set to be introduced to a tight-knit group of wealthy individuals and also falls in love with Wonder Parish, a woman with the same attitude as Joe that could very well be his literary soulmate.
But after faking his own death in season 3 and then adopting an alias as Jonathan Moore in season 4 – to then be re-revealed to the world as Joe – can he really carry on going around the globe unnoticed? There’s definitely a lot of source material for any future seasons and the way that season 4 ended, we can only hope for some kind of comeuppance to be coming Joe’s way sooner rather than later.
How did You season 4 end?
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Well, it was certainly a twisted ending.
With Nadia (Amy Leigh Hickman) getting closer to the truth of Joe’s past, she forges a plan to help Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) escape the glass cage in the derelict London warehouse. We found out in the finale that although Marienne appeared dead in the cage, the pair had actually agreed to inject her with pulse-slowing betablockers that made her appear dead. When Joe left her body in the park to be found, she escaped with Nadia.
Joe killed Kate’s dad and framed his bodyguard for the crime, which is news that almost comes as welcome relief to Kate after a longstanding rocky relationship with her father.
Joe attempts to rid himself of his “dark side”, throwing Rhys over a London bridge but of course, it’s all a figment of his imagination. Joe then jumps off the bridge himself but is rescued, winding up in hospital, with Kate telling him the news of her father’s death.
In the hospital, Joe and Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) share a moment where they profess their love for one another and Kate asks Joe plainly what she needs to know about his past. He reveals his true identity (not Jonathan) and although it’s off-screen, we’re left to assume that he’s told her everything.
Elsewhere, Nadia goes searching in Joe’s apartment for evidence that could help get him arrested for Rhys’s murder. She finds Rhys’s stuff and goes to meet her friend Eddie who’s been helping her but Joe corners her on the street. She’s nervously also looking for Eddie but when she drops her phone, Joe picks it up and finds the pictures she’s taken of the evidence.
In the final scenes of the finale – which are a flashback with Joe now in New York – we see that Joe had actually found Eddie and killed him, leaving him on the road. Nadia stumbles over his body and Joe frames her for his murder, putting the knife (murder weapon) in her hand.
He says the box of Rhys Montrose’s things is going to be found in her bedroom by the police. They’ll think it was Eddie that killed Rhys and then Nadia killed Eddie because of it. “She refused to speak in her own defence, still hasn’t spoken from prison. Like I said, smart,” we hear Joe narrating.
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And then things annoyingly seem to wrap up rather perfectly for our protagonist. He and Kate are being interviewed for their philanthropy work and we learn that due to Kate’s wealth and substantial PR team, Joe has managed to rebrand his image as a victim in his relationship with Love Quinn, while also starting a foundation with Kate that will see them open an art school in NYC and London.
Essentially, Joe got away with everything – yet again.
But in the finale, we also see Marienne living peacefully back in Paris with her daughter when an article on The Cut flashes up on her phone; a profile on Joe and Kate entitled “A Brush with Death, A New Life of Philanthropy: How Joe Goldberg Escaped Killer Love Quinn”.
She says: “Grateful for a second chance at a good life? Right” which very much could point to some kind of revenge plot in a potential season 5.
In the very last moments of the finale, we see Rhys’ reflection in the window, hinting at the fact that Joe never managed to “get rid of” his dark alter-ego and most certainly points at a potential season 5 character return.
You season 5 cast
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We’re sure Penn Badgley would return as our problematic main lead, Joe Goldberg. But could Tati Gabrielle return as Marienne Bellamy in order to exact some revenge? Perhaps.
With Joe now leading a new life between New York and London, we’re sure Charlotte Ritchie will make a reappearance as Kate and potentially, her best friend, Tilly Keeper’s Phoebe as well as the rest of Kate’s London friends could return.
We know that Rhys made a surprise reappearance in the final moments of the finale so Joe’s hopes of getting rid of his evil alter-ego were unsuccessful and Ed Speleers could return as the charismatic devil on Joe’s shoulder.
We’d hope Nadia is concocting a revenge plan of her own so Amy Leigh Hickman could very well be returning but as is often the case of You, Joe continues to go through life relatively unscathed so there is the high possibility that season 5 could just pick up with an entirely new plot and characters.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Read more:
- You star Penn Badgley on big twist and message behind season 4 part 2
- Does Marienne die in You season 4 part 2? Tati Gabrielle on return
- You season 4 part 2 ending explained: What happens to Joe?
- You’s Charlotte Ritchie on why she was “nervous” about the season 4 role
- You season 4 location guide: Where was the Netflix thriller filmed?
- You star on season 4: ‘It’s timely and important – but also fun’
You season 4 part 2 is available to watch on Netflix now. Seasons 1-3 are also streaming now. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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