Warning: Spoilers ahead for “You” Season 5.
“You” has officially made its final kill with its fifth and final season.
The Netflix psychological thriller starring Penn Badgley captivated viewers from the start with its leading man Joe Goldberg, a dangerously charming book enthusiast who became infatuated and obscenely obsessed with aspiring writer Guinevere Beck.
Over the course of five seasons, Joe took extreme and deadly measures to find his happily ever after with Beck, as well as a number of women who became his new obsession. Most do not make it out alive — though some, like Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), do.
Season 5 of “You” was no different. Ahead of the final season, Badgley reflected on Joe’s high body count.
“It’s in the teens, it’s in the late teens,” Badgley tells TODAY.com. “And then maybe this season, does it go into the (twenties)? Does he kill that many people?”
He sure does.
You. Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in episode 501 of You. Netflix
In the fifth season, there are people who Joe kills, like Buffalo Bob Cain (Michael Dempsey), but he also makes others do the killing for him like Maddie killing her twin sister Reagan (both played by Anna Camp).
“He’s like Charles Manson, in a way,” Badgley says, questioning how the exact number of people Joe killed. “This is the funny thing with Joe … He doesn’t kill that many people.”
“Maybe we can be saved,” he joking adds, a nod to the women who thought they could change Joe. “Yeah, the body counts under 20.”
Maddie at one point in the show tells Joe, “You always have a good reason (to kill).” Badgley quips, “He definitely always has a good reason.”
Badgley has been thinking about Joe and the notion of what it means to be “the romantic icon as a protector.”
“If you’re a protector, then you need violence to protect somebody from,” he says, “(If) you need to protect, there needs to be a victim. There needs to be somebody who’s vulnerable.”
And in Joe’s eyes, there’s always someone who needs protecting.
Read one to see everyone who Joe has killed over the course of five season of “You,” according to Netflix.
- His mom’s abusive boyfriend
- Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci), Beck’s ex-boyfriend
- Elijah (Esteban Benito), a music producer and Joe’s former love Candace’s partner
- Peach (Shay Mitchell), Beck’s friend
- Ron (Daniel Cosgrove), Claudia’s abusive boyfriend
- Beck (Elizabeth Lail), a writer and Joe’s Season 1 obsession
- Jasper (Steven W. Bailey), a man who hacker Will (Robin Lord Taylor) owes money
- Henderson (Chris D’Elia), stand-up comedian in Los Angeles
- Ryan (Scott Michael Foster), Marienne’s new boyfriend
- Love (Victoria Pedretti), Joe’s wife and the other of his child
- Malcolm (Stephen Hagan), Kate’s professor boyfriend
- Simon (Aidan Cheng), a tech entrepreneur and artist
- Vic (Sean Pertwee), Phoebe’s driver and security
- Gemma (Eve Austin), a socialite from the Oxford friend group
- Rhys (Ed Speleers), author and politician, but also a figment of Joe’s imagination in Season 4
- Tom Lockwood (Greg Kinnear), Kate’s father
- Hugo (Craig McGinlay), Tom’s bodyguard
- Eddie (Brad Alexander), Nadia’s boyfriend
- Bob (Michael Dempsey), Kate’s former mentor and part of her family’s business, T.R. Lockwood Corporation
- Clayton (Tom Francis), Bronte’s friend who helps her catfish Joe
- Dane, man who attacked Bronte
That’s over 20 people lost to Joe Goldberg. As for what happens in the rest of his life? We’ll leave it up to the imagination.
