Warning: SPOILERS ahead for You season 5.
Youseason 5 marks a fitting end to Joe Goldberg’s story, and it sees the unraveling of his most important relationships once again — though this time, the most tragic isn’t a romance. Joe Goldberg sabotages every relationship he forms throughoutall five seasons of Netflix’sYou, and that remains the case in the show’s final outing. His love for Kate Lockwood doesn’t last long into the new season, and he soon finds himself pursuing the mysterious Bronte. That romance crashes and burns by theend ofYouseason 5as well, but it’s not the saddest of Joe’s relationships.
Bronte and Kate both get relatively happy endings after Joe’s sentencing in season 5, but there’s one character whose fate is more upsetting. Although the primary focus is still on Joe and his latest obsession, there’s a sadder subplot running throughout the newest outing. And althoughtheYouseason 5 characterat the center of this storyline is alive and well when it comes to a close,the fallout of his relationship with Joe is much sadder than either of the romance narratives.
You Season 5 Proves Joe’s Most Tragic Relationship Is With Henry, Not One Of His Love Interests
Joe & Henry’s Bond Takes A Tragic Turn In The Series Finale
With Kate and Bronte both escaping the tragicfates of characters like Guinevere Beckand Love Quinn, their relationships with Joe end on optimistic notes.Joe’s bond with his son, Henry, however, has a far more devastating outcomeinYouseason 5. Not only do the final episodes teaseHenry following in Joe’s violent footsteps, but the series finale completely upends Joe’s relationship with his son. When Joe calls Henry before he plans to flee the country, Henry calls his father a “monster.” He knows what Joe has done, and he rejects him because of it.
Youseason 5 highlights how much Joe’s actions affect Henry — and will continue to as he grows up.
This comes as a horrible shock to Joe, but as Bronte points out, he’s hardly the victim in this situation. Through this ending,Youseason 5 highlights how much Joe’s actions affect Henry — and will continue to as he grows up.The truth about Joe’s nature is a terrible reality for a child as young as Henry to face. And while the finale suggests he can choose to be better than Joe, Henry will have to live with the crimes his father has committed. In that sense, Joe repeats the cycle of trauma.
Why Joe & Henry’s Father-Son Bond Is The Saddest Storyline In You’s Final Season
Joe Repeats The Cycle Of Trauma In Season 5
The storyline between Henry and Joe is the saddest ofYou’s final season for two reasons. For one,Henry is far too young to have to grapple with his father being a serial killer— one responsible for killing his birth mother and hurting his adopted one. Viewers may not feel for Joe during the finale, but Henry’s side of the story makes their falling out much more tragic.
Henry deserves to have a father who is present in his life, and he deserves parents who aren’t violent criminals. Additionally, Joe’s violence and obsession with love stem from his own childhood trauma, and he’s now continuing that cycle. While Joe doesn’t abuse or torment Henry the way he was, his behavior still comes with a cost.
Henry will have to wonder if he’ll turn out like his father for the rest of his life, and he’ll be forced to reckon with his complicated feelings about the man.Youseason 5 leaves him in capable hands — and his new therapist will surely help — but he’ll always have some confusing and sad feelings surrounding his parentage.
