What Will Happen In You Season 5?

It’s official: Netflix‘s popular stalker drama is returning for a fifth and final season, with Penn Badgley taking centre stage as Joe/Will/Jonathan for the final time. Production wrapped in the height of summer and the streaming platform has hinted it will land before the year is up. So what else can we expect from You season 5?

You Season 5: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

From New York to Los Angeles, Paris to London, You arrived on Netflix in 2018 after premiering on Lifetime in the US. Flash forward to 2024 and we’re anxiously awaiting the fifth season – which will also be the final ever season. Penn Badgley himself addressed fans of the show with the news at Netflix’s TUDUM fan event in Brazil in summer 2023.

The popular series follows Penn as Joe Goldberg, a bookseller with a shady past who falls in love with a writer named Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). But, for various blood-soaked reasons, with season two comes a new location (Los Angeles) and love interest: Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). And in season three it’s off to the Californian suburbs and it’s Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle) who catches Joe’s eye. In season four, we’re in London, swooning over Kate Galvin-Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie). All of this is to say that Joe (who adopts a new identity with each new city and love interest) is a hopeless romantic who falls in love hard – with quite a few dramatic consequences.

Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in episode 401 of You. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

What Will Happen In You Season 5?

In season 5, we will return to Joe and his hometown of New York City – but he’s a world away from where he grew up. Deeply in love with his new, extremely wealthy partner Kate (think top one percent rich), Joe has a new lease of life as he finally accepts his immorality for what it is. But it’s time to meet the extended family: Kate’s brother Teddy (Griffin Matthews) and her identical twin sisters Raegan and Maddie (both played by Anna Camp), as well as a young woman who reportedly ‘makes Joe reconsider his new life’, Bronte (Madeline Brewer).

Season four left us in London, with Joe and Kate in front of the camera pursuing philanthropic causes and rehabilitating Joe’s image after information regarding the dramatic end to his marriage to Love Quinn in season three comes to light. So, who exactly will Joe come up against? With a return to season one’s setting and Guinevere Beck’s memoir, The Dark Face of Love, referenced a handful of times throughout the series, we expect season five to have something to do with You‘s first leading lady. Plus, it seems Joe has acquired a book shop in season 5, and this is where he meets Bronte, a young woman he connects with over literature and loss – and who stokes intense nostalgia in Joe. Is she his next leading lady?

But with three Lockwood siblings to contend with, drama will be coming from all angles. Kate’s brother Teddy is authentic, empathetic and snarky – but Raegan is the cunning, cutthroat, take-no-prisoners CFO of Lockwood Corp with her eyes on the throne. Her identical twin Maddie, on the other hand, is a thrice-divorced socialite presenting a more unserious side of the family. But there’s a master manipulator beneath the surface, waiting to pounce…

A very early teaser ends ends with Penn saying, ‘I’ll see you in Mooney’s’, a reference to the bookshop Joe manages in season 1, and where Joe and Beck met for the first time. Has he bought it with his new money? There’s also the hint that a ‘loose end’ from Joe’s past will rear their ugly head. Of course in NYC we’re thinking about Beck. But, spoilers, Beck is dead – so we’re also looking to Dr Nicky, Beck’s therapist, who was framed by Joe and imprisoned for Beck’s murder. Not exactly a watertight conviction, we consider this a ‘loose end’ indeed. In Penn’s teaser, a series of faces from the past pop up, including Dr Nicky, who is played by John Stamos.

Who else could it be? There’s also a flash of Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), who remains alive despite Joe’s best efforts. Plus, there’s a flash of Nadia (Amy Leigh-Hickman), who Joe framed for his murder of her friend, Edward, after Nadia learned all about Joe’s storied past. Lady Phoebe (Tilly Keeper) also appears on screen looking especially fearful; again, though she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in season four, she remains alive. In short, there are lots of skeletons in Joe’s closet – but lots of living, breathing enemies, too.

Is It The Final Season?

Yes, the next instalment will be the fifth and final season of You. With the show slowing down over the last few years, perhaps this was something we saw coming – but the show’s creative team  ‘always conceived it as a five-season journey’.

‘We’re proud to see how You has captivated audiences around the world, becoming an instant sensation on Netflix with a resounding cultural impact that has grown season over season,’ Netflix’s vice president of scripted series Peter Friedlander shared last year. ‘We’re excited — and a bit terrified — to see how it all ends for Joe Goldberg, but one thing is for sure: You are in for an unforgettable ending.’

You Season 5 Cast

• Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg
• Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Galvin-Lockwood
• Madeline Brewer as Bronte
• Griffin Matthews as Teddy Lockwood
• Anna Camp as twins Raegan & Maddie Lockwood
• Natasha Benham as Dominique
• b as Phoenix
• Pete Ploszek as Harrison
• Tom Francis as Clayton
• Nava Mau as Detective Marquez

You Season 5 Release Date

There’s no official release date yet, but we expect a premiere before the end of 2024, with the season most likely split into two halves like season four.

Catch up with seasons one to four of YOU on Netflix.