Everything you need to know about You season 5 (2024)

While we're all anticipating the return of You season five, Netflix has been whetting our appetite with a series of brand new cast announcements as well as a first look at Penn Badgley's return as Joe Goldberg.

The fifth season of the bingeable show has been officially confirmed to be on the way by Netflix, but the streaming giant has also said it will be You's last season.

Fans of the stalker series definitely needed the story to continue after the game-changing events of season four's ending – which changed the show as we know it.

Netflix did what it seems to be doing these days, delivering You season four in two parts as a split release. The first framed Joe Goldberg in more of a divisively redemptive light, and it led viewers down the path of a fairly traditional whodunnit, while the second delivered an epic twist that forever changed our serial killer protagonist.

But what does this mean for the final season of the show, and the indomitable, whispering Joe Goldberg? Here's everything we know so far about You season five.

When it comes to a release date for You's last instalment on Netflix, we don't have a concrete date to share with you at the moment.

But after the release of the fourth season, Netflix tweeted news of Joe's upcoming swan song, writing: "Joe Goldberg will return for the fifth and final season of YOU in 2024."

So with that information in mind, it would be fair to expect to see new episodes of You at some point this year.

That being said, the Hollywood strike presented delays last year. However, Netflix confirmed back in March that production had started, and filming is ongoing as we type.

It could still be possible to see some new episodes of You towards the end of 2024, especially if the streaming giant decides to go with its split release model.

But we'll keep you posted on any official news as and when it comes.

You season four concluded with Joe and Kate living it up in NYC, so we can definitely expect to see Penn Badgley and Charlotte Ritchie back as the twisted pair. You know, unless Joe has decided to off Kate between then and the time season five arrives... He has a habit, after all.

Photos from the filming of the new season have teased Joe's return to the Big Apple – and some new additions to the cast, too.

The final chapter of everyone's favourite psychological thriller has added The Handmaid's Tale's Madeline Brewer to its cast.

The actor will play enigmatic playwright Bronte, who takes a job at Joe's NYC bookstore to help him find the best hidden treasures to restore to former glory. Could she end up in danger working so close to Joe? We'll have to wait and see. But probably, yes.

Set photos have also given us a first look at Anna Camp, who has also boarded the Netflix series. However, she's set to play a dual role – Raegan and Maddie Lockwood – so we're unsure which character we've had a glimpse of at this point.

Confused? We don't blame you. But according to character descriptions (via Variety) Raegan and Maddie are Joe's sisters-in-law.

"Raegan is the cunning, cutthroat CFO of the Lockwood Corp who has her eyes on the throne and will crush any adversary… be them family or not," the publication shared. Sounds very Succession.

"Maddie, on the other hand, presents as the unserious twin, a thrice-divorced socialite whose job is 'vaguely PR.' But make no mistake, a master manipulator lies underneath Maddie's frivolous façade."

Other new You season five cast additions include Pete Ploszek (who will apparently play Joe's brother-in-law, husband to the previously-mentioned Reagan), Natasha Behnam, Griffin Matthews and Tom Francis (a wannabe author who will of course capture Joe's attention... yikes).

But who from the You cast could be returning to mark the show's end?

More set photos of Joe Goldberg with a young boy have convinced fans that his son Henry, from his doomed relationship with Love Quinn, might be set to make an appearance. But details of the character, played by Frankie Demaio, remain unconfirmed at this stage.

Amy-Leigh Hickman hasn't given up hope on Nadia's return, despite the character now being in prison for Joe's crimes. "I would love to come back and play her again," she previously told Digital Spy.

Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) may have escaped Joe's murderous clutches and reunited with her daughter Juliette in Paris, but the actor told us that she would also "love to come back".

These two women are not the only characters who could return and have a hand in Joe's inevitable downfall (what a delicious thought).

"We have kept scrupulous track of everybody who knows anything about Joe who's not dead," showrunner Sera Gamble told TVLine, while adding that "the ones who are dead could still appear in dreams and hallucinations."

"There are some very smart people who are alive. Some of them are in jail, and some of them are basically in witness protection, but there's no reason to believe he's safe."

These may include Beck's therapist Dr Nicky (John Stamos), Joe's former protégé and neighbour Paco (Luca Padovan), power couple Sherry (Shalita Grant) and Cary (Travis Van Winkle) and fan-favourite Lady Phoebe (Tilly Keeper).

Joe certainly has more than one reason to fear that the truth about him may be revealed, and surely it's only a matter of time...

Many have been desperately waiting for Jenna Ortega's smart and witty Ellie Alves, from way back in season two, to make a comeback on the Netflix show. If anyone is going to take Joe down, we'd love it to be her.

Although Ortega couldn't return for season four due to scheduling conflicts, showrunner Sera Gamble did later tell IndieWire: "We have ideas for Ellie if her schedule allows her to visit us again."

And Ortega's return was teased even further during a Netflix fan event in 2023, which saw Penn Badgley in a video clip saying: "I've heard you're on the edge of your seats waiting and theorizing about the epic conclusion of You...

"More importantly, you're considering what – or should I say who – Joe will come up against as he finally returns to New York."

"Though I can't say who just yet, we all know there are many loose ends from Joe's past," he added.

A montage then followed, which pulled together footage of many major characters from previous seasons – including Ortega's character Ellie.

You season four's storyline was fairly self-contained. We know where each of our characters ended up – predictably, many are now either in the ground or behind bars.

As for our morally corrupt protagonist Joe Goldberg, the insinuation is that he has now faced up to and fully embraced the darkest parts of himself. What's more, he can now use the money and power that his girlfriend Kate wields to further his own privilege – and continue to protect himself from any consequences.

The Joe Goldberg we are looking at by the end of season four feels untouchable, with an entire PR team at his disposal to help mop up any messes he might make. Scary, huh?

He has also found a partner who appears willing to overlook his darker traits. Although, unlike Joe's former wife Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), Kate seems determined to at least try to be a good person.

Going into the fifth season of You, the fourth season's finale has primed us for a more chilling Joe, who's done with attempts to monologue his way to justifying his dastardly actions. How that fits in with his new high-flying life with Kate, we'll have to wait and see.

After all, we can't seem to escape the fact that, by Joe's own admission, anyone he loves inevitably ends up dead – so Kate's future isn't exactly looking rosy.

Sera Gamble also told The Hollywood Reporter that the plan is to incorporate some type of consequence for Joe – and that this is how You, in theory, should end.

"The conversation we have among the writers, between [show co-developer Greg Berlanti] and I, and a lot with Penn is about the fact that it would be nice to end his arc with some form of justice. Guys like this don't usually see a lot of justice from the world," said Gamble.

"That's challenging to plot. How does Joe Goldberg go down in a world where he's been branding people with bricks in broad daylight for years? And he's cute! And he gets away with it.

"The deeper question that we frequently pitch in the writers' room is, 'What's real justice? What would hurt him the most?'"

"We have spent four seasons constructing these characters who are violently wealthy, but not all of them are that smart or that ruthless," Gamble added in an interview with E!

"If Joe is all of the things that he is and now has unlimited resources and access, he's become the thing that he envied and judged from afar. It gives us a lot of new opportunities.

"I am thinking of all of the terrible, terrible stuff that very privileged wealthy people get away with. If we get to go into the writer's room and figure out another season, these are exactly the conversations we'll be having."

So, unless you count sitting in a padded business chair with the owner of a billion-pound company as justice, we'd expect a downfall to play some part in the series' final season.

And Penn Badgley wants an answer to the question of what justice really means.

"If it's not answering that question, because it is a tough one, maybe it's figuring out an even more refined or elegant way to pose that question," Badgley told NME.

"That's what we have an opportunity to do and I think what the writers have been positioning [the show] to do the whole time. The ending that they've pitched to me, I think it is that.

"Part of the reason I'm even able to say this is because of what Greg Berlanti shared with me: his idea about how it could end… and I can't tell you what it is!"

And who better than those Joe has wronged (and by wronged, we mean kidnapped/killed/put behind bars/all of the above) to serve up a nice, hot dish of justice?

Amy-Leigh Hickman, who played the now-incarcerated Nadia, told Digital Spy: "I think that if [Nadia] can pull off everything she did in season four, there's not much she can't do. So I wouldn't put anything past her, I wouldn't [put it] past Joe as well. I think that's something they have in common, weirdly."

Meanwhile, Tati Gabrielle said she doesn't think Marienne has "gotten her peace yet", adding: "I do think she deserves that. She's had a hard life, man. She just needs a break. I would love to see more for Marienne. If she's not part of taking down Joe, I just want her to be able to witness it."

After all, Nadia's going to need some backup if she ever plans to get out of prison, and Marienne is the only other person who knows what really went down...

Unfortunately, with the season still seeming a way off, we don't have any brand new footage at this stage.

But as soon as we do, we'll share.

You seasons 1-4 are available on Netflix.