You Season 5 was supposed to have a completely different ending, star Penn Badgley reveals

You Season 5 finally brought Joe Goldberg’s story to a close, but according to Penn Badgley, the ending that aired was never set in stone. We already know that Ellie might have returned if it were not for the busy schedule of Jenna Ortega, but what else had been planned for Joe before the final cut of the series finale?

Penn Badgley revealed that, behind the scenes, the team wrestled with different ideas about how Joe’s arc should end. Could he get away with it all and live miserably? If yes, he could, but this ending might have been seen as rewarding. He could have been killed off by one of his victims? If not, adding more trauma to the fold was not an option. In the middle of it all, Badgley stepped in and helped shape the final version into something darker, heavier, and far more unsettling than what was first imagined.

You Season 5: The grand finale was not an easy one to write, according to Penn Badgley

Opening up about those creative battles, the actor revealed that more than one possibility (including the abovementioned) endings were discussed before the production committed to the stark and more grounded finale that made it to the screen.

For Badgley, it was essential to hold onto the harsh and dark truth that had always lurked beneath Joe’s story. It's great to see that the actor supported the refusal to let the character’s twisted path be softened or romanticized. As You reached its fifth and final season, staying faithful to that discomfort became the show's north star.

Penn Badgley pushed for a different aesthetic in Joe’s final moments

From the start of You Season 5, Penn Badgley was clear about one thing: Joe’s ending needed to feel raw. He fought for a portrayal that left his character completely stripped, bared. He fought for the removal of those layers of charm and self-justification that had protected Joe for so long. He pushed for no flashy confrontations and no last-minute redemption. Just the stark, uncomfortable reality of who Joe Goldberg truly was.

Earlier drafts had more traditional showdowns and even hinted at possible redemption arcs, and we are thankful that Penn Badgley saw that as a betrayal of the show’s heart. In his view, You was never about redeeming Joe. It was about holding up a mirror to the dangers of obsession and manipulation and about how easily society disguises violence behind a pretty face.

So, according to this view, You should be a cautionary tale, not a story about a villain-redeemed. So, staying true to that vision meant crafting an ending that hurt and refused to let Joe or the audience off the hook.

By pushing for this unvarnished ending, Badgley helped You Season 5 dodge the familiar traps that long-running shows often fall into. Instead of wrapping things up with a bow, the show left Joe exactly where he needed to be: exposed, undone, and irredeemable.

Joe’s confrontation was designed to break his power

One of the most striking choices in You Season 5 is the way Joe’s downfall plays out. Facing Bronte, whose real name is revealed to be Louise, Joe is finally outsmarted. Louise shoots him, leaving him gravely wounded, before making sure he is arrested. For the first time, Joe’s greatest weapons, his charm, his quick thinking, and his ability to stay a step ahead, fail him completely.

Penn Badgley emphasized that this confrontation was designed to take away everything Joe had ever relied on. Instead of dying dramatically or pulling off some last-second escape, Joe is left broken and powerless. It is a direct rejection of the narratives that often turn villains into tragic heroes.

In You Season 5, there is no redemption and no final blaze of glory. Only the slow collapse of everything Joe built on lies. This decision reinforced one of the show’s central messages. Joe’s true danger was never just physical. It was psychological. Once stripped of his illusions, he finally faces the consequences he spent so long evading.

The ending highlights Joe’s uncomfortable truth

You Season 5 does not end with a neat moral or a clear punishment. Instead, it leaves viewers sitting with something far messier. Joe’s final line, "Maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe it's you," lands like a gut punch. As Penn Badgley pointed out, it is a perfect reflection of Joe’s refusal to face the truth and a chilling indictment of the world that allowed him to thrive for so long.

Throughout the series, Joe was often framed in a dangerously romantic light, a choice that both the writers and Badgley have acknowledged was intentional. The final season shatters that framing completely. It forces audiences to reckon with how easily danger can wear the mask of charm and how often complicity lets monsters go unnoticed.

By ending on such an unsettling note, You Season 5 makes sure the story sticks with viewers long after the final credits roll. It challenges them to confront not just Joe’s actions, but the broader cultural patterns that allowed his character to resonate for so long.

You Season 5 marks the true end of Joe Goldberg

In its final act, You Season 5 does not offer Joe Goldberg a moment of redemption or a path to healing. Thanks in large part to Penn Badgley’s insistence on authenticity, the series closes with Joe alive but utterly defeated, trapped not just by the law but by his rotting sense of self.

It is a raw and unsentimental ending. The show refuses to make Joe a martyr or a tragic figure. After years of walking the razor’s edge between horror and sympathy, You Season 5 finally forces a full reckoning.

Joe’s story ends not with a flourish, but with a slow and brutal collapse. It leaves behind a haunting truth: that " maybe" the real danger was never just in Joe himself. It was the world that allowed someone like him to exist in the first place.