Every Death in ‘You’s Final Season, Explained

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the ending of You Season 5.Over the course of its five seasons, You has seen a number of deaths, most of them caused by Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). The show has officially concluded now, although this season includes the least number of deaths of any other in the series. Season 5 picks up three years after the Season 4 finale. Joe is now married to Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Richie), and they live in New York City with Joe and Love’s (Victoria Pedretti) son, Henry (Frankie DeMaio). Joe hasn’t killed anyone since Tom Lockwood (Greg Kinnear), but he breaks this streak when Kate’s reputation and career are threatened.

The decreased number of deaths feels fitting for You‘s final season, which forgoes thrills and shocking murders in favor of more psychological suspense. The result is only five deaths, where every one is caused by Joe Goldberg, even if he’s not directly present. Every one of these deaths is deliberate and important to the plot, bringing You closer to its conclusion, which ends with Joe alone in jail.

Joe Kills Uncle Bob To Protect Kate’s Secret

Season 5, Episode 1

Unlike the other characters who die in You Season 5, Uncle Bob (Michael Dempsey) actually gets two death scenes. Joe learns in the Season 5 premiere that there is going to be an exposé published on the pipeline that Kate had built, which gave cancer to many children. He does some digging and realizes that the leak has come from Uncle Bob, a close friend of Tom’s, who is still heavily involved in the company. Joe imagines killing Bob in a fake-out scene, which is revealed to just be a writing exercise meant to help Joe work through these feelings.

When Bob confesses to Kate and stands by his decision, she asks Joe to kill him. Joe happily obliges, so he breaks into Bob’s house and strangles him, and then makes it look like Bob killed himself. This is the death that sets the rest of the season in motion, getting Joe back into his pattern of killing, and reminding him that he actually enjoys killing people. This is what ultimately leads to the end of Joe and Kate’s marriage, as well as Joe’s downfall.

Maddie Kills Reagan After Joe Gives Her an Awful Choice

Season 5, Episode 4

Kate’s sister, Reagan (Anna Camp), has never liked her and spends her screentime this season making Kate’s life harder. She’s jealous and angry that Kate is now in charge of the family company, and she’s determined to take her down. Bob’s death is exactly the ammunition that Reagan needs, as it is glaringly obvious that Kate and Joe were involved. Reagan uses this to blackmail Kate into resigning, so Kate and Joe decide to take action. Kate is done with killing and wants to blackmail Reagan, so Joe goes behind her back.

Joe tries to abduct Reagan and put her in the cage, but he ends up taking Reagan’s twin sister, Maddie (also played by Camp), instead. Maddie loves Reagan, but she also resents her. Reagan has been awful to her for their whole lives, and she even married Harrison (Pete Ploszek), whom Maddie has always loved. Additionally, Reagan pressured Maddie into being the surrogate for the birth of her daughter, Gretchen (Lillian Tardie). Joe tells Maddie that she can only get out of the cage if she kills her twin sister. Maddie is hesitant, so she tells Reagan, who mercilessly taunts her. Maddie ultimately kills Reagan by injecting her with Maddie’s insulin, and then she takes over her life.

Joe Kills Clayton To Protect Bronte

Season 5, Episode 5

Before it’s revealed that Bronte (Madeline Brewer) has been catfishing Joe to get justice for Beck’s (Elizabeth Lail) murder, Joe meets Clayton (Tom Francis), believing him to be Bronte’s ex-boyfriend. In actuality, Clayton is Dr. Nicky’s (John Stamos) son, who has been in on the plan with Bronte from the start. After starting an affair with Joe, Bronte panics and tries to back out of the plan, but Clayton doubles down. Clayton makes it look like Bronte has run away with him, so Joe follows them to a quiet beach town.

Joe and Bronte briefly reunite, but Clayton shows up and confronts her about backing out of the plan. When Bronte suggests that Dr. Nicky killed Beck instead of Joe, Clayton gets physical with her, leading Joe to intervene. Joe kills Clayton with his bare hands, only to realize that Bronte’s friends, Dominique (Natasha Benham) and Phoenix (b), have been live-streaming the whole thing. It is this death that leads to Joe publicly getting exposed and nearly cancelled, until he can temporarily trick people into believing his innocence again.

Joe Kills Dane After He Tries To Hurt Bronte

Season 5, Episode 8

There are only three major character deaths in Season 5 of You, as the last two are unrelated to the main plot and say more about Joe. Joe does an interview to make himself look good after the video of him killing Clayton goes viral, and it works a little too well. A number of misogynists on the internet rally around him, including Dane (Jefferson White). Dane expresses his support of Joe online, then starts posting videos of Bronte, revealing that he is following her.

When Joe catches Dane abducting Bronte, he traps Dane in the cage and has Bronte choose what to do with him. It’s a weird test for her to prove that she accepts this side of Joe, and although she chooses to let Dane live, Joe decides that she has passed his test. Joe kills Dane anyway, claiming in his voiceover that Bronte would accept him for this, but also not telling her about it. Dane likely wouldn’t have told on them, so this murder is more about Joe asserting control.

Joe Kills a Cop After Bronte Calls 9-1-1 on Him

Season 5, Episode 10

In the series finale of You, Joe and Bronte end up in an intense fight to the death after she confronts him about Beck’s murder while pointing a gun at him. When Bronte tells Joe that she’s going to call the police on him, he tries to kill her, and the two of them wind up outside together. After believing that he’s drowned Bronte, Joe runs off to the woods to try to get away, but Bronte has already called 9-1-1. In an attempt to flee, Joe kills one of the police officers who have come after him.

Every season finale of You ends with a major death, except for Season 5. Beck is killed in the Season 1 finale, Forty (James Scully) is killed in the Season 2 finale, Love is killed in the Season 3 finale, and Tom is killed in the Season 4 finale. You could have easily killed Joe off in its finale episode, but it is more impactful that he lives, especially after begging Bronte to kill him. Joe is forced to suffer the consequences of his actions, even as he still refuses to take accountability.

You is available to stream on Netflix.