Netflix has had a host of successes with its original content – both shows and movies – in the last decade or so, but perhaps none of these have been quite as transgressive as You. The thriller, which returns for its fifth and final season on 24 April, sparked big conversations about accountability and whether people are too generous to people with pretty faces.
After all, its hero Joe (Penn Badgley) is a terrible, terrible human, guilty of the gnarliest of crimes – but people still pretty much love him, in the most powerful of antihero fashions. Now, though, we know his story is drawing to a close, and the show's final run of episodes has finally been given a proper trailer, rather than just a drip-feed of teasers.
This time around, Joe will be back in New York City, having made a life in London but decided to head back to his home – and that raises the interesting prospect of reunions with those who survived previous seasons. We don't know who that might mean (although Netflix fans will doubtless be hoping that Wednesday's Jenna Ortega returns), but it's certain that Joe will find it harder than ever to maintain his secrecy and second life.
His wife Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) will be taking on her role as the CEO of Lockwood Corporation as the season starts, kicking off a new era of boardroom negotiations and rivalry. That's also a very public role, though, which means an all-new challenge for Joe – fame. He's going to be in the limelight and the target of press interest, which again doesn't exactly sound ideal for someone with heaps of skeletons in his closet.
That all adds up to an intriguing setup for a season that should hurtle Joe from stability into the unknown, and that big trailer embedded further up the page makes hints that he's going to be pushed far from his comfort zone. In fact, the prospect of revenge is very much on the table – could a survivor from previous seasons possibly be able to take him down?
The other question is whether the show's fans actually want that. When any serial killer show ends, the big question is whether the antihero will die or not. In this case, the comments are full of debates about whether that'll be Joe's fate – and I'd find it pretty hard to split hairs and make a prediction at this stage! Either way, Netflix will be hoping that the show helps it cement its place as one of the best streaming services on the planet right now.
