He had to die, point blank. For four seasons of Netflix’s stalker drama You, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) has cheated death (and a few love interests) enough to warrant him being eliminated from existence forever, and the final season looks like it’s going to do just that. Today, Netflix put us all out of our misery by finally announcing the release date for the final season of You, while also offering some hints about Joe’s potential fate.
The final season of You will release on April 24, a little under 5 1/2 years after the series made its way over to Netflix from its original home, Lifetime. The teaser recaps Joe’s litany of victims while the lovestruck sicko narrates about the trail of blood, bodies, and broken hearts that led him to where he was always meant to be. He eerily remarks that some anonymous “you” is the one constant throughout the years while lovingly caressing the glass case he’s imprisoned numerous people in over the last four seasons. Is he talking to his torture chamber? Is he talking to his latest love interest? Is he breaking the fourth wall and actually talking to the viewers?
Regardless of who he’s talking to, Netflix leaves little doubt that he won’t be talking for much longer. The logline for the seasons says Joe is returning to New York after spending Season 4 in London, but “his perfect life is threatened by the ghosts of his past and his own dark desires.” His life being threatened isn’t new to a guy who was almost killed on the kitchen floor by the mother of his child, but there are more allusions to his time being up. In addition to providing the release date and the teaser trailer, Netflix also gifts us with the poster for the final season, which sees Joe stomach-deep in water inside the glass case with the words “To The Last Breath” above his head.
If you need any more convincing that this is the end for Joe, he concludes the teaser inside of the glass case by looking directly into our souls and saying, “Goodbye, you.” We’ll check back on April 24 to see how Netflix decides to wrap up one of the creepiest stories in its collection.