Penn Badgley Explains Joe’s Last Words In ‘You’ Series Finale

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 5 of “You”

Joe Goldberg has been narrating and justifying his murderous ways for five seasons in “You.”

So when the Netflix thriller’s fifth and final season was released, Joe, portrayed by Penn Badgley, reflected on his actions and punishment. But what did they mean?

Over the course of five seasons, Joe killed 21 people. At the end of “You,” he was arrested, put on trial and convicted of multiple murders, before spending his final days alone in prison.

Wearing a red jumpsuit, he is all by himself, reading a book when he receives fan mail. He then begins to narrate how in the end, his punishment was even worse than he imagined: a life of solitude and loneliness.

What are Joe’s final words in ‘You’?

Known for his obsessive behavior towards women, Joe is now left all alone in a prison cell. With nobody to love and be held by, he believes his punishment is “unfair” — and goes on to share his final words.

“It’s unfair, putting all of this on me. Aren’t we all just products of our environment? Hurt people hurt people. I never stood a chance,” he says, receiving fan mail. “Why am I in a cage when these crazies write me all the depraved things they want me to do to them?”

“Maybe we have a problem as a society. Maybe we should fix what’s broken within us. Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe it’s you,” he concludes, looking straight at the camera.  

What do Joe Goldberg’s last words mean?

What exactly did Joe mean when he said that society was the problem? Was it not Joe? Badgley thinks there’s more to it than meets the eye.

“It’s both. It’s a cop out from him but it’s also true because, at the end of the day, he’s not real and we are,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly. “And so we’ve been watching a show about him and he no longer exists, so it is about us. It couldn’t be about him. He’s not real. So that’s kind of plain and simple to me.”

Badgley said that it depends on what viewers wanted from Joe, a romantic stalker who isn’t afraid to kill anyone who gets in his way.

“Do we need to see him change? What would actually be the conditions for him to change meaningfully? Is that what anybody wants to see?” Badgley asked. “That would actually be a very different show with a very different pace and tone and ethos, and it wouldn’t be as popular as it is. So it’s frustratingly true, I think, his statement in the end.”