Joe Goldberg's escapades are coming to an end.
Following the release of You season 4, Netflix announced in March 2023 that the hit series has been renewed for a fifth and final season.
"You became an instant sensation on Netflix with a resounding cultural impact that has grown season over season," Netflix's Peter Friedlander, the vice president of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada said in a statement. "We're excited — and a bit terrified — to see how it all ends for Joe Goldberg, but one thing is for sure: 'You' are in for an unforgettable ending."
In the fourth season of the show, viewers discovered a different side to Joe (Penn Badgley) as he attempted to stray from his murderous tendencies while living abroad under the pseudonym Professor Jonathan Moore. However, Joe quickly discovered that he couldn't entirely escape his dark past.
From the cast to what the final season will be about, here's everything to know about You season 5.
Warning: spoilers for You season 4 ahead.
Who is in the cast of You season 5?
It wouldn't be You without Penn Badgley. The Gossip Girl alum is slated to reprise his role as Joe Goldberg in the new season. It's also likely that Charlotte Ritchie, who plays Joe's new love interest Kate, will reprise her role.
Playing Joe's new obsession will be Madeline Brewer as Bronte, who is described as an “enigmatic and free-spirited playwright who comes to work at Joe Goldberg’s new bookstore,” per Deadline.
Anna Camp will do double duty as Reagan and Maddie Lockwood, Joe’s twin sisters-in-law, while Griffin Matthews is set to play Joe's brother-in-law Teddy Lockwood.
Will any former You cast members return?
As the show wraps up its final season, it's been theorized whether some of Joe's past victims and acquaintances will make a reappearance, namely Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, who played Ellie in season 2.
In February 2023, showrunner Sera Gamble revealed that they actually tried to get Ortega back but her schedule with Netflix's Wednesday ended up interfering. "It's been just such a pleasure to see Jenna this year. We have ideas for Ellie if her schedule allows her to visit us again," Gamble teased at the time.
Gamble went on to share that anyone who viewers didn't see die on screen could be on the table to bring back this season — and maybe even those who have died aren't written off entirely either.
"Any character who's not dead who knows anything about Joe, it's fair game to try to exert any justice," she said. "And any character who is dead, [Joe] has a really active imagination."
During Tudum: A Global Fan Event in 2023, Badgley also teased the return of past cast members in the new season, includingTravis Van Winkle, Shalita Grant, andJohn Stamos, among others.
Where will You season 5 be set?
The season 4 finale sees Joe return to New York City, where the show first began in season 1. Not only does the setting bring the series full circle, but it also opens up a wide range of possibilities for the story as Joe might have to come face-to-face with his past actions and maybe even past victims.
What will You season 5 be about?
Though Netflix hasn't released an official plotline for the fifth and final season, Badgley previously shared with PEOPLE his hopes for what's to come.
"I feel like it's building towards a greater resolution," he said. "That's what I want for Joe ... because now, the circumstances are actually different. He has a level of power and wealth that he's never had."
"With Love [Victoria Pedretti], he technically had wealth and he was adjacent to some power, but he hated it and he didn't take it for his own. Whereas now, he seems to be embracing it and taking it for his own. And to be honest, that's sort of terrifying prospect."
Badgley added it's "an evolution of the whole conceit."
Who are the showrunners for You season 5?
You season 5 will have new showrunners, with executive producers Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo taking over for Sera Gamble, who originally developed the series Greg Berlanti.
"As I step back from day-to-day showrunning to focus on new projects, I'm immensely grateful to co-creator and all-around genius Greg Berlanti, Caroline Kepnes, my friends at Berlanti Productions and Alloy Entertainment, and our steadfast partners at Warner Bros and Netflix," Gamble said in a statement.
"Making the show alongside our writers, producers, directors, cast and crew has been an honor and ridiculously fun. And I feel lucky to have worked with an artist as gifted and thoughtful as Penn Badgely. I'm proud of what we've all accomplished and feel privileged to pass the torch. I'm excited to watch and support the You team as they bring Joe Goldberg's journey to its delightfully twisted conclusion."
When did You season 5 start filming?
On March 25, 2024, the official You X account revealed that filming was underway as they showed a picture of Badgley in character as Joe. "Back to where it all began. The 5th and final season of YOU is now in production," the caption read alongside a photo of Joe walking the streets of N.Y.C.
When will You season 5 premiere?
While an official release date hasn't been announced, Netflix previously teased that the final season will premiere in 2024.
Why is You ending?
Speaking with British GQ, Badgely previously explained why he believes season 5 should be the show's last, especially after the major season 4 twist that the "Eat the Rich Killer" was actually Joe all along.
"I know what [showrunner] Greg [Berlanti] pitched me a few years back as what he thought was the right way to end," he said. "If there's another one, it's going to be, I think, a grand finale."
"It has to go to this place for five episodes where it's like, 'Is he going to become a hero as we've all wanted him to?' It doesn't make any sense when Joe becomes a hero," he admitted. "This is the only place the show could have ever gone and remain relevant, remain responsible, remain intelligent, remain sensitive, but true."
Badgley added, "The whole thing has been building towards seeing Joe in a different light, truly, which we've never ever done before."
Gamble also teased to E! News that the story has new possibilities now that Joe has more resources at his disposal since partnering with the wealthy Kate.
"We have spent four seasons constructing these characters who are violently wealthy, but not all of them are that smart or that ruthless," Gamble explained. "If Joe is all of the things that he is and now has unlimited resources and access, he's become the thing that he envied and judged from afar. It gives us a lot of new opportunities."