You Season 5 Reviews: Critics Brand Final Episodes 'Lazy' And 'Borderline Insulting'

Penn Badgley and Charlotte Ritchie in YouAfter gripping us for the last seven years, and becoming everyone’s go-to TV guilty pleasure on Netflix, Joe Goldberg’s story is coming to an end with the fifth and final season of You.On Thursday morning, the last 10 episodes of the hit serial killer drama premiered on the platform, reuniting Penn Badgley with some familiar faces for his final outing as Joe, as well as introducing one key new addition in The Handmaid’s Tale and Orange Is The New Black star Madeline Brewer.Unfortunately, though, the majority of critics are unconvinced by the latest instalments of You, with early reviews branding the final season “predictable”, “lazy” and “borderline insulting” to its audience.Even more positive reviews of the season indicate that its first few episodes are a bit of a slog, though whether or not it’s worth sticking with depends on which critic you trust the most.Here’s a selection of what the reviews are saying…The Guardian (2/5) “Penn Badgley’s ‘sexy’ serial killer story was once ludicrously fun. But despite plenty of fan-pleasing cameos and a propulsive twist, the show’s sign-off is so bad that it’s offensive [...] as it signs off forever, You has no choice but to deal with Joe. It does so with a final scene that manages to be borderline insulting to the viewers who have stuck with it.”Madeline Brewer as Bronte and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in the new season of YouiNews (2/5) “Five series in the writers have run out of inspiration – all these twists are reused over the 10 new episodes. Perhaps it’s an attempt at a ‘best of You’ finale tribute, but it just comes off as predictable and lazy [...] After sticking by a so-bad-it’s-good series for so long, fans deserve better.”The Standard (2/5) “With the return of You season five on Netflix, the Penn Badgley-fronted drama has a near impossible task: how to end the most repetitive series of all time, while serving up the correct amount of justice to a simultaneously beloved and derided main character? The answer is: with little success.”The Telegraph (2/5) “In addition to being handsomely homicidal, [Joe] also comes across as self-absorbed and massively annoying. The bodies continue to pile up as he goes along.“But for many viewers, the first thing to croak it will be their attention-span as an already silly series commits the unforgivable sin of becoming indulgent and, finally, straight-up stultifying.”The Mirror“After a series of unremarkable five episodes, it’s the final moments of the fifth chapter, Last Dance, that really jolt You season five to life with a twist that snaps you out of the daze. This pivotal scene becomes the engine driving the latter half towards what appears to be a well-earned conclusion to Joe’s twisted tale.”Digital Spy“Even the most devoted You fans will struggle to remain engaged with the story as it plods along for the first few episodes, with even supposedly shocking moments and episode-end cliffhangers failing to surprise or excite. Those that do stick with it will eventually be rewarded, however, as mid-way through the 10 episodes of the season there is a game-changing twist that makes it all worthwhile, beginning a bonkers journey towards a satisfying series finale.”The AV Club“Season five’s pace [is] bogged down by other repetitive tracks and a roster of mostly uninteresting new characters, making the entire journey frustratingly humdrum. Even Joe’s narration swings from being eerily fun to redundant. While Badgley is still terrifyingly great at playing a menace, and he’s joined by a captivating Madeline Brewer this time around, Youstruggles to stick its (predictable) landing.”All five seasons of You are available to stream now on Netflix.MORE NETFLIX:These Are Our 10 Top Picks Of The New TV Shows And Films Coming To Netflix In April 2025Thought The Black Mirror Season 7 Cast Looked Familiar? Here's Where You've Seen The Stars BeforeThis 2015 Sheridan Smith Drama Is Climbing Netflix’s Most-Watched Right Now Chart

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