One thing Netflix missed in 5th series of ‘You’

What on earth was Netflix thinking when it commissioned the small-screen adaptation of Caroline Kepnes’ novel You in 2018 (that is, beyond the obvious desire to boost subscriber figures, given that the streaming platform’s earnings plummeted by more than $24bn in the second quarter of that year?) Both the initial and many, many subsequent seasons of the show feature farcical, soap opera-like storylines that sensationalise the serial killing of women at the hands of an entirely unsuspected protagonist. So far, so Hollywood cliché. But it’s devastating that Netflix missed out on such a golden opportunity to do something different.

And that’s why I’m far from celebrating the return of series five and the new three-minute teaser, which dropped on YouTube on Monday morning, landing more than 77,000 views in just a few hours. Just look at what the series could have achieved: it could have continued to shine a light on what coercive relationships can look and feel like — and how it is not always the most obvious of culprits who inflict such harm on their partners. It could have risen to the challenge of lifting the lid on the gritty, “behind closed doors” reality of domestic abuse and violence against thousands, if not millions, of women.

But with each series, the show’s central character, Joe Goldberg – the Dorian Gray-like serial killer who manages to go about daily life undetected and bears no brunt of his violent crimes, beyond the inconvenience of having to cover them up — actually serves to glamourise male violence. He’s rewarded for it. The more he kills, the more beautiful women he’s exposed to — and the better his financial and social status becomes. It’s an issue that lead actor Penn Badgley has addressed himself over the years. In a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, the former Gossip Girl star warned viewers that Joe’s character “is not actually looking for love.” “He’s not actually a person who just needs somebody who loves him. He’s a murderer! He’s a sociopath. He’s abusive. He’s delusional. And he’s self-obsessed. You can’t fool yourself into thinking that he just needs somebody who’s right for him. Nobody’s right for him!” he exclaimed. Translation: No, you really can’t fix him. A lesson for women everywhere...

That same year, Badgley also took it upon himself to reply to the endless slew of people on social media who were romanticising his on-screen character — even saying that their casual attitude towards Joe’s violence was “motivation” for him in the second season. He has also alluded to the series being “dishonest” and lacking in meaning. I know what he means. To me, the very fact that it’s viewed as blockbuster “entertainment” to watch women being savagely murdered — enough to warrant a fifth series — is both dark and depressing. Let’s look at the very real statistics: between April 2022 and March 2023, 35 per cent of women killed in England and Wales were murdered by a partner or ex-partner, and a further 10 per cent were killed by a family member. Across the same period, an estimated 1.4 million women aged 16 and over experienced domestic abuse — and in 2024, 93 victims of domestic abuse took their own lives. The situation has gotten so dire that the UN declared violence against women a “national emergency” last year. Just this week, crossbow killer Kyle Clifford was given a whole-life sentence for the triple murder of Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt (his ex-girlfriend). During his trial, the court was told that he had searched for an Andrew Tate podcast less than 24 hours before the attack in Bushey, Hertfordshire, before the judge dismissed the evidence.

Then there’s Tate himself — a public figure whose infamy lies in promoting misogyny and hatred towards women. He and his brother Tristan are facing criminal proceedings in Romania and the UK on charges including human trafficking and rape, with a separate investigation launched into the pair in Florida last week. Combined, the brothers have over 13m followers on X — but their influence over young boys and impressionable men seemingly knows no bounds.

Netflix has confirmed that when it comes to You, this will be the final season of the show – and thank goodness. If the new trailer is anything to go by, “Joe” might finally get his comeuppance. I hope he does... but it’s a mystery to me as to why real women don’t get the same treatment.