You S5: The internet’s dangerous obsession with romanticising red flags

We return back to where it all began in the much anticipated fifth and final season, 'You'. After living an uneventful, murder-free life for three years, it seems like Joe Goldberg has found his peace. Alongside his wife, the multi-billionaire CEO Kate Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie), the power couple stands in the spotlight, changing the world one donation at a time. 

Yet, we quickly discover that our darling stalker-turned-philanthropist Joe feels purposeless living in the shadow of his reformed wife. So, when a blackmailer threatens to expose Kate's company's dirty secrets, Joe is more than ready when he is called to kill them off. Subsequently, unleashing all his pent-up homicidal urges.

Every season of 'You' has captivated viewers so far as it delved into a serial killer's psyche. However, the final season ended up being a miss as it lost its direction with poorly developed characters, falling into the formulaic rhythm of its preceding seasons–but it also introduces pop-culture's newest controversial character: Bronte (Madeline Brewer).

It almost seems like the discussion and hype around Bronte has overshadowed the negative reviews, and it might say more about the viewers than meets the eye. 

For the longest time, a side of the internet has loved and popularised the "bad boy" stereotype. From platforms like TikTok to YouTube, people discuss their love for brooding male protagonists, mixed with just the right amount of toxicity. This was also how 'You' by Caroline Kepnes–the novel the show is based on–became a hit in the first place. 

The show repeatedly gives us a 'white, handsome, smooth-talking and well-read man' (all credits to Penn Badgley) and inquires how much we are willing to justify in the name of love.

The show traps the audience in a glass-walled cage in the basement of Mooney's bookstore and asks if we would still love him, knowing that he kills us in the very next act. Joe is, in fact, an embodiment of this stereotype, as his rampant, aggressive, lecherous, and controlling behaviour is romanticised in the series.

Initially, Bronte's character feels like a response to this morbid fascination, but shows how, just like some morbid fans of the show, she too fell in love with a murderer. Still healing from consecutive tragedies, Bronte is endlessly empathetic and vulnerable enough to search for emotional connections online, making her the perfect pawn for characters like Joe. 

After watching Joe get away with too much, Bronte and the audience alike are ready to see his demise. Her attempt at revenge begins with trying to get Joe to confess to his crimes, but she is eventually won over by his bogus saviour complex and charisma.

As Bronte looks at Joe with rose-coloured glasses, blinded by grand gestures, she dismisses all his past crimes and brands him as "chaotic good." Joe becomes a 'bad boy' caricature in Bronte's eyes. She ignores Joe's red flags and manipulative behaviour, even going as far as to glorify the violence he inflicts. 

Their relationship seems to be a mirror of the experience and emotions that victims of abuse face themselves. Only through talking to Marriene, a fellow survivor of Joe's abuse, is Bronte able to snap out of it and regain her past determination of revenge, this time fueled with more vicious anger.

However, even though the show offers this new dynamic between Bronte and Joe, it only succeeded in theory. In reality, Bronte's character fell flat as the show only offers surface-level background stories, making her a half-baked character. Even Joe's motivations seemed half-hearted, making him a two-dimensional character.

The show's conclusion felt like poetic justice. By making the audience vicariously live through Bronte, it feels like we go through her manipulative relationship hand-in-hand and make the decision to make the final strike together. It ensures that he suffers for all of his demented and inhumane atrocities until the end of his life.