You Season 5 tops a disappointing Netflix viewership record for the series

You season 5 breaks a disappointing Netflix viewership record, and maybe that’s a sign it was high time to say goodbye. The series that turned stalking, obsession, and disturbing inner monologues into addictive entertainment has reached its end… stumbling.

While the premiere of You's fifth and final season did manage to top Netflix’s global chart for the week of April 21 to 27, 2025, behind that seemingly positive result lies a cold truth. You Season 5 reached the weakest debut viewership numbers in the show’s history since Netflix began releasing official data.

Now, that raises an uncomfortable question: Did Joe Goldberg really have anything left to say, or had he been just repeating his old sins in an endless loop?

From obsession to attrition: the numbers that sealed Joe’s fate

For a show that once dominated the streaming landscape, You’s final bow felt more like a slow fade-out than a standing ovation. In its premiere week, season 5 logged 85.2 million viewing hours. That might sound impressive in isolation, but it crumbles under comparison.

Season 3 had launched with 133.1 million hours, while even the split-release strategy of season 4 managed to outperform the farewell chapter. Its first half racked up 92.1 million hours, and the second, despite having only five episodes, still came close with 75.8 million.

More tellingly, You season 5 was the lowest-performing premiere since Netflix began publicly sharing these stats in 2021. That turns its No. 1 chart position into more of a technicality than a triumph.

It topped the global list, yes, but in key English-speaking markets like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, it couldn’t hold onto the crown. In the United States, Ransom Canyon took the lead. In the United Kingdom, it was Black Work. And in Australia, You came in third.

When the thrill fades: a story that ran out of places to hide

Part of what once made You so irresistible was its ability to shapeshift. Each season dropped Joe Goldberg into a new city, surrounded him with new names, new lies, new masks to wear. And somehow, it worked.

We kept following him, even when we knew better. But by the time You season 5 arrived, that magic had thinned. The formula hadn’t evolved, it had only looped. The sharp, biting voiceovers that once felt like confessions started sounding like rehearsals. And the return to New York, which could have carried weight or closure, ended up feeling more like set dressing than a narrative payoff.

It wasn’t just a matter of fatigue. The problem was that we could see the story coming. Joe would lie. He would kill. He would rationalize. The tension that once defined the show slowly gave way to repetition, and the thrill of not knowing what Joe might do next was replaced by the certainty that he would just do it all over again.

The end of the story was never going to be clean, but maybe it came just in time

Despite the record low premiere, You still managed to reach the top of the global chart. That alone says a lot about the strength of the brand. But it also highlights a truth Netflix probably couldn’t ignore much longer. If the show had continued, it would have kept slipping, slowly and steadily. Ending it now gave it a controlled fall instead of a collapse. And maybe that is the best ending Joe Goldberg could have hoped for.

In a way, You burned fast and bright. It was never built to last forever. Its engine ran on shock, discomfort, and tension, and those are fuels that dry up quick. By cutting it here, the show avoids the worst fate for any pop culture juggernaut: outstaying its welcome.

A messy goodbye for a messy character

In the end, You didn’t go out with a bang. It didn’t crash, didn’t catch fire, didn’t unravel into chaos. It just... coasted to a stop. And maybe that’s the only way Joe Goldberg’s story could have ended. After all, he was never a hero. His arc was never about growth or redemption. It was about obsession, illusion, and self-deception, played on a loop until there was nothing left to hide behind.

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The final season may not have delivered the high it was chasing, but it didn’t need to. Because You already made its mark. It took a deeply uncomfortable premise and turned it into mainstream conversation. It dared audiences to root for someone they knew they shouldn't, and made them sit with the discomfort.

Even when it lost its edge, You never lost that tension. And maybe that’s why, even now, people are still watching. Still talking. Still wondering if they ever really knew Joe at all.

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