What Book Joe Is Reading At The End Of You Season 5 (& What It Means)

April 25, 2025

14

Warning! Spoilers for You season 5 ahead!

Joe Goldberg is seen reading a book while in prison at the end of You season 5, and this particular title is profoundly meaningful to this murderer’s story. Of course, it’s no surprise that he is spending his time behind bars with his nose in a book. Literature remained an essential aspect of Joe’s life from the beginning of You to the end, and he would undoubtedly depend on books to process this new chapter. It could be hoped that Joe would find a book to help him accept responsibility for his crimes in You, but the one he is seen reading at the end of the finale episode likely won’t cut it.

The ending of You season 5 sees Joe Goldberg finally arrested for the various murders he committed throughout the Netflix series. Bronte’s voiceover explained that Joe was forced to confront all he had done in court, where all his “good” intentions were stripped down to reveal nothing but a monster. In the end, Joe received several life sentences, and Bronte stated that the man would never again see freedom. From there, the final episode of You segued to a scene of Joe reading a book in his prison cell. After reading the last page, he closes this book, sets it down, and we head into Joe’s disturbing inner monologue one last time.

Joe Is Reading The Executioner’s Song By Norman Mailer At The End Of You Season 5

Joe’s Prison Read Is Intriguingly Relevant

The book that Joe finished reading in the final episode of You season 5 was The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. This true crime novel was first published in 1979 and detailed the life, crimes, and death of infamous murderer Gary Gilmore. This real-world killer wasn’t quite to Joe Goldberg’s level—he only killed two people before he was sent to prison. However, Gilmore became famous for being the first person executed in the United States following the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. Not only this, but Gilmore had insisted upon his own execution.

Joe Goldberg is surrounded by a host of new characters (and possible victims) in You season 5, so let’s take a look at the talented new cast.

Before Gilmore’s death by firing squad, it had been over a decade since anyone in the United States had been executed. After he received the death penalty, the courts delayed the execution, providing Gilmore time to appeal. However, he instead pushed for the punishment. The Executioner‘s Song details the tumult of Gilmore’s upbringing, his earliest crimes and imprisonments, as well as the murderer’s decision to die willingly by firing squad instead of appealing his sentence. It’s an interesting choice for Joe at the end of You season 5, but The Executioner’s Song reveals a great deal.

Does Joe’s Book In You Season 5 Hint That He Will Be Executed?

Joe Is Obviously Thinking About The Death Penalty

Joe Goldberg Leaning Against The Cage In You Season 1

At first look, it would seem that Joe’s reading The Executioner’s Song at the end of You season 5 is a hint that he himself could face Gilmore’s fate. Typically, in this Netflix series, we hear just about everything happening in Joe’s head. However, Joe was uncharacteristically quiet as he finished and set down The Executioner’s Song. We have no idea what he thought of the ending of this book. However, it’s unlikely that Joe read this book to wrap his mind around execution. The death penalty is not legal in New York State, and Bronte specifically said that Joe would spend his life in prison.

Still, it’s likely that death is on Joe’s mind as he reads The Executioner’s Song behind bards. Once his inner thoughts finally became audible again, he went on about how terrible it is to be stuck in prison, and how his crimes weren’t really his fault. This, combined with Joe’s choice in literature, reveals a great deal about what this You character thinks of his punishment.

Why Joe Is Reading This Particular Book While In Prison

Joe Would Have Preferred Death To Prison

After Joe finished reading The Executioner’s Song, he began to think about how it wasn’t his fault that he had turned out to be a murderer. Interestingly, this is the first time in season 5 that his inner dialogue fully accepts what he is. Joe forever saw himself as a champion for women, only doing what had to be done to protect them. It seems that after court, Joe finally saw that he killed all those people not out of goodness, but because he really is a monster. However, rather than demonstrate remorse, Joe blamed society and complained that his punishment in prison was far worse than he had imagined.

Joe would have preferred for Bronte to kill him in the woods rather than be sent to prison, and this makes The Executioner’s Song a fitting book for his character.

Joe would have preferred for Bronte to kill him in the woods rather than be sent to prison, and this makes The Executioner’s Song a fitting book for his character. The argument here is that death is an escape. Gilmore fought for his own execution, since it gave him control over (or an escape from) his punishment. Sitting in prison, unable to be held and loved by a woman, was the worst possible punishment for Joe, and that’s precisely why it is perfect. Execution would only have gotten in the way of justice.

The Executioner’s Song Was Criticized For Portraying Gary Gilmore As A Victim

Joe Continues To Treat Himself Like He Is The Victim

Kate to the left, Joe in the middle, and Marienne to the right all from You season 4 — Custom Image by Yeider Chacon

There has long been controversy surrounding Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song, and this is another factor that makes it the perfect book for an imprisoned Joe. While the novel has been widely celebrated, there are criticisms that Mailer overglorified Gilmore in his writing. Professor Alice R. Kaminsky wrote a book in response, The Victim’s Song, about the murder of her son, and called out Mailer for making Gilmore look like a victim, in the end. According to Kaminsky and other critics, The Executioner’s Song makes murderers seem misunderstood rather than despicable.

Given these criticisms of The Executioner’s Song, it’s interesting that Joe blames society for turning him into a murderer just after he finishes reading the book. Ultimately, this adds to You‘s overarching debate about nature vs. nurture. Joe concludes that it wasn’t his fault that he was a killer, since that was what his upbringing had made him into. However, this is just another way for Joe to avoid taking responsibility for his choices.

How The Executioner’s Song Reflects The Ending Of Joe’s Story In You

You’s Ending Is Clear – Joe Will Never Take Responsibility

Joe Goldberg may finally acknowledge that he is a murderer like Gary Gilmore, but You has shown us that he will never, ever believe that it’s his own fault.

Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song being featured in You‘s final moments gives us a look at what Joe’s story will look like going forward. Of course, we can see here that Joe’s love for books hasn’t been diminished. Ironically, he will have more time than ever to immerse himself in literature. Joe may even write down his own story one day. If he does, it’s guaranteed that he will never depict himself as fully responsible for his crimes. Joe Goldberg may finally acknowledge that he is a murderer like Gary Gilmore, but You has shown us that he will never, ever believe that it’s his own fault.