‘You’ Cast Weigh In on Whether Joe Got the Ending He Deserved, React to Him Getting Shot in the Penis (Exclusive)

After five seasons of Joe tormenting his love interests, You‘s version of karmic retribution was shooting the fictional serial killer in a very sensitive body part.

The final season of the hit Netflix series, which premiered on Thursday, April 24, ended with Joe (Penn Badgley) running into the woods after the latest object of his affection, Bronte (Madeline Brewer). The two faced off and before Joe finally gets arrested — Bronte shot him in the penis.

A voiceover revealed that the internet made memes comparing Joe to a Ken Doll. Joe, meanwhile, got locked up for his crimes but the support for him didn’t stop. During exclusive interviews with Us Weekly at the You red carpet premiere on Wednesday, April 23, multiple cast members recalled their reactions to Joe’s demise — and that shooting.

Charlotte Ritchie, who played Kate, supported Joe behind bars instead of being killed, saying, “I don’t believe in the death penalty and I don’t believe he should just die. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a missing part when he doesn’t reflect because — and it’s a shame that he never gets an inward moment of reflection — but that seems appropriate for him. It doesn’t feel like he’s capable of that.”

The actress, 35, pointed out that Joe still didn’t take any responsibility for his actions.

“Where we leave him, he’s just not even vaguely capable of looking at the blame anywhere else except for somewhere else,” she noted before weighing in on Joe’s brutal injury. “I was like, ‘That’s full on. I guess symbolically it’s very important. But there is something about his brain that is the scariest part of him in the way we see him. He’s really violent in this series where he shows brutality and physical violence that’s very specific in this show. But broadly his threat is his mind and his ability to talk to people.”

Ritchie continued: “In a way it’s symbolic but it’s like he still retains the part of himself that is manipulative and controls people. He sorts out his heart and his head. Whatever happens to his penis is neither here nor there.”

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Lail was glad Joe got what was coming to him.

“Obviously I want to believe in the justice system — particularly in this day and age. I believe in justice and due process so I like to think that that is the best outcome,” Lail, 33, who played Joe’s first victim, Beck, told Us. “He’s been redeemed but it doesn’t mean at times I [don’t think that they should just] kill him [on the show].”

There was a similar sentiment from season 5 newcomer Tom Francis who called Joe’s shooting “very fitting” for the character. As for Natasha Behnam a.k.a Dominique, she told Us, “Him going to jail was something in the middle that satisfies everyone. If he died, the streets would be on fire. We couldn’t do that. At least he’s in jail somewhere where he cannot kill anyone else. That’s how I look at it.”

Amy-Leigh Hickman weighed in as well after reprising her role as Nadia from season 4, telling Us, “It’s the end of him. He can’t be this awful masculine character that he’s been for five seasons.”

Hickman, 27, went on to compliment You for choosing some version of punishment. “Whatever the ending, there would’ve been a flip side,” she noted. “An entire audience wasn’t going to feel satisfied. But the good thing about this is that he does get to live with what he’s done and sit with it.”

Pete Ploszek was on the same page with his costars about how Joe’s prison sentence is “him living with what he’s done,” saying, “The idea of him staying alive but being captured — not to mention utterly infertile to put it one way — that’s the hardest road that he could have had.”

You is currently streaming on Netflix.