Penn Badgley is unpacking the layered final words of Joe Goldberg.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the You star said Joe’s last message to viewers — turning the script around on society — is both a cop out and a frustrating truth.

In the series finale, Joe, now a convicted serial killer, delivers a chilling monologue: “Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe it’s you,” he says, breaking the fourth wall from his prison cell.

Badgley agrees there’s some truth to Joe’s claim.

“At the end of the day, he’s not real and we are,” he said. “So it is about us. It couldn’t be about him.”

Still, Badgley acknowledged that Joe’s words also let him dodge responsibility. “There is a version where that’s such an emotional and psychological and moral cop out from him because he’s still skirting responsibility,” he explained.

Throughout You, Joe’s character was designed to be dangerously charming — and Badgley doesn’t fault audiences for falling for him. 

“People are meant to fall in love with him and see him as a romantic figure. That is actually the point,” he said.

Now, after playing Joe for nearly a decade, Badgley is starting to reflect on the personal impact. “It’s possible that these reflections have led me towards being a better man and husband and father,” he shared. “I don’t know, but it’s possible.”

You‘s final season is now streaming on Netflix.