Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for You season 5.Youseason 5 features a number of familiar faces for the series' last hurrah, but it fails to bring back one forgotten person from Joe Goldberg’s past — and that’s a shame, since it has the opportunity to. Joe comes into contact with many people over the course ofYou’s five seasons, and not all of them wind up dead after encountering Penn Badgley’s serial killer. When Joe is exposed for killing Clayton duringYouseason 5, other allegations crop up, and people from his past resurface.
This allows for severalexciting cameos inYou’s final season, from an older Paco to Sherry and Cary Conrad. Dottie Quinn even makes an appearance,solving a Love Quinn mystery four yearsafter her season 3 death. But whileYoudoes a good job of bringing Joe’s story full circle by dredging up his past, it fails to tie up loose ends surrounding one character whose life he upends. Asso many people speak out about their experiences with Joe Goldberg, it’s disappointing this character never shows up.
You Season 5 Fails To Bring Back Jenna Ortega’s Ellie Despite Never Giving Her Closure
Season 3’s Follow-Up Doesn’t Sufficiently Wrap Up Her Story
Jenna Ortega’s Ellie is a prominent character inYouseason 2, and she’s one many viewers have been hoping to see again since her last encounter with Joe Goldberg. Theend ofYouseason 2sees Joe sending the 15-year-old away after Love Quinn murders her sister, Delilah. Knowing Love intends to pin the crime on Ellie, Joe gives her money and advises her to go to Florida and lie low.Youseason 2 confirms she does, and season 3 mentions that Joe is still in contact with Ellie. However, the series never brings her back or gives her proper closure.
This is particularly disappointing given how Ortega’s career has blown up in recent years, a reality that makes a cameo by her even more appealing. Many were hoping that theWednesdaystar would return toYouduring the show’s final season, even if it was in a smaller role. But despite the show having the chance to deliver a minor cameo, it never brings Ellie back into the fold. That leaves her character as a pretty big loose end in Joe Goldberg’s story (not that it matters much after his sentence inYouseason 5’s ending).
Ellie Could Have Shared Her Own Experience With Joe Goldberg On Social Media
While Ellie is largely out of the narrative in the later seasons ofYou,season 5 has the perfect opportunity to feature Ortega’s character:when people from Joe’s past are speaking out about him on social media. In response to the scandal of Joe killing Clayton — allegedly in self-defense — characters from his past take to the internet to talk about him.
Many of them confirm that something’s off about Joe, while others actually share favorable experiences. A short Ellie cameo would work here, and it would reveal how she feels about Joe after everything that happened. This would answer a major question about Ellie’s character afterYouseason 2, and it would also make sense within the context of her story.
Someone Ellie’s age, who clearly has an interest in social media, is the perfect person to bring back forYouseason 5’s cameo compilation.
She and Joe bond over his social media presence in the second outing, meaning Ellie is clearly savvy when it comes to various platforms. While she might be less active on social media after running away, it’s somewhat surprising she doesn’t see the conversation about Joe or join in. Someone Ellie’s age, who clearly has an interest in social media, is the perfect person to bring back forYouseason 5’s cameo compilation.
Why Jenna Ortega Didn’t Return For Season 5
Her Wednesday Role Complicated Things
While it’s disappointing that Ortega doesn’t return as Ellie in You season 5,there’s an understandable reason for her absence: she’s busy working onWednesdayseason 2. When asked about why Ortega isn’t in the final season, showrunners Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo toldBusiness Insiderthat they intended to bring her back. However, her schedule with other projects — most notably,Wednesday— put a dent in that plan. The pair also offered an idea of what Ellie would have done had she appeared:
“That was a thought [that Ortega’s Ellie would serve as a benefactor to Dominique and Phoenix] that I’m sure when we were putting things together, we felt like maybe we could make this work, and we just simply couldn’t.”
They also noted that Ellie could have good things to say about Joe Goldberg, as hedidhelp her after season 2. Unfortunately, we’ll never get Ellie’s thoughts aboutYou’s main characters firsthand. Her absence inYouseason 5 makes sure of that, though it’s nice to know that the writers didn’t truly forget about her; they just couldn’t feasibly work her into the last batch of episodes.
