Penn Badgley Explains Why He Ditched 'No Sex Scenes' Rule in You Season 5

The final season of Netflix hit drama You was just released on April 24 and it marks the end of an era for Penn Badgley’s character Joe Goldberg. His controversial character’s arc is coming full circle with him being “defeated” at the end, but it’s not everything to look forward to in the series final season.

Penn Badgley was vocal about his decision not to bring sex scenes into the series, and he was absolutely surprised when the show’s creators let him go with zero sex scenes in season 4. But something has changed for Badgley after that and he literally threw the “no sex” concept away for the final season.

Badgley told People that while he does not want to romanticize his character, a serial killer named Joe Goldberg, he felt it was important to remind audiences why these victim women were swept away by his charm.

The actor said that if he wanted to bring back the steamy scenes, there had to be a strong understanding of their value. It was important that it was absolutely necessary and not just for the sake of nudity or an attempt to get ratings. So the creative team came up with the scenario where it was deliberate, and thus the sex was back.

According to Badgley, it was important he was seen for his worst: and the worst is the fact that he actually is a sexual predator. He only took his women to the bedroom, and that was exactly the place he was caught in the series finale.

What Do Fans and Critics Think of You?

• On Rotten Tomatoes, You has 89% from critics and 73% from viewers.
• On IMDb, You has 7.7/10.

“I liked the season overall and to be honest, I couldn’t see it ending in many other ways. I think people that root for Joe are… wrong. So the way it ended, the final line, seemed appropriate. I liked that the ending had such a focus on showing all these women he impacted moving on with their lives and what they did afterwards. I liked that the women he wronged played a role in the ending as well,” Redditor Pumpkinpiepoop said.

Where to Stream You?

All 5 seasons of You are available to stream on Netflix.