You star Penn Badgley broke a personal rule for Season 5 of the Netflix series

Netflix's You star Penn Badgley had a very personal rule for this show, but he broke this rule for the fifth and final season of the Netflix series. Penn Badgley, the Gossip Girl star, has been very outspoken about his decision not to romanticize Joe Goldberg's character in the show. He revealed in 2023 that he even asked the creators of the show to cut back on sex scenes in the show as an attempt to avoid romanticization of his character.

However, in the final season of the show, You Season 5, Badgley decided to forego this rule, and his character, Joe Goldberg, seems to be receiving a steamy sendoff from our screens.

Here's everything we know about why Badgley's personal rule was axed in the final season.

Penn Badgley broke a very personal rule for You Season 5: Here's why

You Season 5 premiered on Thursday, April 24, and fans of the show noticed that Badgley's character, Joe, was engaging in many steamy scenes in the final season, despite Badgley's outspoken decision to avoid sex scenes as an attempt not to romanticize Goldberg's character.

Badgley talked about his decision to break this rule in a conversation with People, explaining that he had to leave it behind, as it was a real conversation between him and the creators of the show:

"I had to throw that out the window. That was the question again. All right, what am I willing to do? And as I always said, I said, my desire is that least as possible, but if it's necessary, that's the show we all sign up to make. So, let's make sure it's vital, let's make sure it's important, it's deliberate. And we did."

Badgley explained that even though it was not his desire to have steamy scenes in You, it was important for the show so that viewers could see his controversial character, Joe, as the 'romantic icon' that he presented himself as. It was important for them to understand how his victims' judgment was clouded and how they fell for his nature, which appeared to be loving and kind.

Badgley and the creators of the show felt that the steamy scenes were vital to the nature of the show, so they included these scenes in the final season of You.

"Apart from the superficial reasons, what is it about a protagonist like this that works? And I think we deliver; it’s a true deconstruction of Joe, That’s actually where he does his worst work, is his manipulation and seduction. The box is kind of obvious, the box is actually where he’ll put anybody, but he only puts women in the bedroom, so that’s where his most dangerous work is. And it was important for him to be seen, finally, as a sexual predator."

All 10 episodes of Penn Badgley's You Season 5 are now available to stream on Netflix.

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