How You Season 2 Will Be Different As A Netflix Series (Instead Of Made For Lifetime)

You Penn Badgley Netflix

Penn Badgley's twisted romance thriller You is coming back for Season 2, but as fans may have heard, it's coming to Netflix and not Lifetime. Like most shows that jump from cable to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, there are some looser restrictions and more freedom that can come with the change. So an obvious question fans might have concerns whether You will amp things up with its newfound freedom.

It's hard to imagine just what boundaries You could cross on Netflix that weren't crossed on Lifetime in Season 1. There was embarrassing sex, masturbation, a good deal of violence, and a fair amount of swearing. Penn Badgley couldn't say much about how much more of that can be expected now that the series is on Netflix for upcoming season, but the star gave a vague description of the differences audiences may see between Season 1 and 2.

There are certain liberties we’re now able to take, but it’s very much the same show.

That's kind of a vague answer from Penn Badgley, and could mean anything from Joe getting a nude scene to a character dropping a string of F-bombs when the situation calls for it. One would imagine it will be said at least a few times in Season 2, especially after the Season 1 finale took a pretty radical turn that surely played a part in the show becoming a hit on Netflix.

While certainly under the iron grip of producers and Netflix where spoilers are concerned, Penn Badgley shared that bit with Entertainment Tonight. Co-creator Sera Gamble, meanwhile, talked about more of the non-plot related details to The Daily Beast.

In terms of Season 2's flow, it appears the intention is to make this season a bingeable as the last. In Gamble's words:

One thing we always had in mind in the writer’s room was we wanted the show to function as something you could binge. Greg [Berlanti] and I talked about how reading the books by Caroline really feels like binging a great TV show. We always thought it would follow the pattern of airing weekly in its first run, and then it would land on Netflix and people would hopefully scoop it up and binge it quickly. So we had Netflix in mind while we were designing it.

Though Sera Gamble and crew likely had no idea You would become a Netflix phenomena, she admitted the show was constructed with the streaming service's binge-release model in mind. This may be why You was more or less an instant success in its first month on the platform, despite floundering to find an audience at Lifetime. Note that the ratings were decent for the network itself, if not the entirety of television.

Much like Penn Badgley, Sera Gamble was relatively quiet about big Season 2 details. She did confirm, however, that Season 2 will go in some different directions than Season 1.

Season 2 is going to check a lot of the boxes for people who enjoyed Season 1, but we also didn’t seek to replicate Season 1. We take it to new, different and crazy places. There’s a lot more in this world to explore, and we’re going to keep it going for a while.

For those really desperate to know some of those crazy details, Penn Badlgey was a bit more forthcoming in an interview not that long ago and briefly outlined some things audiences should look out for. For example, You Season 2 will apparently show some details of Beck's fate, which audiences didn't get to see on-screen in Season 1. Badgley also said he did some things with prosthetic bodies that made him nauseous, so get ready for that!

Why Are So Many You Fans In Love With Penn Badgley's Joe?

You Season 2 doesn't have a release date just yet, so be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for more updates on it and other things happening in movies and television.

Mick Joest
Content Producer

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.