Penn Badgley Reveals What Was Cut From Shocking ‘You’ Episode
Fans are thrilled with the return of fan-favorite Netflix psychological thriller, You, for its fourth season. The series kicks off with Joe in London under a new identity — Professor Jonathan Moore. This time around, he tries to keep a low profile but as expected, that doesn’t last too long. Joe ends up intertwined in a murder mystery, but surprisingly, he’s not the killer. The show doesn’t shy away from violence, but there was one scene that had to be changed because, even for “You,” it went too far.
The tables turn on Joe Goldberg in ‘You’ Season 4
The fourth season of You was released in two parts, five episodes each. Part 1 was released on February 9 and Part 2 came a few weeks later on March 9. Through previous seasons, Joe has been the orchestrator of several murders and cover-ups. But the tables have turned on Joe.
Joe moves to London after being rejected by Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) in Paris, and joins a clique of English aristocrats. After a night of heavy drinking with his elite friends, Joe wakes up to one of his friends’ (Malcolm) dead body on a table in his apartment. Not sure if he was the killer and in an attempt to unravel the mystery, Joe starts receiving strange messages. Thereafter, his friends start getting killed one by one, and it would seem he’s being framed for the murders.
Joe Goldberg finally learns the killer’s identity in a climactic scene
In the fifth episode of Season 4, Joe finally figures out Rhys is the real mystery murderer as he kidnaps Roald and Joe, holding them hostage under Phoebe’s family home.
Shortly before, at the mansion, a confrontation ensued between Joe and his elite friends. Roald accused him of being behind the mysterious deaths of their friends. Joe ends up with a gun pointed at his face and in true You fashion, finds a way to escape. But first, he punches Adam in the face, which Badgley describes as very awkward for him because he’s left-handed.
Watching a clip in a YouTube reaction video, Badgley said, “That was really awkward for me, I’m left-handed. I’m not proud of that one. Really hard to run on those shoes, just a note. They were real slippery on the bottom. Very hard to run and stop on a rug.”
This gory moment was cut from ‘You’ Season 4, Episode 5
After getting a head start to flee the mansion, Roald follows Joe out into the woods with the intention of killing him. At this point, the entire group believes Joe is the real killer and leaves Roald to “execute justice” on behalf of their fallen friends.
Taking full advantage of his head start, the relentless Joe gains an upper hand against his executioner, tackling him and smashing his head on the ground twice. As it turns out, the scene originally had three head smashes. However, the third head smash was cut for being too horrific.
Watching a rerun of the episode, Badgley revealed, “There was a third head smash they cut out, just so you know.”
It’s no surprise that Netflix chose to remove the scene to protect the show from negative criticism. In the past, horrific scenes from TV shows and films have even been banned from ever airing again.
