It’s All About The Fairy Tale

This article contains spoilers.

We rarely get the happily-ever-after ending and the hot sex scenes, but the Netflix series Sex/Life has satiated fans’ appetites with precisely that.

“It was very intentional,” explained series creator and executive producer Stacy Rukeyser in a phone interview. “It was important to me that everybody got a fairy-tale ending.”

The first season centered on the love triangle between Billie Connelly (Sarah Shahi), her then-husband Cooper Connelly (Mike Vogel), and her former love Brad Simon (Adam Demos). This new six-episode season is about what happens when you allow yourself to go after the what-if and start over. There’s a lot of breaking down and rebuilding without a guarantee of any of it working out.

Of course, in this case, all ends well. Fans finally get to see Brad and Billie get married. To top that off, she tells him she’s pregnant. Rukeyser said she wanted to give them everything they’d always wanted together.

In the past, Billie was pregnant with Brad’s baby and had a miscarriage. “They didn’t get to have that, and it was a part of the destruction of their relationship. Brad has worked on himself, made peace with his father, and loves being a father, so I thought if we’re talking about a fairy-tale ending, I’d love to give them everything they wanted. In Billie’s voiceover at the beginning of the season, she says something about fairy tales coming true, but sometimes you must go through hell first to get there. It’s not a straight line. There’s damage and sacrifice along the way.”

Rukeyser certainly gave each of these characters what they wanted. In addition to Billie and Brad finally ending up together, a heartbroken Cooper reunites with his past love and finds happiness again. Even Sasha Snow (Margaret Odette) ends up in relationship bliss.

Since its March 2 premiere, season two had fans binge-watching en masse, with nearly 44 million hours viewed. We watched because we wanted to see everyone end up with the right person. We also wanted to see their desires fulfilled because we want the same for ourselves.

Sex/Life is as much about female empowerment as it is about knowing what you want. Based on BB Easton’s 2016 memoir “44 Chapters About 4 Men,” the story also delves into the complications of marriage and monogamy and the many what-ifs that come with it. Or, as Easton said in an interview for season one, “I guess you could say the message here is a mix of love-the-one-you’re-with, and the grass isn’t always greener.”

Another underlying theme of the show, said Rukeyser, is whether one can have it all. “And can you get it all from one person? Can you be all parts of yourself in one relationship? Is it possible to be a mother and a wife and a ravenous sex goddess at the same time? I think so. It’s an individual thing for each person, but you should have everything you want. It’s not easy as any wife and mom would say.”

Another message this season is that you can have more than one true love. Cooper tells Billie she’s the love of his life, but she cannot say it back. He finds love again. Rukeyser had a hopeful intention for the fans with this storyline. “First, it was essential to show that Cooper isn’t settling for Emily because he can’t have Billie. You can have more than one true love. I wanted to inspire people. If you’ve messed up and are questioning if you deserve another chance at happiness, yes, you do, and you will.”

Will there be a third season? Rukeyser couldn’t say for sure at the time of our interview, but she did say she had plenty of ideas. It would be interesting to see what happens now that Billie has gotten everything she wants.