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| The Mighty |
If you’re of a certain age, you can’t escape the Netflix phenomenon that is 13 Reasons Why. This tale of a teenage girl’s suicide, and the people she implicates as culprits in tapes she left behind, has captivated the world and led to a lot of discussion and debate. I personally enjoyed the show quite a bit, but my issues with it are too complicated to try and write out in a regular review, so I’m going to try something a bit different. Here’s my two cents (more like thirteen, amirite?) on 13 Reasons Why, for those still conflicted on jumping in.
- This is hands down one of Netflix’s best shows, technically speaking.
When I first heard that this book was getting adapted, and that it was a production led by Selena Gomez of all people, I was skeptical. Then I started seeing names like Tom McCarthy (2015’s Best Picture, Spotlight) and Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin) attached as directors, and my interest became piqued. Turns out that I was right to be interested, because this show looks beautiful. The contrast between flashbacks and the present day are clear, using a different filter to add color to the past. The directors aren’t afraid to make statements using visuals alone, either, lending it a true cinematic quality not found in most TV shows. The showrunner got some powerhouse people to work on this, and it shows.
- There is loving this show or hating this show, there is no ‘meh.’
This is not a Stranger Things, or an Orange is the New Black, shows that most people love and enjoy. 13 Reasons Why is perhaps one of the more divisive shows I’ve seen in recent memory, with various points in the show making me think of friends of mine and how they’d hate an element of the show. Whether it’s the “milennialisms” that permeate the first half of the season or the graphic language or depictions of violence or even the character of Hannah Baker and her plan with the tapes, there is bound to be something that a couple of key audiences will not like. I personally had only a few key issues with the show, but I would advise anyone to watch up to episode four. If you’re not digging it by then, bail as fast as possible.
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| The Odyssey
And for those who want to continue...
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- This cast is phenomenal.
With a cast this large, there’s almost always at least one weak link, but not on this show. I only recognized Dylan Minnette, who plays Clay Jensen (the main character), out of the kids, but I thought they all did a great job. The real standout for me was Katherine Langford, who plays Hannah Baker. For a relative newcomer, she really nails the complexities and challenges of this character, bringing her to life and making you connect to her almost instantaneously. This goes a long way towards selling you on the plot, as you wonder how a girl this full of life and likable could wind up taking her own life. The adults are all good too, with Kate Walsh (playing Hannah’s mother) really shining. The cast is so good that they often help distract from the issues that pop up, such as…
- The writing, on the other hand, stumbles sometimes.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of this story is very engaging and emotional, but there are points where things just get a little too… teen drama-y. The first few episodes are a bit clunky in setting up the story and characters, and I feel like they try too hard to connect to teens. However, for every way too preachy after school special moment or awkward teen slang exchange, the kids have three great moments that draw you in. The adults, on the other hand, are not so lucky, coming off as either useless or incompetent on an almost comedic level. The only adult who affects the plot in any way is Hannah’s mom, and even she gets awkwardly sidelined with some bad writing until the last few episodes. In a series that revolves around character and a tight plot structure, the weak writing in many crucial moments is a real detriment.
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| Netflix
"Honey, I'm really worried about you and your pointless subplot."
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- The show is structured like a great thriller mixed with a character study.
One of the best things about this show is the way it’s structured, with each episode setting up a nice little mini-story focusing on the subject of the tape while also pushing the greater narrative forward. As you learn more about Hannah and her victimizers, the world opens up to reveal more secrets and dangers for Clay. The kids who have received the tapes before Clay begin to plot against him and attempt to undermine him, while Clay himself slowly begins to lose his mind as his tape gets nearer and nearer. Add to that the growing conflict between Hannah’s parents and the high school she attended and the mysterious warnings from Clay’s friend Tony (Christian Navarro), and you have the makings of a Hollywood thriller, just set in a high school. It doesn’t skimp on the development of these characters either, for the most part, taking the time to really show you who they are and the struggles they face. It’s odd for any form of media, let alone a teen-oriented TV show, to show this kind of maturity in storytelling, and it’s better for it.
- It suffers from the “Netflix curse.”
I’ve never read the book, but from what I understand the entire story takes place over the course of one night, as Clay listens to each tape one by one. That’s not exactly a great way to run a TV show, but I think they take it a little too far here. Clay’s excuses for only listening to one tape at a time grow rather flimsy as the series progresses, and the extra time that is used to expand on the supporting cast is also used to drag things out at points. The character who suffers from this the most is Tony, who despite being very likable, appears for no reason except to repeat the exact same mysterious warning and wastes precious time during the middle stretch of episodes. The fact that Clay calls him out on this only solidifies the problem, because if the writers knew enough to make a cute reference to it, it shouldn’t have been allowed to carry that far. The issue I brought up earlier with the parents also applies here, as you just wonder why we're spending so much time on them. Like most Netflix shows, it has a few too many episodes, though given the title I can see why they had to have thirteen.
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| PopBuzz |
- It subverts expectations and tries daring new things for this genre.
The most common refrain from the kids in this show is "Hannah's lying," and while it seems like an excuse, it actually has a surprising amount of truth to it. You see, it takes awhile to realize that just because we are seeing the events of the story from a dead girl's eyes, it doesn't mean that we're getting the whole truth. The episode around Zach, for example, is entirely predicated on a false notion that she has of him, and it makes the viewer start to question everything they've seen so far. It’s awfully bold to suggest that a suicide victim is either wrong about her bullies or that she might even be responsible for some of the hardships she suffered (at least in the early proceedings), and I applaud the show for it. Other things like having Clay lose his mind as he listens to the tapes (which leads to some delightfully uncomfortable scenes), generating real sympathy for the jock characters and even sliding in another tragedy right underneath our noses are other examples of this, and they are the things I enjoyed the most about this.
- Those new things are eventually dropped, however.
As much as I praise this show for taking those bold new directions, it starts to settle in to a fairly standard thriller story in the back few episodes. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as what it lacks in innovation it adds in sheer shock and emotion, but it is a little disappointing to see it handled like just another teen crime drama. Clay's temporary insanity dissipates just as soon as it arrives, and many of the people who are the focus of the last few tapes get very little development. One character in particular, Bryce (Justin Prentice), is the living embodiment of the jock asshole trope and has no depth or real character to him at all. Given that he's the closest thing to an antagonist this show has, and that other traditionally "evil dick" types have been turned into real people by this point, it's disappointing to see that he's given the shaft. Given what he ends up doing to Hannah it just feels like you should hate him the way you hate a true villain, but he ends up just being a plot device. To get so much right and to be so bold only to lose it right there at the end is a real disappointment, but not enough to tank the show, thankfully.
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| SpoilerTV
Speaking of tropes, Clay's tape... Ugh.
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- The issues of bullying, sexual assault and rape are handled in a raw, powerful way.
Let's be real, folks, this school is the land of assholes. Everyone, including nice guy Clay and victim Hannah, fall into this category at one time or another (some stay that way the entire season), and it really works for what the show is trying to say. Bullying was a big contributor to Hannah's suicide, and it shows how while she wasn't physically bullied, the mental and emotional damage she took from the insidious rumors about her being a slut really affected her. This is a type of bullying we don't see very often on TV, and it's one that unfortunately permeates real high schools far more regularly than you think. Sexual assault and rape come in the later episodes, which I don't want to spoil, but let me just say that those scenes are as uncomfortable, horrific and heartbreaking as you expect. The acts themselves are graphic (though not, like, Game of Thrones graphic), but it's the fallout of them that really hits home and really tugs at your heartstrings.
- But they completely drop the ball on suicide.
There was a point around episode six where I closed my eyes a bit from being tired, and something hit me as I was listening to Hannah's narration: she is awfully calm. Look, I've had some experience with mental health problems in my time, and watching this show I never once believed that Hannah Baker was suicidal. The reason why is the biggest problem I have with this show, and it's that everything about what Hannah did with these tapes feels so cold and calculated, not like the last gasp of a desperate girl who just gave up. It feels like revenge, and that is such a dangerous message to send to people that are in situations similar to hers. Maybe it's the fact that some of the tapes seem so unimportant and petty compared to the truly horrific things she experiences, or the fact that we don't really see Hannah change much until near the end, cutting off all sense that she’s truly suffering. There’s also a massive gap in time between the events of tape 8 and tape 9, which begs the question of whether life was great for her then or bad, or whether or not she got help for the bullying. So many questions that need to be answered in order to, in my opinion, paint a full picture of someone who is truly finished with life and wants it to be over and this show doesn't do it. She just seems so calm and collected about an awful series of events that it’s almost like she was never supposed to kill herself…
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| USA Today
There's also this issue, too.
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- Each side character has a more convincing downward spiral than Hannah’s.
The benefit of having the show stretched out over days rather than just one night is that you get to see these characters collapse almost in real time. Clay is losing his mind, Hannah’s former best friends begin to fall apart completely, and even formerly the jocks are forced to face what they did in a truly heartbreaking way. Each of these stories is compelling, refreshing and honest, and they all hit a lot harder for me than Hannah's suicide did. It's something about seeing all of their stories here as opposed to just bits and pieces, and the fact that what we're seeing with them is the truth instead of just how Hannah saw it really hit me. Many people won't like the fact that Hannah targeted these kids, especially those who didn't really do much all things considered, and when you see them suffer like they do it’s very hard to watch. Hannah’s story is no walk in the park, but the weaknesses I addressed in #10 make it more difficult to attach to her as much as you do to the other kids. I also want to be clear that this isn't the fault of the actress, as she's great throughout, I just feel like they dropped the ball with her plot and upped their game for the others.
- It’s absolutely essential if you want to start a conversation about these issues.
The show doesn't handle everything it wants to tackle well, sure, but it's still important for people to see because it will cause them to really seek answers to these problems. God knows we've been talking about bullying and sexual assault in schools for what seems like decades, but this might finally be the catalyst that really gets things going. The things that Hannah sees and experiences are very real, and a show like this can finally force people, especially young people like her, to confront them in their own lives. I can't see how someone can just ignore the signs after watching this and seeing the consequences, and that's a good thing. Add to that the call it makes for people who notice suffering to reach out and connect with victims of bullying or abuse and you have a very powerful PSA, even if it's not perfect. Yes, it's not the Schindler's List or 12 Years a Slave of bullying and suicide, but it's a pretty damn good place to start.
- For God’s sake, don’t do a season 2.
I know how Netflix is. You have a big hit, rakes in cash for you and you want more, but for the love of all that is good do not do a second season of this show. The show's strength is the tapes themselves and the story structure around them, the examination of both Hannah and her abusers, and without that I just can't see the show doing anything more than devolve into generic teen angst/courtroom drama SVU stuff. They definitely set up a second season by building on something both Hannah and the subjects of the tapes have done to a character and confirming that a reckoning will come from it, but I don't want to see that. Wouldn't it be more powerful to be forced to imagine what comes next, and let the cycle of abuse and violence you've seen on the screen play underneath the main story take hold yet again? I think that'd be a lot more impactful and bold for a show that already took a lot of chances, but money will probably win out in the end. Let's just hope that whoever was responsible for the additional material involving the other teen characters ends up writing the season.
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| The New York Times
And let's be honest, do we really want this show without these two together?
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Look, I know I got harsh on this show at points, but that's because I truly enjoyed it and thought it was very powerful and intelligent for the most part. You don't see shows with high concepts like this play out well any more, and for Netflix to have taken such a chance with this risky material shows that this is a studio with a lot of balls (and a lot of money to throw around). If anything, I hope this really starts to inspire kids to make a change, because they will be the ones most impacted by it. And if that happens, all the pacing issues, useless parents, and "unhelpful Yoda" Tony moments will have all been worth it.
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