13 Reasons Why

Book, 2007; TV Series, 2017, 13 episodes

NOTE: This entry focuses only on the original 13 Reasons Why story, including the first season of the Netflix show and the novel. Netflix released a second season on 5/18/2018. I watched it and was unsatisfied. After watching season two, I have made the decision that season one is my canon, and everything beyond is entirely extrapolated. Therefore even if a third season is made, I consider the series already completed in my eyes, and decided to speak to the beauty that is Hannah's story.

NOTE 2.0: Okay.... I ate my own words... I did end up watching S3 and liking it. The core of the review speaks to S1 but there's a bit at the end where I talk about future seasons.

NOTE 3.0: Okay... I watched S4 as well HAHA. It was the final season, and did wrap up its story. There's kind of a duplicity here, where I have 13 Reasons Why the original story including JUST S1, and then the extended story including later seasons.

Premise - Before she kills herself, Hannah Baker records 13 cassette tapes detailing the reasons for her suicide. Each reason is linked to a single person who committed an act she believes helped lead to her death. Each person on the tapes is instructed to listen Hannah describe their dark secret and pass it on to whomever is next, or else the tapes will be leaked to the entire school.

Review - I wonder how rare it is for someone to give their honest, uncensored opinion of 13 Reasons Why. I feel as if this story is somewhat taboo, where nobody really wants to talk in detail about why they like or dislike it. Actually, I take that back. For those that like the show, they have to be so overwhelmingly cautious when praising it so as not to offend anybody. What’s crazy to me is that those who love the show (myself included) would never dream of forcing anybody to watch this show if they do not believe they are in the right headspace. But those who dislike the show? So many of them will scream about how it never should have been created and how it brings shame on everybody who was involved in the creative process, or shame upon anybody who enjoys it. They scream about its inaccuracy, or its toxicity, or its romanticization of suicide. At least, that’s the culture that I have been exposed to on the internet. That said, the show was clearly popular enough to warrant a second season. I have several friends and family members who have loved this show. I don’t know if there are more lovers or haters out there, but loudest voices are the angry ones. And I can’t be angry at them either. A lot of hate for the book and show comes from personal pain that viewers have experienced. Disliking the show is justified. Not watching the show is justified. Shaming those who do benefit from the show, particularly those with their own bullying or mental health struggles? Not justified. People are entitled to their own opinions and I want to say, unashamedly, that I believe this to be one of the best television shows of all time. This is my unrestricted praise for the show that I’m hesitant to speak aloud.

This is based on my morals, my values, my attraction to the entertainment industry, and my personal interests. I will always love this story. I do not, however, expect the same viewpoints from others and would not pressure anyone into watching this show. For me? I hate fighting and war. Based on other people’s morals, they have no problem watching something like Saving Private Ryan, or Dunkirk. I can’t watch, but those types of stories deserve to be made. To each their own. Since the beginning of mankind, artists have faced criticism from those who expect art to abide by a certain morality. Yet also since the beginning of mankind, most artists have refused to listen. A lot of the best art gets banned at some point in its existence. Paintings, books, or films that dive deep into the immoral, disturbing, and shameful are so important because they allow humanity to explore all of these concepts without... well... acting on them or causing any more direct harm. Fictional stories create fictional consequences, and therefore my personal belief is that most anything is fair game in the world of art/fiction, so long as it does not effect real world behavior. As Oscar Wilde puts it, "There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all." Well, in my opinion, 13 Reasons Why is damn well written.

Another criticism of the show is that Hannah's story is not particularly realistic or representative of the causes of suicide. It may not be applicable to all suicidal individuals, but it is applicable to one - Hannah Baker. Each person's story is different. There cannot be an expectation for a fictional character to be an amalgamation of everyone's story, because then they would be nobody at all. To give Hannah life, she has to be her own person with her own story, even if it does not mirror others. I also resent the fact that any one person could live through an experience and use that to speak for all others. To say "This is what it's really like to be _____" is inaccurate. Hannah's story is not meant to speak for all suicidal individuals. Absolutely not.

While I do think 13 Reasons Why as specifically Hannah's story, there is a universality to it. There are some lessons to be learned for everyone. I commend is this idea of every consequence being the result of an interaction. To say that Hannah committed suicide because of bullying is to put the blame on other individuals, instead of acknowledging the very sad truth that she alone made the decision to die. However, to say Hannah committed suicide because of mental illness is to put the blame entirely on her, and that is not accurate either. When watching the show, I see a series of unfortunate interpersonal transactions. There is a dialectic between Hannah and each of her reasons why. This show does tend to put more of the focus on the external causes of suicide rather than the internal (mental health was glossed over), but both sides of that dialectic are worth exploring. By focusing on external causes, I think this show has a greater reach to everyday individuals. What this show preaches most of all is to be kind. Treat others with respect and dignity. Don't hurt people. Don't hold grudges. Perhaps Hannah causes the most hurt out of everyone, which is why I do not think the show glorifies suicide at all.

When it comes down to it, I love 13 Reasons Why because it is an incredibly well written and well executed fictional story. It has such an amazing and unique structure. The book and television show are both divided into 13 cassette tapes. Both also jump back and forth between Clay's perspective (in present time) and Hannah's perspective (in past time, through the tapes). In the book, this is done by switching back and forth between regular type font and italics. For the series, the coloring is slightly different. The past is more saturated, whereas the present is more diluted. Moreover, you can always tell what time period you're in based on Clay's forehead. In present time, Clay has a bandage on his head from when he fell off his bike. It's these little structural things that, from a screenwriting perspective, is just pure brilliance. I have even more respect for the story after reading Jay Asher's question and answer session in the back of the book. He came up with the structure before the story. He was at a museum, listening to their audiotapes, thinking how great it would be to have a book with a series of tapes, where the narrative goes back and forth between the tapes and the narrator. He had the cool idea long before he came up with the accompanying story. That to me is the sign of a clever writer. I love playing with unique structures, and apparently so does Jay Asher (99/100).

Brief comments on the second season: I still watched every episode. I still watched people fanvideos and reaction videos. I don't despise it, I just don't think it was nearly as good, nor necessary. I was more or less satisfied with what they did with the characters moving forward in time, but every flashback they did that altered the past really bugged me because season one was perfect as is. Also they had potential to create structure by centering each character around the their trial testimony, but it was really unorganized. And the clubhouse storyline was over the top. If they make a third season? Sure, I'll watch it because I'm addicted to the characters. Mostly Justin.

EDIT 8/31/19 Comments on the third season: Perhaps it was because my expectations were so low after season two, but I thoroughly enjoyed this season. It wasn't close to the masterpiece that is season one, but it very much redeemed the show in my eyes from season two. I could once again see them concluding the mystery and ending the show right here like they could have after season one, but instead, there has already been a fourth and final season confirmed. If season four doesn't have its own stand-alone mystery like seasons 1 and 3, what a waste.

So, in sum, that's what makes season 3 more successful than season 2 to me - it has its own mystery, this time a murder. Season two went back and unnecessarily filled in the gaps of the Hannah mystery that had already been resolved. In season 3, of course Hannah is alluded to, but the show has finally moved on to a new mysterious death.

I say season 3 moves the story forward, but it also brings the show back to its structural roots. By creating a new mystery, they can play with chronology and bounce back and forth between the desaturated present day and colorful past. Season 1 did the same, but Season 3 took it one step further and also had a narrow widescreen during the present and fullscreen during the past, which gave opportunity for highly creative transitions. (Did season 2 even play with color saturation?? I can't remember).

Season 1 was about all the different reasons why Hannah wanted to kill herself. Season 3 was about all the different reasons why people wanted to kill Bryce. It's an interesting parallel that also brings up incredible controversy about the value of human life and whether anyone is deserving of pain or death. I think the show did a decent job of balancing the humanization of characters like Bryce and Monty against the idea of excusing their behavior. Their behavior is never excused, just understood. The same can be said for Hannah's suicide. Personally I don't believe taking punitive measures against people, let alone killing people in response to pain that they caused. That just means the cycle of pain has continued. By sending Monty to jail for Tyler's sexual assault, for example, it subjects Monty to the same sexual assault in prison, which is the same sexual assault he likely received from his father prior to assaulting Tyler. And - spoiler alert - Monty ends up dying in jail too. (This could bring me on a whole other rant on prison culture. Of course we want to believe assault survivors and give them closure, but I don't think anyone truly deserves prison the way that it stands. We need to put our effort into rehabilitation so the cycle of violence stops).

People may be upset that the show appeared to sympathize with the rapists, but human beings are never that simple. What the show successfully did was display how monsters are not born NOR made - characters like Bryce and Monty were human beings who committed monstrous acts. Also, I think by humanizing these characters the show's message becomes more uplifting. It means that rapists and rape culture have the potential to change.

Once again, the show bravely pushes boundaries without fear of retribution. The contents of the show are incredibly upsetting and politically messy, but from season one episode one the show had a very clear message - Be kind and forgiving to your fellow human beings.

Brief comments on Season 4: Now that the show has been completed, it is clear to me that seasons 1 and 3 were the essential ones, and seasons 2 and 4 the extraneous ones. Seasons 1 and 3 each hold their own mystery, while seasons 2 and 4 were about the fallout of each respective mystery. I still think season 4 was much stronger than season 2, for not retconning the past, but it is limited in its contribution.

For the very first time, season 4 centers around a singular character, Clay, as opposed to telling different characters' stories in each episode. Season 1 had different characters' tapes, season 2 had the different characters' trials, and season 3 had Ani discussing each character's separate motive and/or alibis. Season 4 was all about Clay Jensen's psychological fallout, with Clay as both narrator and subject of each episode. While not structurally satisfying like past seasons, and executed more like a standard drama, it fits. 13 Reasons Why is not Clay's story, per say, but it's several people's stories in which Clay Jensen is always at the very center. And he's been dealing with the burden of other people's secrets for far too long. I'm not going to complain about whether the depictions of mental health are "accurate" or not because, as I have said with Hannah's story, no one characterization can be representative of everyone's experiences with mental health. In the realm of fiction, Clay is a very compelling character.

Especially towards the beginning of the season, I would categorize the episodes more as thriller/horror than the typical mystery/drama, which was incredibly unsettling. A thoroughly unrealistic and yet narratively compelling depiction of Clay's dissociation was very VERY scary, and I was triggered a lot more by these images than by past, more realistic seasons. I would say though, that the only "mystery" to this season is who is messing with everyone, and it's very obvious from episode one that it is Clay, so I would not say this season had its own mystery.

Tragically, I had the ending spoiled for me before the season had even began. I knew (spoiler) which character was going to die, which may have been one of the biggest spoilers of the entire series. It may have been a blessing, though, as it helped soften the blow and prepare myself. I knew a death was coming, but not how, so I expected a very dramatic all-out shooting or murder. What actually happened was a slow, drawn out death in a hospital, that was already more painful than just about anything this show has depicted.

13 Reasons Why is known for dealing with, perhaps controversially, "real-life issues." In some ways responsive to current events, and in other ways prophetic for what the future may hold if life carries on this way, it hits on a number of sensitive topics. The show has been most notable for its exploration of sexual assault and the Me Too movement. This season, however, I believe leaned more towards being prophetic in its characterization of schools as police states. SRO's, security measures, metal detectors - those aren't prophetic, those happen now. There was one episode, however, in which they do a lockdown drill for a school shooting in which students weren't informed it was a drill. It was so profoundly angering, I just kept thinking, "This is so sensationalized, it could never happen." But what if it could? It was already prophetic in the protests against police brutality. This season was obviously written and filmed before the civil rights protests of 2020 regarding George Floyd. This police militarization is happening, has happened, and will continue to happen. I appreciate the show for its bravery in tackling very complicated, controversial issues, knowing full well that it causes upset. It should.

A few final comments on these beloved characters before I sign off on this show for good, only to revisit in what I'm sure will be binged rewatches.

First, Alex Standall, the character with perhaps the most silent suffering. He spent a whole season suicidal, and another season as the murderer. Season 4 did a decent, though perhaps limited job of showing Alex's state of mind, in that he felt guilty, damaged, and undeserving of a future. But he is set up to have a future - the Bryce Walker case is put into permanent storage, he gets into Berkeley, he has a family who loves him, and the overall message of the show prevails that we should choose life. As a quote in season 4, "He didn't deserve to die. But we deserve to live."

And second, Justin Foley, my favorite character and probably the only reason I gave future seasons a shot. I wanted to see what happened to Justin. Unlike many of the characters, he ALWAYS wanted to live. As I hinted at above, spoiler, he is the character who does not receive a future. He gets into college against all odds, sobers up in rehab, and has a new family. And yet, he dies - not due to future mistakes, but past ones that cannot be repaired. We find out that Justin is HIV positive and that it has now progressed to AIDS, combined with his contraction of the flu/pneumonia, he dies of various lung and brain infections. I felt so stupid because the entire season I kept asking myself, "What are those brown patches on his skin?" and I should have guessed it coming. It's an incredibly realistic and not at all sensationalized, in contrast to other aspects of the show. And it hurts. If it was a sensationalized death, I would have reasons to be angry with the writers. Though this... I'm mad at the world that makes this a realistic phenomenon, not the writers.

Lastly - Clay Jensen. The entire show, beyond Hannah's isolated story, can be summarized by his graduation speech. Life is something to be survived. Some survive longer than others, for reasons beyond our control. But we always choose to keep surviving as long as we can.

Quote -
Today I am wearing lacy black underwear
For the sole purpose of knowing I am wearing them.
And underneath that?
I am absolutely naked.
And I’ve got skin. Miles and miles of skin;
I’ve got skin to cover all my thoughts
like saran wrap that you can see through
to what leftovers are inside from the night before.
And despite what you might think, my skin is not rough; nor is it bullet proof.
My skin is soft, and smooth, and easily scarred.
But that doesn’t matter, right?
You don’t care about how soft my skin is.
You just want to hear about what my fingers do in the dark.
But what if all they do is crack open windows?
So I can see lightening through the clouds.
What if all they crave is a jungle gym to climb for a taste of fresher air?
What if all they reach for is a notebook or a hand to hold?
But that’s not the story you want.
You are licking your lips and baring your teeth.
Just once I would like to be the direction someone else is going.
I don’t need to be the water in the well.
I don’t need to be the well.
But I’d like to not be the ground anymore.
I’d like to not be the thing people dig their hands in anymore.
Some girls know all the lyrics to each other’s songs.
They find harmonies in their laughter.
Their linked elbows echo in tune.
What if I can’t hum on key?
What if my melodies are the ones nobody hears?
Some people can recognize a tree,
A front yard, and know they’ve made it home.
How many circles can I walk in before I give up looking?
How long before I’m lost for good.
It must be possible to swim in the ocean of the one you love without drowning.
It must be possible to swim without becoming water yourself.
But I keep swallowing what I thought was air.
I keep finding stones tied to my feet.

What to watch for - In the Netflix series, the soundtrack is impeccable. Apparently Dylan Minette (Clay Jensen) is a musician in real life, and had quite the input on the music choices.

If you liked this book or television series, I'd recommend Skins!

Written by Jay Asher
Published by Razor Bill
Adapted to television by Brian Yorkey
Distributed by Netflix