When writing this (around 11:30pm of May 20th/ 12am of May 21st), I just finished watching the second season of 13 Reasons Why along with the hour long 'Behind the Season' look. In this post I will be mostly talking about my thoughts on the second season (so SPOILERS), but I'll also be mentioning my thoughts on the first, as it is very relevant and important.
But before I get into that, I just wanted to note that all of the issues presented in both seasons (suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, gender/sexual preference/racial inequality, bullying, etc.), have had no strong personal impact in my life in the sense that I have not been badly affected by them to the extent that I would allow myself to have the power to address them. Sorry, that was a long winded statement that probably is not very clear, but, essentially, I am saying that I have no rightful claim of deciding whether the portrayal of these issues were accurate. That being said, let's get into my thoughts.
So, first off, season 1. I think the biggest opinion that I remember having towards the first season concerned the actual depiction of Hannah Baker's suicide onscreen, and I think it mostly comes down to the fact that the show had Hannah commit suicide in a different way than written in the book; instead of taking pills Hannah cuts herself in a way that she bleeds out. For me, this seemed like purely a shock value move done for some twisted sense of entertainment. I believe that if they were decided on changing the means of suicide to this extremely graphic method, the actual act of Hannah killing herself should not have been shown onscreen, instead just showing her after it was done. While it is important to talk about suicide, and this show definitely does that, showing an actual suicide scene is not helpful in any way, and could affect people quite negatively. If I remember correctly, this came out during a time in my own life where I wasn't at my highest, and though I did not have suicidal thoughts, I still was feeling very defeated and at my lowest; because of that, I had a whirlwind of thoughts that were not the best. But don't worry, I'm fine, I did not let it affect me too much. But what about the people who feel even more defeated than I did, or suicidal? Having that scene in the show, was not a good idea. They should have done Hannah's suicide in the same way as Alex's attempted suicide: have it off camera. But again, that is my personal opinion.
Another important aspect of season 1 was that we were only getting one side of the story: Hannah's. She paints her life in a very specific way, and I absolutely loved the fact that the first season expanded the other character's inclusion in the show so that they were not just seen through Hannah's eyes. Moreover, I love how season 2 reverses that; now we're seeing Hannah through the others' perspectives. This proves that not only was Hannah an unreliable narrator, but that everybody experiences their own truths. Everybody has a reason for acting and thinking the way they do, and I believe that by seeing the various characters and their troubles and how they react to those troubles we can feel more sympathy, or at the very least, some empathy for others, and hopefully we can take this message into real life.
I believe this is as good a transition as any to start actually discussing season two.
I think the first thing that has to be addressed is season 2's plot. Because this show was initially based on a very short, standalone novel, I was very wary about the direction this second season would take, especially as I had no idea what they could or would do. Obviously, I think the main purpose of this season was to show how the different characters continued to react after Hannah's suicide, especially as it has been a number of months and as the events were being brought back up with the trial. Additionally, though, I believe this season's focus was to show that, again, everyone has their own perspective on what is truth, and therefore are not truly reliable, and that being reliable is not always necessarily a choice (for example, Jessica was unable to stay in court that Bryce raped her). Furthermore, the plot was to explore certain themes, and while I will not go into detail about the specific themes here because I believe the "Behind the Scenes of 13 Reasons Why" video discusses them better than I ever could, I just want to mention them. As I said, I was totally unsure and wary of how this second season would turn out, but it was unnecessary because it did deliver, and very well at that.
I also want to talk about characters, however, I'm not going to go into too much detail because then this would be super long (and also I'm very tired when writing this), so I will speak more generally. So, I feel the characters and their backgrounds and growth is the most important aspect of this show. We see them deal with and react to these social issues and themes. And most importantly, they do so in a very real and relatable way. Somehow, through watching these characters, we are able to understand why they turned out and behaved the way that they did, or at least I did. I think, really, the only characters we truly didn't sympathize with were Bryce and his extremely loyal buddy Montgomery, but even they had some background that made my empathize with them a little (Bryce didn't really have a caring and attentive family, and Monty's father seemed to beat him). How is it possible to feel something for these awful people, or even for Tyler, who fully intended to kill his classmates? 13 Reasons Why did this by making us see these horrible people for what they really are: humans. All these characters are meant to show that we are all human beings, dealing with our own shit and just wanting to feel loved an needed. And even though I believe rapists/murderers/abusers to be awful monsters that deserve to die painful deaths, they started off as a human with problems that they finally had enough of. Does that excuse their actions? No. But it shows that we NEED to better take into account how we all affect every person we come into contact with.
Other spoiler-y points I want to mention briefly:
Loved the punk characters, they were total fucking badasses.
That school hallway brawl really showed how fucked up the school actually was. I mean, I think I only saw two or three teachers in the area. Like, what?!?! The faculty does not have a handle on the school at all.
Poor Alex, I don't want him to get hurt anymore, he's suffered so much and is just precious.
Poor Justin, he is also precious, I mean he got so happy when Clay and his family were acting nice to him. Even though it is kinda messed up that he got together with Jessica when she was with Alex, and I absolutely love Alex, Justin must be protected.
Poor Tyler. He really got the shitty end of the stick. He told the truth even though that meant he would not be portrayed in a favorable light. And even though what he did was wrong, it was by no means as bad as the shit a lot of the other characters did within the show. Tyler seriously had everything go wrong: he wasn't really part of the group of people Hannah called out (Clay/Tony/Jessica/Alex/Justin/Zach, even Sheri/Courtney/Ryan were part of the group), he made a new group of friends but had a bad falling out with them, he went on a date but it was awkwardly and depressingly ruined, and he was violently assaulted. While I do not agree with his attempt to shoot up his school (which leads me to ask, how the HELL did he get access to these guns? and, more importantly, how did his parents not have a clue?!?!), I can definitely see why he would be led to believe that it was his only solution.
Scott Reid. I am torn about him. On the one hand, I loved seeing that he did not actively participate in the extreme loyalty of some of the other baseball players, and him saying that "not all baseball players are rapists". This last message especially is important because I think its very much forgotten in our culture: we cannot generalize a group of people based on a percentage. On the other hand, while he might not have been actively participating in the disgusting acts of his fellow baseball teammates, he does not speak up against it. But again, this is two-sided. I understand and remember the pressures of trying to fit in and not go against your friends. However, I have also come to realize that just because someone is your friend or family or someone important to you does not mean that you should let them do whatever they want.
Finally, the entirety of this show obviously explores hard hitting issues that are happening in real life today, whether it be the high number of suicide and suicide attempts, depression, bullying, various forms of inequality, assaults (both sexual and nonsexual), and even gun problems. I believe that in our current climate this is absolutely necessary for sparking discussion because, really, there has not been any widespread, serious discussion about them, because one group of people or another are shutting the conversation down. And that cannot happen. Problems cannot be fixed by ignoring them, only by confronting them in a healthy way. I know that most likely this will not be seen and correctly interpreted by those who truly need this, and that is disheartening, but I think by integrating these points of discussion into pop culture/media it will reach a wider audience, and maybe convert people into wanting to discuss them and therefore create change. For that reason, I can not help but applaud what 13 Reasons Why has been doing.
I really enjoyed the addition of this second season as I think it fixes a lot of issues (not all) presented in season 1, and addresses further social issues that are relevant now. I believe there will be a third season, centering around Tyler's attempt to shoot the schools and therefore gun control, Justin's continuing drug problem and his relationship with Jessica, and seeing Clay maybe moving to another stage of grief over Hannah's suicide as well as now having an adopted brother in Justin. As long as a potential third season continues to spark conversation over important issues relevant to the modern day, I am totally on board with the show continuing, and as they, I believe, executed this second season quite well, I am excited to see what happens next.
Side note: I know vomiting is very real affects of various aspects of life, but why, WHY must it be shown on tv?!? Both seasons had so. much. puking. UGHHHH (I have a kind of phobia with it, yes so it's a personal problem but still...)