Opinion Piece - 13 Reasons Why Season 2 is COMPLETE TRASH
Spoilers are ahead for both seasons of the show. I recommend watching season 1 first, I can't say the same for season 2.
I'll be upfront about it, I thought the first season of 13 Reasons Why was excellent. I don't have much experience with people with mental heath issues or suicidal thoughts so I can't speak to if the show is harmful for them but I thought much of it was relatively tasteful. On screen portrayals of rape and suicide are always troubling but the show at least has the decency to make these events near unwatchable. Aside from that, there was a deep emotional truth underneath everything and the show lent perfectly to binge watching, as you race to explore what is hidden on each tape, making it genuinely brilliant television and incredibly interesting conversation. That's why I was really excited to see what season 2 of the show would bring. Sure, it's a story that could have worked as a self contained mini-series but there were plot threads left hanging and I wanted to see them explored. I am now left full of regret.
The controversy is the thing I want to touch on first because honestly, it's the least interesting reason season 2 is awful. After the response to the initial 13 episodes, the show-runners of 13 Reasons definitely knew they had to approach what came next with a lot more hesitation. That's just a hypothetical thought though as none of that comes across on screen. The suicide is never shown again but previous harrowing events are such as Hannah's rape at the hands of Bryce and all new horrors are shown including (and this isn't a joke) Tyler having a broom handle shoved into his anus until it bleeds. It is shocking and effective, sure, but its gratuity has no place in the story, especially as Tyler has been a character who had just found self-redemption and the show shouldn't be bringing him back down with yet another horrific on-screen violation. Worst of all, the reason he has this plot is so he can become a potential school shooter at the end of year ball. Yeah, this is the show when it's being aware of controversy. The shooting is thwarted and the consequences are left in the balance for the next season but when Friday's premiere was cancelled because of a real life school shooting, it just smacks of lack of forethought. It only hurts me because there are genuine efforts made. Anthony Rapp, the first to accuse Kevin Spacey of sexual assault, has a minor role in the last episode and there's a heartfelt moment where all the female cast, possibly in character, possibly not, give a soliloquy to camera about their experience of sexual harassment which is genuinely powerful. It's just that for every thing done right, two things are done horribly wrong.
Which brings me to what I find the most painful failing of this season in that it's not particularly compelling TV. The obvious comparison (and the one I'm sorry to say I will keep going back to) is Broadchurch season 2. Both were initially excellent tales whose stories it was impossible not to unravel, that floundered when the events of the first season are dragged out in an uninteresting court case. To get further into 13 Reasons specifically, that first season, for all its flaws, worked so well because of the momentum the tapes gave the show. Each episode was one tape, one story and you knew the horrific final event they led to, just not all the details. The promotional material hinted that while there would be consequences for last seasons events, the new story would be about mysterious polaroids that teased a deeper history of sexual abuse, leading me (and likely others) to assume that each episode would bring a new polaroid, a new perspective on incidents that happened at this school. Nope. It's almost all about the trial and while there are more incidents of sexual abuse exposed, they're just kind of scattered about, leaving the audience aimlessly wandering about for 13 episodes. Halfway through, Clay posts the audio from Hannah's tapes online and this felt like a step in the right direction for the show, finally giving Bryce some comeuppance via the mob. The impact of the tapes going public is only felt in one episode though, in which Bryce gets called out at a public rally and then... Not much else.
One of the only reasons I liked this season was that it gave characters space to fully explore the impact of what was on Hannah's tapes and asking themselves how they can move on. It gave the (genuinely talented) actors something good to do for once, when the script gave them few dramatic moments to work with. Actually, the more I've thought about it, most of the characters don't get this treatment. Even Clay doesn't get this treatment, having already had the whole first season to become an interesting character. Smaller side characters like Sky (Clay's new girlfriend), Marcus or Ryan got a couple of scenes but didn't really get any new development. The only ones who actually get any new depth are those who had questionable inclusions on Hannah's tapes like Zach and Jessica. We get to explore how they try and change themselves after the events of the first season and while it isn't big or dramatic, it's some of the most interesting stuff this season. With that said though, there's a lot of debate in and around this season about how much we trust the perspective of Hannah Baker. As someone whose favourite film is Fight Club and favourite book is American Psycho, I love this questioning around the reliability of narrators but because this character is a girl who committed suicide, the show has to tip toe around it. Cool, great, fine, but I've already said how the show is clumsy with sensitivity so why not go further and examine whether Hannah actually lied about this. A lot of things were excluded from the tapes (like losing her virginity to Zach) and while this is a pet peeve of mine, that huge events get "excluded" from the story until later seasons for more drama, it shows that Hannah wasn't entirely truthful about this. Clay is so completely dedicated to her, so instead of having him work out if she's a slut or a hero, let him work out if the pictures she paints of others are at all accurate. After all, the first season was her story, this season was about how everyone dealt with the fallout of that story.
I'm not sure if this all makes any real sense as this is basically a rant, I just felt like I wanted to get it off my chest. Like, I spent 13 hours this weekend dedicated to this show and in response, I got punched in the dick. I'm angry they left it open for another season and I will begrudgingly watch it but I don't lose hope that the show could regain steam. It's just that this is the single biggest drop I have ever seen a show experience in the space of a season. 13 Reasons Why season one introduced me to Lord Huron, made me think about how I think about those around me and created this immensely emotionally resonant world. Season two just tried to hit all those notes again (even playing the exact same Lord Huron song in almost the exact same context) and it started to feel like genuine emotional abuse. Stay away. Seriously.
I'll be upfront about it, I thought the first season of 13 Reasons Why was excellent. I don't have much experience with people with mental heath issues or suicidal thoughts so I can't speak to if the show is harmful for them but I thought much of it was relatively tasteful. On screen portrayals of rape and suicide are always troubling but the show at least has the decency to make these events near unwatchable. Aside from that, there was a deep emotional truth underneath everything and the show lent perfectly to binge watching, as you race to explore what is hidden on each tape, making it genuinely brilliant television and incredibly interesting conversation. That's why I was really excited to see what season 2 of the show would bring. Sure, it's a story that could have worked as a self contained mini-series but there were plot threads left hanging and I wanted to see them explored. I am now left full of regret.
The controversy is the thing I want to touch on first because honestly, it's the least interesting reason season 2 is awful. After the response to the initial 13 episodes, the show-runners of 13 Reasons definitely knew they had to approach what came next with a lot more hesitation. That's just a hypothetical thought though as none of that comes across on screen. The suicide is never shown again but previous harrowing events are such as Hannah's rape at the hands of Bryce and all new horrors are shown including (and this isn't a joke) Tyler having a broom handle shoved into his anus until it bleeds. It is shocking and effective, sure, but its gratuity has no place in the story, especially as Tyler has been a character who had just found self-redemption and the show shouldn't be bringing him back down with yet another horrific on-screen violation. Worst of all, the reason he has this plot is so he can become a potential school shooter at the end of year ball. Yeah, this is the show when it's being aware of controversy. The shooting is thwarted and the consequences are left in the balance for the next season but when Friday's premiere was cancelled because of a real life school shooting, it just smacks of lack of forethought. It only hurts me because there are genuine efforts made. Anthony Rapp, the first to accuse Kevin Spacey of sexual assault, has a minor role in the last episode and there's a heartfelt moment where all the female cast, possibly in character, possibly not, give a soliloquy to camera about their experience of sexual harassment which is genuinely powerful. It's just that for every thing done right, two things are done horribly wrong.
Which brings me to what I find the most painful failing of this season in that it's not particularly compelling TV. The obvious comparison (and the one I'm sorry to say I will keep going back to) is Broadchurch season 2. Both were initially excellent tales whose stories it was impossible not to unravel, that floundered when the events of the first season are dragged out in an uninteresting court case. To get further into 13 Reasons specifically, that first season, for all its flaws, worked so well because of the momentum the tapes gave the show. Each episode was one tape, one story and you knew the horrific final event they led to, just not all the details. The promotional material hinted that while there would be consequences for last seasons events, the new story would be about mysterious polaroids that teased a deeper history of sexual abuse, leading me (and likely others) to assume that each episode would bring a new polaroid, a new perspective on incidents that happened at this school. Nope. It's almost all about the trial and while there are more incidents of sexual abuse exposed, they're just kind of scattered about, leaving the audience aimlessly wandering about for 13 episodes. Halfway through, Clay posts the audio from Hannah's tapes online and this felt like a step in the right direction for the show, finally giving Bryce some comeuppance via the mob. The impact of the tapes going public is only felt in one episode though, in which Bryce gets called out at a public rally and then... Not much else.
One of the only reasons I liked this season was that it gave characters space to fully explore the impact of what was on Hannah's tapes and asking themselves how they can move on. It gave the (genuinely talented) actors something good to do for once, when the script gave them few dramatic moments to work with. Actually, the more I've thought about it, most of the characters don't get this treatment. Even Clay doesn't get this treatment, having already had the whole first season to become an interesting character. Smaller side characters like Sky (Clay's new girlfriend), Marcus or Ryan got a couple of scenes but didn't really get any new development. The only ones who actually get any new depth are those who had questionable inclusions on Hannah's tapes like Zach and Jessica. We get to explore how they try and change themselves after the events of the first season and while it isn't big or dramatic, it's some of the most interesting stuff this season. With that said though, there's a lot of debate in and around this season about how much we trust the perspective of Hannah Baker. As someone whose favourite film is Fight Club and favourite book is American Psycho, I love this questioning around the reliability of narrators but because this character is a girl who committed suicide, the show has to tip toe around it. Cool, great, fine, but I've already said how the show is clumsy with sensitivity so why not go further and examine whether Hannah actually lied about this. A lot of things were excluded from the tapes (like losing her virginity to Zach) and while this is a pet peeve of mine, that huge events get "excluded" from the story until later seasons for more drama, it shows that Hannah wasn't entirely truthful about this. Clay is so completely dedicated to her, so instead of having him work out if she's a slut or a hero, let him work out if the pictures she paints of others are at all accurate. After all, the first season was her story, this season was about how everyone dealt with the fallout of that story.
I'm not sure if this all makes any real sense as this is basically a rant, I just felt like I wanted to get it off my chest. Like, I spent 13 hours this weekend dedicated to this show and in response, I got punched in the dick. I'm angry they left it open for another season and I will begrudgingly watch it but I don't lose hope that the show could regain steam. It's just that this is the single biggest drop I have ever seen a show experience in the space of a season. 13 Reasons Why season one introduced me to Lord Huron, made me think about how I think about those around me and created this immensely emotionally resonant world. Season two just tried to hit all those notes again (even playing the exact same Lord Huron song in almost the exact same context) and it started to feel like genuine emotional abuse. Stay away. Seriously.
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