THIRTEEN REASONS WHY is a controversial Netflix Series that
has yielded a large spectrum of opinions and emotions from viewers and
critics. It appropriately has thirteen
episodes and involves an ensemble cast of incredibly talented actors and
actresses, all of whom truly become their characters on the screen. Some of the characters are likeable, while some are despicable. For the purpose of this review, I only provide pictures of the likeable youth in this show. This review is loaded with spoilers, so for
those who have not seen this show, but plan to, be warned.
The central character is Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) a high
school student who is dealing with the death of two of his friends, one of
whom, Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford) is a girl who Clay had a huge crush on,
one that was reciprocated, but that never materializes into a steady
relationship, both due to shyness, confusion, and typical high school male
“nice guy” obliviousness on Clay’s end, and an acquired distrust in guys mixed
with a low self-esteem, on Hannah’s end.
Clay is a very likeable protagonist who may have his flaws, but is a very relatable character in many ways.
Hannah’s suicide is exposition to the story. The story begins when Clay returns home to find
a mysterious box of seven two-sided audio cassette tapes, the final of which
has a blank side B. He begins to play
the first tape and realizes that they were left by Hannah as audio suicide
notes, each side of each tape implicating someone whose actions she regards as
being responsible for her suicide. The
tapes include the warning that a second copy exists, and that if anyone
destroys the first copy, the second copy will be broadcast in a very public
manner. Hannah gives the instruction and
explanation that the tapes are to be listened to in their entirety in sequential
order, and then passed on to the next person, the next reason. The tapes initially were given from a third
party friend who Hannah left them with, to the person implicated on tape 1 side
A. That person is then responsible for
passing them off to the person implicated on tape 1 side B, until all thirteen
people, all thirteen reasons have received the tapes, and heard all thirteen
reasons Hannah gives for her suicide. Clay
is very upset that he is on the tapes, and does not know which number reason he
is, or what he did to even be on the tapes.
We find out in the first episode, however, that Clay is not the first
reason.
Right away, some people may take issue with this
premise. Deliberate unassisted suicide
is ultimately a decision made strictly by the person committing the
suicide. It is a shunning of personal
responsibility to blame it on even one second party, much less a multitude of
others. There is also the fear that this
could plant ideas in the heads of others who are feeling suicidal, as a way to
stick it to people who the suicidal feel have ruined their lives. The show never brings up the alternative of
forgiveness, through the grace of God, combined with an understanding that
vengeance is the Lord’s. It is therefore
very understandable why some people would take issue with this show and refuse
to let their own impressionable children watch it.
On the other hand, this show helps reveal how extreme the
consequences of what may come across as minor bullying behaviors can be. The messages can help teens think twice
before treating others with a disregard for their feelings and emotions. It also reveals to parents, the living hell
that even their seemingly well-adjusted teenagers may be experiencing in the
war zones that we refer to as schools.
All thirteen episodes constantly weave back and forth on the
timeline, showing things that happened during the time frame of Hannah’s tapes,
and the present tense of Clay listening to the tapes, and processing everything
that is going on.
Reason one was that a guy named Justin (Brandon Flynn), who
Hannah went on one date with took a racy photo of Hannah when she was sliding
down a slide in a skirt. He proceeded to
show the photo around at school, as it got texted around school, accompanied by
the untrue claim from Justin that he had sexual intercourse with Hannah. Justin is the type of guy who “nice guys”
detest in that he radiates sleaze that every guy can clearly see, yet some young
ladies have trouble detecting. Even when
some young ladies see it, they feel sorry for him over his unhealthy home situation,
while the “nice guy,” in this case, Clay, feels slighted, jealous, and
devastated that the girl of his fancy would even as much as consider talking to
a guy like that, much less dating him.
Reason two was that Hannah’s friend Jessica (Alisha Boe)
stopped being friends with her, under the false impression that Hannah was
messing around with Jessica’s then boyfriend.
Jessica was totally wrong, and her faulty allegation hurt Hannah
badly. Jessica remains a rather
dislikeable character throughout the show, both due to her off-putting arrogant
personality, and her intolerable naivety in her eventual dating of Justin.
Reason three was that Hannah’s friend Alex (Miles Heizer),
Jessica’s exboyfriend, put Hannah’s name down on a dehumanizing, objectifying
list of girls in the school as the girl who has the best butt. This led to Hannah being further viewed as an
object, even to the point of being physically harassed as a senior boy grabbed
her butt. Alex made this terrible
mistake, but overall, he was a likeable character who showed genuine remorse
for his behavior. Unfortunately, in the
final episode, it is revealed that he was in the hospital, due to a
self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Last we hear is that he is in critical condition.
Reason four was that a peeping tom classmate named Tyler
(Devin Druid) was standing outside Hannah’s window, and snapping pictures. He eventually got a picture of Hannah kissing
another girl. Hannah was not a
lesbian. This girl dared her to do it. Tyler,
for his part, despite his completely inappropriate stalking behavior, became a
comparatively likeable character, as a frequent victim of bullying,
himself. Towards the end of the thirteen
episodes, his likeability dramatically decreases, as Tyler amasses an arsenal of weapons, and
hangs pictures of his intended targets for his hit list. Season one ends, however, before he executes
these actions. Still, it provides
insight into the mind of a school shooter.
Reason five was that the girl who Hannah kissed, Courtney
(Michele Selene Ang) , when pressed on the manner, claimed that it was part of
a sexual encounter that involved a guy.
She was willing to further throw Hannah’s reputation under the bus, in
this manner, to protect her two gay fathers.
Courtney did not want to admit to being a lesbian, because she felt that
those who oppose gay adoptions would have a field day with the idea that the
adopted daughter of two gay men would turn out gay, too. Regardless of the show’s intent, or the fact
that the characters were fictional, the message sent was that children of gay
couples have to furthermore fear that if they were to come out as gay, their
homosexuality will be used as evidence to fuel an agenda to oppose allowing gay
couples to adopt. Courtney never
becomes a likeable character on the show, and seems to lack both integrity and
remorse to the very end of the season.
Reason six is a guy named Marcus (Steven Silver) who asks
her out on a date, shows up late, and then tries to make a sexual move on her,
in front of other guys. She aggressively
rejects his advance, to which he replies with verbal aggression. Marcus never seems to show remorse, lacks
integrity to the end, and even frames Clay for drugs, by planting them on
him. He never becomes a likeable
character.
Reason seven is a guy named Zach (Ross Butler) who tries to
pick up the pieces where Marcus left Hannah.
Zach later tries to ask her out, but did not choose his words well. Hannah assumes the worst about him and very
publicly rejects him, which embarrasses him.
This is partially on Hannah, but she doesn’t see it that way. In a class that Hannah and Zach share, the
students write kind notes to each other, and put them in boxes within the
classroom. These kind notes helped
encourage Hannah, until Zach decided that he would steal all of Hannah’s notes,
thereby depriving her of her one source of encouragement. Zach comes to deeply regret his actions, with
genuine remorse, honesty, and decency.
He messed up, but was ultimately a likeable character.
Reason eight is a guy named Ryan (Tommy Dorfman) who is a
classmate of Hannah’s who also took a poetry class with her, outside of
school. Ryan plays a strong role with
the school magazine, and published a personal poem of Hannah’s without Hannah’s
permission, thereby violating a trust that Hannah had with him. Ryan comes across as snobbish and
unrepentant, never being a likeable character.
Reason nine is Justin, once again. At this point in the story, Justin is dating
Jessica. There is a party at Jessica’s
house. Hannah ends up in a closet, and
becomes an eye witness to Jessica getting raped by another guy named Bryce
(Justin Prentice), while Justin fails to do enough to protect Jessica from this
situation. The scene is not overtly
graphic, and includes quick cuts. Nevertheless, it can be a
very difficult scene for some viewers to take, due to the subject matter, so
caution is advised for episode nine.
Reason ten is a girl named Sheri (Ajionda Alexus) who is
likeable from the start, and all throughout, with the exception of one, quite
literally fatal mistake that she made, while driving Hannah home from that party.
She crashes into a stop sign and knocks it
over without damaging her car, fails to report it, and leaves Hannah at the
roadside when Hannah insists that she report it.
Another classmate, a likeable character named
Jeff (Brandon Larracuente) gets into an accident at that intersection and dies,
the other aforementioned friend of Clay’s who ends up dead.
Sheri initially is in denial that her actions
are responsible for Jeff’s death.
That
is a normal and totally understandable human reaction.
Sheri eventually accepts responsibility,
feels deep regret and eventually reports what she has done to 9.1.1.
She even helps the other people who were involved in the accident, but survived. The show does not reveal the outcome for her.
Jeff was a likeable character during the flashback scenes in which he appeared. He had been like a mentor to Clay, trying to encourage him to more aggressively, yet respectfully, pursue Hannah, romantically. Clay meanwhile tutored Jeff, academically.
Reason eleven is Clay, but on this one, Hannah assumes
personal responsibility. At that same
party, Clay and Hannah eventually started making out, in a bedroom. Hannah suddenly pictures every guy she had
been in any way involved with before, falsely attributes their personalities to
Clay, and tells Clay to stop and leave, Clay not understanding what he did wrong. Clay leaves, and then Hannah hides in the
closet when Justin and Jessica enter the room, hence the background to the
start of her night. Hannah realizes she
blew her chance with a guy who truly liked her.
Clay was dismissive of her afterwards, understandably, yet something he
deeply regrets, after Hannah’s suicide.
Clay wishes he didn’t leave the room, and that he had told her how he
truly felt about her, that night, feeling that she would still be alive, had he
said that. An alternate scene plays in
Clay’s mind, he reacting in the way he wishes he did. Personally, however, I feel that Clay acted
the way he needed to. When a girl
aggressively tells a guy to leave, he needs to leave, even if he doesn’t feel
like he has done anything wrong.
Reason twelve is Bryce.
He rapes Hannah in a scene that is far more graphic than the scene
involving Jessica. This takes place in a
hot tub, at a party. Clay, upon hearing
the tape, goes over to Bryce’s house, having wired himself, and manages to get
somewhat of a confession out of Bryce, which becomes side B to Hannah's seventh tape.
Bryce is obviously never a likeable or remorseful character.
Reason thirteen is Kevin Porter (Derek Luke), Hannah’s
guidance counselor. At this point,
Hannah had recorded the first twelve tape sides and then decided to seek help, from
her school guidance counselor, Kevin Porter.
Hannah implied that she was suicidal, and implied that she was raped,
but would not reveal the rapist’s name, out of fear of further retaliation. When Kevin told her that if she is not
willing to reveal the name, another option she had was to move on, she
disgustedly walked out of his office, hoping that he would follow her out, but
he didn’t. Clay never gave the tapes to
Bryce. He skips over Bryce and gives the
tapes straight to reason thirteen, Kevin Porter, along with tape 7, side B
which was Bryce’s confession obtained by Clay.
Episode thirteen includes the very graphic scene of Hannah sitting in her
bathtub, with a shirt on, and gashing her arms with a razor. This scene contains a lot of blood and is not
for the faint of heart.
Hannah’s parents are never portrayed in a negative way,
which is a huge plus to the show, showing that these type of things can happen
to children of loving, responsible, and involved parents.
There are several other characters of significance, as
well.
Most notably is Tony (Christian
Navarro), a rather mysterious character, but the one who Hannah trusted with a
back-up copy of the tapes, and the responsibility of giving the originals to
Justin, to start the whole thing going.
Tony
became like a mentor to Clay, as Clay went through the tapes.
Tony was likeable at times, but annoying at
other times.
Tony was insistent that
things be done the way Hannah wanted them done, but eventually (major spoiler)
comes around, shows remorse for his own poor judgment call, and places the
contents of the tapes, including the one Clay recorded, on the equivalent of a
flash drive which he chooses to give to Hannah’s parents.
There is a character named Montgomery (Timothy Granaderos)
who is the stereotypical bully, really the only stereotyped one-dimensional
character in the entire show. He is
surprisingly not listed as one of the thirteen reasons, even though he was
largely responsible for Courtney’s lie about the reason behind her behavior
with Hannah. Montgomery never becomes likeable at
all. At one point, he gets into a
serious fight with Alex, which Montgomery
unfortunately wins, at least in terms of who hurts who more.
The final character worthy of mention is Skye (Sosie Bacon, yes
Kevin and Kyra’s daughter) who is highly likeable from her first
appearance.
She is somewhat of a social
outcast, but comes across as approachable, from a “nice guy” perspective, like
she wouldn’t be too stuck up to give you the time of day.
She is a cutter, which is merely glanced over
in the show, a serious issue impacting many teen girls, an issue that will
hopefully be addressed responsibly with more detail in the next season.
Skye was a childhood friend of Clay’s, but
their relationship was strained throughout high school, until the very end when
Clay, after realizing how he messed up with Hannah, reaches out to Skye, asking
her to hang out, which she accepts.
While there is no indication of romance between Clay and Skye, the
possibility is definitely open for Season Two.
While THIRTEEN REASONS WHY is definitely not for everyone,
and I respect parent decisions to not expose their children to the show, I
personally feel that there are some powerful statements made about how
teenagers treat each other, and what the end results can be.
Kindness and decency are ultimately extolled
amidst the violence and often excessive, yet all too realistic use of cuss
words.
We see how one guy harming a
girl’s reputation leads to a string of events that eventually leads to her
making the free choice to take her own life.
We see technology’s role in Hannah’s demise.
The show is a lot to take in.
While some people believe it could lead to
the glamorization of suicide, I believe the messages, if adhered to by bullies,
or potential bullies, could help save lives.
If you want to see something emotionally intense, THIRTEEN REASONS WHY
is worth your time.
Woody Harrelson gives an excellent performance as Tobias Beckett, a
major character who has charisma, providing intrigue, even though we don’t
always necessarily trust him. It was a
wise move to cast an established actor in this role. The character is shady, but well
written. 
Some other cameos worthy of mention include the legendary
Warwick Davis reprising his The Phantom
Menace role as Weazel, and talented young actress Erin Kellyman as Enfys
Nest, the leader of a gang of likeable pirates called Cloud Riders, a gang in
which Weazel is a member.
