13 Reasons Why Review

Hannah Baker committed suicide. And she wants the people she holds responsible to know. She leaves behind 13 tapes, each tape addressed to someone she knew, explaining how her relationship with that person further pushed her into depression. As she says, her suicide was due to the chaos effect, a result of several piled up issues over a period of time.

The main objective of this show is to spread awareness about issues that high-schoolers face, which takes a toll on their mental health too. And season 1 definitely covers such issue and makes you think about how you should be more responsible and careful towards what you say and do. The story is told through tapes, which Clay, to whom tape number 11 is dedicated to listens to. Clay was in love with Hannah and felt angry at himself for not recognizing what Hannah was going through, which again gives you the importance of helping people around you speak up. Overall, in season 1, the depressing matter does not start till the 8th tape, but due to sensitive issues such as rape, viewers must be of sound mind to not disturb them.

However, as well as season 1 went, season 2 is a drag. Each episode of season 2 is a testimony given by some of the characters, as Hannah Baker's mother has sued the school for not taking required action on Hannah being depressed. This takes you back to the past into Hannah's life, but some of her behavior then ruins her image of season 1. You start growing closer to Clay instead of Hannah, and Hannah seems like someone you do not know anymore, a new character.

Several disturbing facts arise in the case of the high school rapist, but justice is not served to the rape victims by the end of the show, and instead the rapist is given a way to flee, which is not a message that the show should be trying to put across. And how another student of the school is bullied is way too violent and scarring, especially in the last episode. While the last episode also tries to show gun violence to highlight recent similar situations in USA, it is not show properly, and instead just adds to the number of unresolved horrible issues. Season 2 is incomplete, clearly to just encourage viewers to watch season 3 as well to find out what happens, but watching only the first season of 13 Reasons Why will also suffice.