Okay... So maybe I was already something of a binge watcher. I binge watched Walking Dead when I first started watching it, as I didn't get in to it until Season 4. I binge watch the entire series of Game of Thrones before each new season comes out. But Binge watching for me isn't like sitting down and watching 8 episodes at a time, more like maybe 2 and then coming back in a couple days and watching two more.
But this week I have been nearly obsessively working my way through the 26 current episodes of the Netflix series "Thirteen Reasons Why" based on the book of the same name by Jay Asher.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, Thirteen Reasons Why takes place shortly after the suicide of a young High School Student named Hannah Baker. The story opens with one of Hannah's classmates, Clay finding a shoebox addressed to him on his doorstep. Inside are 7 cassettes and a map. Clay has to dig out his dad's old Boom Box to begin listening to the mysterious tapes and once he hits play he is haunted by the mesmerizing voice of a dead girl telling the story of the thirteen reasons why she came to the conclusion that suicide was the only escape for her.
Through her cassette tapes, Hannah becomes the narrator of the story as each episode delves into each of the 13 reasons, each reason is one of the people who affected Hannah's life, from rumor starting, friends betraying her, all the way to Sexual Assault, and finally Rape, thirteen stories of thirteen reasons a seventeen year old girl would decide to end her life.
The tapes have been passed from Reason #1 (Justin, who took Hannah on a date to the park and took an unflattering picture of her sliding down the playground slide with her skirt whipping up to reveal her panties. The picture then gets spread around school, cementing Hannah's reputation as being "Easy"), Through Hannah's first friends at the new school, Jessica and Alex. Each person listens to the tapes and then passes them on to the person on the next tape, until we finally get to Clay, Reason number 11.
Clay doesn't simply listen to the tapes and pass them on. He decides to take action, Confronting many of the individuals who impacted Hannah's life as he works his way through the tapes.
Season 1 ends with cringe worthy portrayal of Sexual Assault and Suicide. It does not shy away from graphic Mature content. The show does shy away from nudity, as the characters in the show are supposed to be 16-18 year old High School Students. In reality, the cast is all in their 20s, but I think the decision not to portray more skin than a bit of side breast and a few ass cheeks is a good one.
This show, and the story it is based on, are classified as YA material. The same genre that gave us Twilight, Maze Runner, and Hunger Games. Perhaps I am jaded by Glittery Vampires who are not harmed by the sun, but I have tended to shy away from the YA genre in my old age. But my wife was watching this show, and the bits and pieces I saw got me curious, and with the summer break in most serialized TV, I needed something to watch, so I gave it a try.
This show really works because of the chemistry between Katherine Langford playing Hannah, and Dylan Minnette playing Clay. These two work really well together as leads, and with a capable surrounding cast, they tell a story full of relate-able moments.
While the portrayal of teenage life may be a little overblown or glamorized with huge alcohol and sex laden parties and tons of drug use, this ensemble is sure to contain at least one character that all of us can relate to. There are also very important lessons here for young people about how their actions toward each other affect the other people around them. When the time is right, I will be sitting down to watch this show with my son in hopes that it helps him know what NOT to do when it comes to friendships and relationships.
Season Two sees us out of source material. The story from the book has come to an end, and Jay Asher never wrote a sequel. But Netflix had a hit on it's hands, and cliffhangers to wrap up. So their creative team got to work on a second Season. This time we don't have Hannah's tapes showing us the way.
We lose Hannah as Narrator, which is a big loss in my mind. Langford's voice over is pretty compelling and weaves through the story of season one remarkably well. Instead, we now have the Civil Court Case brought by Hannah's Parents against the School for allowing bullying and abusive behavior to go on in the halls of the school. Each new episode is voiced by the witness who is giving testimony during that episode. We now hear parts of the story from the perspective of the people on Hannah's tapes, the people who let her down.
Through this season, the portrayal of Hannah gets rougher around the edges. Where Season One presents a clean, innocent Hannah who is devastated by what is going on around her, Season Two brings a Hannah who is not so innocent. She is not the stranger to sex she is made out to be in the first season, rather having spent all summer sneaking one of the jocks into her room. She also has at least one encounter with drugs with Clay.
Apparently there had been questions as to how involved Langford could be in season two, since Hannah had told her story in Season One. But Hannah appears frequently, not only in flashbacks told from the other student's perspectives, but also as a vision to Clay. Call her a ghost, or a part of Clay's broken psyche, she discusses current events with Clay throughout, which, though contrived, I think is good for us as viewers.
Langford is a capable actress, who has been called a "breakout star" for her portrayal of Hannah, and I tend to agree. I look forward to seeing what else her career brings in the future. Both she and the Producers of the show have made it pretty clear that Hannah will not be a part of Season 3 of the show, so we will have to look to her future projects to get more of her abilities.
And yes, I fully expect a season 3. There are stories still to be told with these kids. Hannah, in her strange way, brought a bunch of students from across the social spectrum together, and now they have to learn to cope with their own issues. And of course Season 2 ended with many threads not properly tied up.
How many seasons can a show like this go? High School is almost over for these students, they will be going their separate ways soon. So does the story continue with new students at the same school? Do we instead follow one or more of the students as they move on to college and life opportunities? Only time, and Netflix can tell us the answers to those questions.
In the meantime, if you haven't already, give Thirteen Reasons Why a viewing. But go in with the knowledge that it is not an easy watch. If you are squeamish about tackling hard hitting issues, this might not be the show for you. I do believe there are take aways here for everyone. But only you can decide if this is a show you are mentally ready for or not.
And as the Show mentions at the end of every episode: If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, go to https://13reasonswhy.info/, their resource center for people who may need help.
