13 Reasons Why - Season 1
"Follows teenager Clay Jensen, in his quest to uncover the story behind his classmate and crush, Hannah, and her decision to end her life."
The story of Hannah Baker was what drew me to series to begin with. That being said, once her story was told, I had no interest to follow up on seasons 2-4 as I thought those seasons would just be a cash grab given the success of the first season; especially since season 1 was based off a book, so the following seasons have no source material and would probably not be as well written. Based on ratings of these episodes compared to the original 13 episodes, I might not be wrong.
There are only 2 things I'd criticize - episode length and inconsistent acting. There was a moment in the season where someone asked Clay "why is it taking you so long to listen to the tapes." Honestly, I loved how the story was told, with each episode dedicated to a tape accompanied with flashbacks and Clay's processing of the information. However, there were a few episodes that try to drag out the story to as long as possible. There was a lot of filler content that I found boring and in the way of the story that I was actually immersed in. And the acting was back and forth. There was a lot of acting that just felt dry and awkward to me, but there were also some phenomenal emotional performances as well. Some actors were good all the time, some actors were mediocre some of the time, and then some actors went back and forth between being really good and not so good.
Katherine Langford & Dylan Minnette were the highlights by far. Through flashbacks, you could definitely see how Hannah became more and more depressed as one thing after another was knocking her down. Those last few episodes it was becoming clear as to why she was driven to suicide. And as Clay dove deeper into Hannah's perspective, the more he was driven to literal madness as well as vengeance. Everyone on the tapes was afraid to step forward, because teens are still children who don't want to get in trouble. Clay wanted to break that mentality and make everyone own up to their mistakes. He was defiant and wanted Hannah's voice to be heard, not for her to be buried & forgotten, and you felt that watching Dylan's performance.
Throughout the flashbacks, the people that always seemed the most present are the people that could've helped Hannah the most - Clay & her parents. It's a detail that gets you really thinking once you notice. Hannah talked to Clay all the time, and was happy when she was with him. But she was afraid of getting too close and messing up and he was never able to understand her the way she needed him to. This teaches 2 lessons - don't be afraid to talk, and always be willing to listen.
The final episode haunted me for days after seeing it. Seeing the suicide after seeing the events that led to it was... a moment. It upset me because this whole event was very well planned and organized, she wasn't out of her mind just really depressed because nothing in her life was going right. As someone who has felt the same, it upset me because she still had a chance if only she talked to the right people.
But the moment her mother found her body was what chilled me. You saw how well Hannah hid her depression from her parents for 13 episodes because she didn't want to be another "burden" in their already troubling life, and this led to their disbelief of finding her body as well as their journey throughout the season to try to understand exactly why their daughter took her own life. The idea of not knowing is the worst kind of grief.
The ending really did it's best to set up another season, which I didn't care for. However, I finally heard all 13 tapes, the Bakers can now listen to them and finally have all the answers, and Clay was finally able to find peace and is now ready to heal from the experience. So I'm mostly satisfied. Season 1 is something every teen/young adult should watch at least once, and hopefully those that watch it can learn that they're not alone and can be inspired to seek help.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆