13 Reasons Why Season 2 Review

Dylan PhillipsJune 28, 2018n/a11 min

13 Reasons Why is a very controversial show. On one side it depicts some very graphic and disturbing material that has caused some people to feel triggered watching the content, but on the other it has brought the very same issues that these themes and this story focuses on to the spotlight so that people who feel like they are in a similar situation can seek help.
While you may love or hate the first season of this show, the actual adaptation of the book was handled very well. However, that was just the end of Hannah’s story so it left room to explore the rest of the lives of Liberty High’s student body and that was enough to give this show’s second season a chance.

The main story of season two revolves around the aftermath of Hannah’s death as each of the characters go through their own journeys of healing and self-discovery. Liberty High is forced to go to trial against Hannah’s parents who blame the school’s toxic environment for their daughter’s death. As various friends and peers of Hannah’s are called to take the stand, Clay begins to receive a series of cryptic polaroids that lead him to uncover a sick secret that the school is covering up. As the trial comes to a close, the various characters try to find closure, with some doing better than others, leaving Clay and his friend to decide what to do with the conspiracy they’ve discovered.

What made 13 Reasons Why have such a cultural impact was its brutally honest depiction of its themes surrounding bullying, the objectification of women, the toxic high school atmosphere, assault and suicide. Its first season centered around all of these themes and how they affected one character: Hannah Baker while touching on the subplots of other students dealing with similar situations. The protagonist Clay learns more and more about Hannah’s truths and the world she was forced to live in due to these themes and the ever-growing walls that built up around her. Season two tackles similar themes albeit it from a different angle.

The story continues to focus on Hannah Baker, but instead of how she dealt with these themes through her eyes it changes the perspective to how others perceived her to deal with (or not deal with) these problems. By doing so the focus on Hannah’s struggles with these themes is pushed to the background as the ensemble of students deal with their own issues. This allows the audience to see how various personalities would be affected by the different struggles that Hannah faced with some people more able to cope than others. Of these stories the most compelling is that of Jessica’s (Alisha Boe) struggles as an assault survivor.

Unfortunately, this season is unable to replicate the thought-provoking and deeply realistic themes of the first season’s story. The narrative becomes uneven, choppy and downright laughable at some points as the characters navigate their way throw a terribly scripted and unrealistic trial. Despite the show’s best efforts to change the focus to a topical commentary about struggles that teens face in high school, the characters are poorly written with no one ever really deserving genuine sympathy as most of these people come across as terrible individuals.

Despite all of this season’s shortcomings in terms of its thin characters and ridiculous story, its biggest offenses are some overtly romanticized and disturbing sequences it tries to highlight as its big moments of the season. (Warning there will be some major spoilers from now on). Showing that bullying and sexual assault is an issue for not only females was a strong storyline to have in this season, but it was executed very poorly. Not only is the actual assault the most disturbing scenes on any show, but the fallout sends a very poor message. The character’s solution to his assault is to go to the dance and commit a school shooting leaving the lesson that bullying can be solved this way.

Furthermore the whole school shooting storyline is handled incredibly poorly to the point that it appears it was reshot haphazardly in wake of the current wave of tragedies. Instead of call the police or get an adult, the students try to reason with the shooter believing that friendship can save anyone and in this romanticized cliffhanger it does. With a character like that who is so far gone, the ability to talk them off the ledge the way it was portrayed was entirely unrealistic and sets a precedent to students that maybe they can save someone from committing a tragedy even if they have a rifle pointed at them. It looks like Netflix found themselves wanting to change a drastically more graphic and disturbing original ending to something that would be appropriate given the current climate of society. Unfortunately, the way it is done comes across as worse than a strong and sensible depiction of the former could have been.

This season of 13 Reasons Why is a bold topical teen drama that fails to expand on the heart and soul of its source material. While the themes of its first season are still intact and its trademark shock and awe moments are still at the center of its storytelling, the thinly written characters, terribly executed trial narrative and brutal ending give this show less reasons as to why to watch than more as to why not. From its inability to make any of its characters truly redeemable people to its flat, uneven plot, this season comes across as more campy than courageous so it’s not worth the watch.

Score: 4.5/10

What did you think of 13 Reasons Why? Was the second season necessary? Let me know in the comments!

On top of writing reviews for this site, I also post video reviews on my YouTube channel The Film Fanatic where we post content like movie and TV reviews, countdown videos, movie recommendations, script analyses and more. If you liked this, check out my other reviews here as well as my website! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook.

5 comments

  • Franz Patrick

    June 28, 2018 at 1:40 PM

    I’m in agreement with you. Even the acting was uneven. Certain scenes needed to be reshot. I get that it’s a TV show, not film, but the performances needed to feel exactly right for a television show tackling a number of serious issues. I hope Season 3 will be stronger.

    • Dylan S. Phillips

      June 29, 2018 at 3:13 PM

      In a show like this that tackles such serious issues, to the point that it appears the entire season’s climax and cliffhanger were reshot to avoid negative reviews amidst the current social climate, everything needs to be perfect. Unfortunately, this season was filled with thin characters, uneven writing and questionable situations that ended up almost feeling like a campy student film that inevitably fails to send its message.

  • Often Off Topic

    June 29, 2018 at 3:25 AM

    I’m with you all the way. I was invested in the characters which is why I watched Season 2, but it had so many problems. It should have been a standalone, 1 season show!

    • Dylan S. Phillips

      June 29, 2018 at 3:09 PM

      In complete agreement. The story worked so well because the writers were able to adapt source material and give the actors meaningful to work with. While they attempt to do the same here, the same backbone isn’t there and all of the issues easily show.

  • Tony Briley

    June 29, 2018 at 6:48 PM

    My wife and I watched both seasons just to see what all the buzz was about. While the first season provided a little mystery, that little bit of mystery was the only redeeming quality of the entire season. Unfortunately season 2 came out of the gate without any mystery to it and therefore left it with zero redeeming qualities. Maybe it appeals to those that believe there’s really such a thing as micro aggression and they’ll enjoy it on their mental health day off from work. But for this southern redneck dad of 6 daughters (two of which are teens and one tween) I can’t watch this without thinking if any of those were my kid I’d knock their….. participation trophies off the mantel.

Comments are closed.

Blog Stats

  • 1,857,590 hits

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 690 other subscribers