Just as Riverdale ended its first season, there’s another high school show on Netflix that has hooked us and how! Titled 13 Reasons Why, this 13-episode Netflix original is based on a New York Times bestselling YA novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. Here’s why we can’t tear our eyes from this show...
The premise
High school student Hannah Baker kills herself. And that’s when the story begins. Teenage suicide is a reality as much in India as in the US, and we are glad there is someone at least talking about depression among the youth. In fact, 13 Reasons Why speaks about depression without making the ‘D’ word the central point.
The mystery
It’s not as OTT as Riverdale but the drama and the “what-will-happen-next” feel are as good as any entertaining thriller. Hannah leaves behind 13 tapes for 12 people who she feels led her to kill herself. The script is so gripping that once you start watching, you can’t stop thinking about who’s the next person on the tapes and what they had done to Hannah.
The characters
They’re not the cliched high school stereotypes. Yes, there are jocks and cheerleaders and nerds and bullies, but each character is shown as an individual with their own complexities.
The timeline
The show handles time brilliantly, moving between the past and the present and between narration and live action so seamlessly that not for once are you confused.
The issues
We can so connect to the concerns of these American teenagers, be it bullying, body image issues, slut shaming or the burden of parental expectations.
The actors
They’re all young and most of them are new but they have done such a fine job! A special shout-out to Katherine Langford, who plays Hannah Baker with so much heart, and Dylan Minnette, who is just perfect as the earnest Clay Jensen.
The unreliable narrator
As Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train have shown us, unreliable narrators make for gripping storytelling. And our Hannah isn’t the best narrator, often getting caught up in her own drama or in the loop of her own thoughts. And that makes her and her life so much more relatable, because we too sometimes fail to see the whole picture and only look at “I, me and myself”.
The grown-ups
The portrayal of elders on this show is on point. Parents and teachers are shown as regular guys, not paragons of virtue or a fount of evil, and how their conflicts at home affect teenagers is so accurate. Also, rooting for Clay’s dad forever. #AllMan
the couple that wasn’t
Despite the darkness of the subject, we’re totally shipping Hannah and Clay and the cute couple they would’ve made.
The retro feel
The 13 tapes are not recorded on any mp4 file or saved in the Cloud but on good old cassettes of the ’90s. Because she is speaking to a generation obsessed with technology and social media, Hannah’s shoebox full of cassettes has a greater impact.
The cliffhangers
The show doesn’t have all the answers and we love that. Does Bryce get what he deserved? Did Alex commit suicide (because he was cleaning his room exactly like Hannah before she killed herself) or was he shot by creepy Tyler who is shown with a gun? And what happens with the 14th tape that Hannah didn’t record? Will there be another season?!
PS: In other news, Alex (Miles Heizer) and Justin (Brandon Flynn) from the show are dating IRL (in real life, duh) and they are totes adorbs together. A few members of the cast got the semicolon tattoo with Selena Gomez, who is the executive producer of the show. The semicolon tattoo raises awareness about mental health struggles and the importance of suicide prevention. #CastGoals
STATUTORY WARNING: 13 REASONS WHY HAS ALSO SET SOME ALARM BELLS RINGING ABOUT THE IMPACT IT CAN HAVE ON YOUNG MINDS. ONE OF THE SERIOUS ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE SHOW IS THAT IT MAKES REVENGE SUICIDE LOOK LEGIT. SO, BE ON GUARD.
Tiash De and Rushabh Shah
Are you hooked to 13 Reasons Why? Tell us why at t2@abp.in
