Last year, when the first season of “13 Reasons Why” first aired on Netflix, I was hesitant to watch. If I’m going to spend time with a series, one as long as the Netflix original, I don’t necessarily want it to make me feel uncomfortable.
Hailey Stewart | Argonaut
So, armed with my roommate and the promise that we could stop watching if it was terrible or too unnerving we could stop, we began watching the show. And yes, I was consistently uncomfortable — episode after episode. For a show aiming to create talk, this is both a good and bad thing.
The conversations surrounding suicide, bullying, sexual assault, violence and alcohol abuse are not supposed to be easy. They are supposed to be uncomfortable. This is why we don’t have them often enough.
In one way or another, “13 Reasons Why” opened those conversations, especially with young adults.
For many, however, the 12-episode show brought out feelings all-too uncomfortable and not in a productive way. With few properly placed content warnings and extremely realistic scenes of rape and abuse, “13 Reasons Why” may have caused more harm than good.
Every person who watched the show in 2017 interpreted it in a different capacity. As viewers and media consumers, we dissect things differently. The producers of a TV show can’t take into account everyone, but they can attempt to reduce possible harm.
Still, the drama lover in me, when it comes to TV, loved some of the plot and I had fallen in love with many of the actors. But once I had finished the series, I was glad it was over.
I encouraged others to watch, but with a careful eye and the suggestion of looking up the plot before committing to the series. Once you start watching, it’s hard to stop.
So, as the second season rolled around, I was interested in what could be left. How could a second season be any different? How much more graphic content could the writers fit into a season?
Now, knowing what I know about the second season of “13 Reasons Why,” I wouldn’t recommend the series to anyone without a clearer warning.
The series has become more aware of needing graphic content warnings, but it does little to shy away from glorifying high school drama that becomes overtly dangerous.
The second season follows the aftermath of Hannah Baker’s death. The tapes from season one still unravel and bring new instances that lead to her suicide to light.
“13 Reasons Why” enters the discussion of toxic masculinity — something that could have created an important dialogue. Instead, the show centered on the male characters and swept the importance of female characters under the rug.
The second season was a chance to provide some meaning in Hannah’s life — to give her story more compassion than its previous run at her storyline. That aspect was sorely missing.
To give the show some credit, the loose ends that needed tying were mostly tied up. The characters attempt to grieve, but they don’t do so in an entirely healthy way. Hannah’s mother attempts to create a strong lawsuit in Hannah’s memory, but she falls just short every time. And, even Hannah’s memory begins to fade in the middle of the season.
The character’s I fell in love with during the first season deserved better this time around. Viewers deserved better this time around. And, the people who this sort of storyline can affect most deserved more than unresolved drama and a slew of unanswered questions.
Hailey Stewart can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at Hailey_ann97