In the show, Protagonist Clay Jensen must listen to 13 tapes to find the motive to his friend’s suicide.
Photo courtesy of Netflix
Jack Clayton
Lantern Staff
It seems like forever ago that I was in high school; however, in reality, it was only last year. The memories I made in high school were great, but they were one-sided. Only seeing high school from my perspective, I didn’t get to know how others may have felt during that time.
That’s where 13 Reasons Why comes into play. 13 Reasons Why is a miniseries released on Netflix on Friday, March 31, and it is taking the world by storm. It is for good reason as well, as the show is truly amazing.
First of all, it is important to say that I do not normally enjoy movies or shows about high school drama. It is not my cup of tea. But with 13 Reasons Why, something was different. Something just made this show work.
The show features a wide variety of new young actors playing different roles, and each makes their role something special. Katherine Langford plays Hannah, the girl the star of the show. Dylan Minnette plays Clay, the main protagonist. Viewers might recognize Minnette from other popular blockbusters like Goosebumps or the critically acclaimed suspense flick, Don’t Breathe. Christian Navarro plays Tony, Clay’s mysterious friend. With so many more important people, each one takes their character and shows how they have an impact on Hannah and her inevitable decision to take her own life.
These characters, while all different have one thing in common, which is making Hannah’s life worse. There is Jessica, played by Alisha Boe, who was Hannah’s first friend until they unexpectedly parted ways. There’s also Zach, played by Ross Butler, who tried being nice to Hannah, but ended up hurting her even more.
Now, for those who have not watched the show, a quick warning should be noted. This show is highly graphic and contains several scenes that may be disturbing to viewers. I won’t say what it is, as it would spoil the show, but it is important to know what lies ahead before watching.
That being said, there are also several moments in the show where emotions will be stirred. One good thing about this show is how the director of each episode toys with the viewers’ emotions. Each episode has a style dedicated to that director, and yet each episode feels as if it is done by the same person. Every episode contains moments from both the past and the present, and the director uses a different tone to tell which time is which. And yet, each episode also gives a perspective of a different character like Tyler or Jessica. The tone remains consistent, while feeling unique each episode. Sometimes on TV shows whenever a different director is used for a different episode, the tone is off, so this time it really worked.
There are not a lot of shows like 13 Reasons, and this show tells us exactly why. It deals with real world issues such as bullying and teenage suicide that are still a problem today. Other shows about high school drama like to deal with the same thing, which is being popular or stuff like that. But with 13 Reasons, it takes an important issue and makes it more relevant than anything else.
Every one in five students has reported being bullied, and students who are bullied are twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts, according to the National Bullying Prevention Center. So for this show to shine a light on the subject shows how important this issue is to address.
The show has a few critical errors here and there, but not enough to ruin the show completely. Some of the extras are rather awkward, and there were a few camera continuity errors, but very few to note. For instance, in one scene, Jessica has a drink in her hand, and in the next shot, she is picking up the drink. It is little consistencies like that, that bump the show down slightly. Overall, 13 Reasons Why deserves a 9.5 out of 10, but it doesn’t take you 13 reasons why to find out.