TV review (Netflix): 13 Reasons Why, a must-see show about teens, bullying, and suicide
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| all images from ew.com |
The show is based on the book of the same name, by Jay Asher, which I remember liking, but apparently gave 2 out of 5 stars to on Goodreads, in 2011. They've made a few changes from the book, too, which you can read about here, and I eventually want to reread the book when I have time.
Hannah Baker, a high school student, dies by suicide. Two weeks later, Clay Jensen, one of her closest friends, finds a package on his doorstep containing 13 audio cassettes made by Hannah explaining the 13 reasons why she killed herself, and Clay is one of them. In order to find out how he fits in, Clay must listen to the tapes. But doing so may reveal a disturbing secret about Hannah, as well as some of his classmates, that Clay isn't ready for. Meanwhile, his classmates featured on these tapes set out to keep their secrets hidden, by any means necessary.
The TV series was probably one of the best teen series I've seen on TV (including Netflix) in a long time.
Starting from episode 1, we know that Hannah Baker has committed suicide. I read a review of the series that said something like "it's not fair for Netflix to make us fall in love with a dead girl," and I'd agree with that - overall, I liked Hannah as a person, though I have some nitpicking to do too (see below). She and her friend Clay are the two main characters in the show, even though Clay was more of an acquaintance to Hannah than a friend - they worked at the same movie theater together, but she had many secrets that Clay didn't know about.
Teens here are depicted very realistically - they swear, they drink at parties, and they're mean to each other in the hallways of their high school. Although the teen cast is mostly unrecognizable, movie fans may recognize Clay (Dylan Minnette) from Goosebumps, Prisoners, or TV's Scandal, and I definitely recognized Derek Luke, as one of the high school administrators, from Antwone Fisher; he was in TV's Empire, as well.
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Starting from episode 1, we know that Hannah Baker has committed suicide. I read a review of the series that said something like "it's not fair for Netflix to make us fall in love with a dead girl," and I'd agree with that - overall, I liked Hannah as a person, though I have some nitpicking to do too (see below). She and her friend Clay are the two main characters in the show, even though Clay was more of an acquaintance to Hannah than a friend - they worked at the same movie theater together, but she had many secrets that Clay didn't know about.
Teens here are depicted very realistically - they swear, they drink at parties, and they're mean to each other in the hallways of their high school. Although the teen cast is mostly unrecognizable, movie fans may recognize Clay (Dylan Minnette) from Goosebumps, Prisoners, or TV's Scandal, and I definitely recognized Derek Luke, as one of the high school administrators, from Antwone Fisher; he was in TV's Empire, as well.
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