13 Reasons Why: A Critical Nitpick

I have nowhere near enough time to do a full review of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, but I do have time to be overly critical over a handful of plot points in this depressing drama.

Now before I go any further I should mention 2 things. The first is that I legitimately enjoyed the series, and even though I’m going to be spending the next hundred thousand words or so explaining the things I didn’t like about it, you should definitely watch it. The second being, I’m about to SPOIL major plot points from the entire series, so if you want to go in dry, read at your own risk.

Let me reiterate that I did in fact enjoy the series. I read the book it’s based on back in high school multiple times, and thought the series did a fantastic job of translating the story into a 13 episode format, while improving upon the basic story. But it’s these improvements that make the few glaring marks I have with the show so damning. If you went out of your way to make characters like Alex and Courtney so complex and interesting, why not fix the other problems the book had originally?

1. Clay’s Reason For Being On The Tapes Is Stupid

The best thing this series could have done was make Clay, our protagonist, more interesting. Clay being a mary sue was the worst thing about the book. You’re telling me that our protagonist receives tapes of a girl cataloging why she eventually committed suicide, then tells us that our protagonist is one of those reasons, and then we find out that her reason is… he left her alone when she asked. Next to stalkers, rapists, and just plain douchebags, Clay is the odd one out on this list.

In greater context, Hannah and Clay are finally hooking up at Jessica’s party right before the school year starts. Before anything gets too serious, Hannah starts having second thoughts about this, then tells Clay to stop. Clay obliges, though he is incredibly confused. He tries to calm Hannah down, but she yells at him and tells him to leave. Again, Clay obliges.

Not only is this reveal anticlimactic, it pushes a ton of blame onto Clay for no reason. Hannah even confesses that Clay doesn’t belong on the tapes… so why the hell would you even include him? It would make so much more sense for Clay to be the only person to receive the tapes, with “his” tape being the first one. Hannah expresses her feelings and guilt over not revealing her feelings earlier, then could dive into the true reasons why she ended her life. Instead, this clunky reveal just makes Clay feel guilty -- something he has been feeling ever since he knew he was involved with all this in the first place.

This reveal is made even more clunky as it is told out of order. The sequence of events for Jessica’s party is Clay/Hannah’s Kiss - Justin lets Bryce rape Jessica - Cheri runs over the stop sign, but as we are told it: Justin lets Bryce rape Jessica - Cheri runs over the stop sign -- Clay/Hannah’s Kiss. This does nothing but confuse us as we try to figure out what the order of events are, while only serving to prolong the reveal.

While I’m on the subject, I appreciate the show’s attempts to make Clay a more vindictive and unlikable character than what he was in the book. But it is executed so poorly. Clay vandalizes Zach’s car and spreads a nude picture of Tyler around school, taking action on Hannah’s behalf. Sure, you can say that these people “deserved it” but does Clay not realize the irony? The irony that he is being just as cruel to these kids as they were to Hannah? Clay only seems to conclude by the end of the story is that he, Skye, Tony, and Hannah were the only decent people left at their school. The story shrugs off Clay’s involvement for almost the entire story, with a cliffhanger from Tyler’s room, making an effort to reinforce that Clay’s actions had some effect.

2. Seriously, Why Did You Not Tell Him?

Episode 13 of the series is one of the most baffling cases of “why did you not tell them that??” I have ever seen in a show. It’s downright inexcusable. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Episode 12 gives us our setup: Bryce rapes Hannah in his hot tub at a party (why the hell did you get into the hot tub in the first place if you knew he was capable of rape?) and this is what sends Hannah over the edge to take her own life. Episode 13 shows her giving life one more chance as she visits Mr. Porter, the school counselor. Throughout their conversation, Hannah seems intentionally vague, as Mr. Porter tries to get a sense of what she is trying to say. Finally Mr. Porter seems to understand that Hannah was violated, and he asks for a name. Hannah, for some reason, does not give one. Mr. Porter’s tape ends with him saying that Hannah should simply move on from this and try to forget about it.

Two things need to be unpacked from this scene. The first being that Mr. Porter seems to be aware that Hannah was assaulted and did nothing. The second being that Hannah seemed to be purposefully withholding information from him for no serious reason. Hannah and Porter both act as if nothing can be done about it, so why do anything? But nothing can be done if Porter doesn’t have a name. Hannah knows who did it, Hannah knows he has done it to at least one other person, so why bother not saying it was Bryce? Don’t get me wrong, I am not victim blaming. It is not Hannah’s fault that she got raped (though seriously, why the hell did you get into the hot tub?) but I cannot think of any logical reason as to not mention Bryce by name. Porter (representing the school) being unable to do anything when they are aware of (or at least suspect) a student’s assault is bad enough, but Hannah not even being able to say who did it? Porter even says that he can’t do anything unless he has some information. I’m baffled. I would have been less insulted if Bryce’s name was said, but Porter shrugged it off as Bryce’s status as a star basketball player means that he can get away with anything because the staff would be convinced that he isn’t capable of doing such a thing.

This whole scene just feels poorly written. I get the intention: Hannah is attempting to come to school, a resource society has told her can help her when in need, and the institution that is supposed to protect her (or at least feed her) is unable or unwilling to do anything. Hannah’s talk with Porter is probably supposed to reflect the talks that dozens of counselors have with students about depression, anxiety and suicide, but his inability to help with Hannah’s assault just seems out of place rather than a case of implicit lack of care.

3. Wait, Hannah Lied?

Episode 7 brings to light some interesting information. Tape 4, Side A is Zach, a jock who tries to cheer Hannah up after being taken advantage of by fellow jock Marcus. Zach tries to warm up to Hannah, but she gives him the cold shoulder, understandably so. To get back at her, Zach steals “positive notes” from her. She writes him a note detailing how important those notes are to her, hoping that Zach would read it. She witnesses Zach steal the note, read it, then crumple it up in front of her… except in the present, the note isn’t crumpled up.

Clay and Zach have a conversation after Clay vandalizes Zach’s car. Zach appears as sweet and innocent as Hannah had initially made him out to be, producing the note that Hannah had said was crumpled up, and confessing that he had feelings for Hannah. While this certainly does not excuse Zach for what he did, it’s a cute scene that adds a level of depth to Zach’s character. But why exactly does this never come up again? Why did Hannah lie? On the one hand, it makes some sense. We only know things from the perspective of Hannah and Clay, and Hannah and Clay are not omnipotent narrators, so they could be unreliable storytellers. On the other hand, this is Hannah explicitly saying one thing and the other turning out to be true. 

Conclusion

13 Reasons Why is an example of a story moving across a medium. It's a case of those involved genuinely trying to make something long lasting and unique. But just because an effort was made, it does not excuse the glaring blemishes that the show has.