Let me put a few things out there right away:
I am going to review this show only from the perspective of it being a "TV show", and as much as possible try not to link it to or relate to actual stuff happening in the real world. The reason simply being, my school was not like this high school. I haven't been in such a "high school" environment. I can safely also say that thankfully I do not have any friends who have or are going through such stages.! So talking about actual stuff that suicidal people in the real world go through, is not possible by me. Just wanted to put that disclaimer out.
Moving on to the review, (SPOILERS below):
The show is about Hannah Baker, who she is, why she committed suicide, what drove her into doing it. She records 13 tapes, narrating the 13 reasons why she killed herself. The show portrayed the sad, gloomy environment post Hannah's suicide in the high school, brilliantly. It showed how interactions among students have severely reduced, how people are afraid / don't want to talk about it, how some have moved on, and how some act as if they care, but really they don't. It also managed to properly capture how some really feel the guilt that they were probably one of the reasons why she killed herself.
The one thing that I really liked, the one thing that really stood out for me was the editing and the production. It was done to show what Hannah was describing in the tapes, and how Clay sees it. Those scenes and the editing were beautifully done, albeit becoming a bit repetitive towards the end. Pacing was kinda slow at first, but picked up tremendously towards the last few episodes. The acting in general was good too. Despite all this, the show had quite a few problems.
Let's get into some specifics:
The very first wrong thing that happened to Hannah was sufficient enough set up for why it could've led to her suicide. Posting photos of what's underneath her skirt? Oh hell no. Very bad. You could really feel sad or bad for Hannah in some of the subsequent episodes too. Stuff like some bloody stalker taking intimate photos of you revealing your bi-sexuality, how everyone tried to take advantage of her after her initial reputation as a "slut" started spreading around, how she witnessed her once-best friend Jessica getting raped, and the worst of it all, how she got raped by the same person later on! It was absolutely unbearable watching the rape scenes. Generally, it should be, although here it was well-done with taste and tact. In the sense, that they captured the brutality of such an act.
These indications were more than enough reasons to know why Hannah did it. And the final scene where they portray the brutality of the suicide, with her slitting her wrists lying dead in a pool of blood, WOW! Amazing scene, followed up by some top-notch acting by the Bakers'.
There were some sub-plots that I was really invested in .The one with the Bakers'. How they were still unable to cope up with the loss of their daughter, how they searched and searched for some evidence that their daughter killed herself because of how everyone treated her, and how they fought for survival of their drug store business. Related sub-plot to this was the legal proceedings that happened towards the end.
The budding relationship between Clay and Hannah was well-done too. Those who have read my Wonder Woman review, would know that I do not like this romance and rom-com stuff. This show is another instance which has made a guy like me really invested in their relationship. I could... you know.. feel it, when Clay regrets not kissing Hannah on prom night. How kind, caring and affectionate he was towards Hannah, how he feels so angry at everyone for not doing anything about it after her death. Why he is unable to listen to the tapes all at once.
Another sub-plot was the Justin-Jessica thingy. How Justin became from a hateful jackass to someone who I actually ended up caring for is good writing. Towards the very end when his mother did almost nothing when he got choked to death by her boyfriend, I was like "Shit man. Get out of there!". There is nothing more to tell about Jessica, as her being raped is depressing enough to know for the viewer. Also, the fact that her boyfriend Justin hid it to "protect her" and her finding out about it, were some good scenes well-acted out. These were some of the things that I liked about this show.
What I didn't like, were some very frustrating issues, that made me rate this show a few points lower than what it could've been. My biggest problem with this show was how they built up this mystery of what could Clay have possibly done to Hannah. Clearly the inclusion of Clay's storyline was a plot device to keep you the viewer engaged to the end, in order to see what this harmless adorable little geek could have done which would outweigh the act of rape for example, but in actual fact he did nothing, left the room when she requested him to, yet somehow Tony and all of Clay's predecessors on the tape would have you believe that he was Satan incarnate. The fact remains that Hannah also included Clay into her tapes and instead of making it clear from the outset that he had no business being on those tapes, he is led to believe that his actions was more egregious than everyone else's put together.
I also felt Hannah could have prevented Jessica from getting raped. I can understand she was in shock after seeing what was happening, but I somehow felt it was out of character for her. Granted, she realized what a big mistake she did, but I still believe she could have done something to stop it.
I am going to review this show only from the perspective of it being a "TV show", and as much as possible try not to link it to or relate to actual stuff happening in the real world. The reason simply being, my school was not like this high school. I haven't been in such a "high school" environment. I can safely also say that thankfully I do not have any friends who have or are going through such stages.! So talking about actual stuff that suicidal people in the real world go through, is not possible by me. Just wanted to put that disclaimer out.
Moving on to the review, (SPOILERS below):
The show is about Hannah Baker, who she is, why she committed suicide, what drove her into doing it. She records 13 tapes, narrating the 13 reasons why she killed herself. The show portrayed the sad, gloomy environment post Hannah's suicide in the high school, brilliantly. It showed how interactions among students have severely reduced, how people are afraid / don't want to talk about it, how some have moved on, and how some act as if they care, but really they don't. It also managed to properly capture how some really feel the guilt that they were probably one of the reasons why she killed herself.
The one thing that I really liked, the one thing that really stood out for me was the editing and the production. It was done to show what Hannah was describing in the tapes, and how Clay sees it. Those scenes and the editing were beautifully done, albeit becoming a bit repetitive towards the end. Pacing was kinda slow at first, but picked up tremendously towards the last few episodes. The acting in general was good too. Despite all this, the show had quite a few problems.
Let's get into some specifics:
The very first wrong thing that happened to Hannah was sufficient enough set up for why it could've led to her suicide. Posting photos of what's underneath her skirt? Oh hell no. Very bad. You could really feel sad or bad for Hannah in some of the subsequent episodes too. Stuff like some bloody stalker taking intimate photos of you revealing your bi-sexuality, how everyone tried to take advantage of her after her initial reputation as a "slut" started spreading around, how she witnessed her once-best friend Jessica getting raped, and the worst of it all, how she got raped by the same person later on! It was absolutely unbearable watching the rape scenes. Generally, it should be, although here it was well-done with taste and tact. In the sense, that they captured the brutality of such an act.
These indications were more than enough reasons to know why Hannah did it. And the final scene where they portray the brutality of the suicide, with her slitting her wrists lying dead in a pool of blood, WOW! Amazing scene, followed up by some top-notch acting by the Bakers'.
There were some sub-plots that I was really invested in .The one with the Bakers'. How they were still unable to cope up with the loss of their daughter, how they searched and searched for some evidence that their daughter killed herself because of how everyone treated her, and how they fought for survival of their drug store business. Related sub-plot to this was the legal proceedings that happened towards the end.
The budding relationship between Clay and Hannah was well-done too. Those who have read my Wonder Woman review, would know that I do not like this romance and rom-com stuff. This show is another instance which has made a guy like me really invested in their relationship. I could... you know.. feel it, when Clay regrets not kissing Hannah on prom night. How kind, caring and affectionate he was towards Hannah, how he feels so angry at everyone for not doing anything about it after her death. Why he is unable to listen to the tapes all at once.
Another sub-plot was the Justin-Jessica thingy. How Justin became from a hateful jackass to someone who I actually ended up caring for is good writing. Towards the very end when his mother did almost nothing when he got choked to death by her boyfriend, I was like "Shit man. Get out of there!". There is nothing more to tell about Jessica, as her being raped is depressing enough to know for the viewer. Also, the fact that her boyfriend Justin hid it to "protect her" and her finding out about it, were some good scenes well-acted out. These were some of the things that I liked about this show.
What I didn't like, were some very frustrating issues, that made me rate this show a few points lower than what it could've been. My biggest problem with this show was how they built up this mystery of what could Clay have possibly done to Hannah. Clearly the inclusion of Clay's storyline was a plot device to keep you the viewer engaged to the end, in order to see what this harmless adorable little geek could have done which would outweigh the act of rape for example, but in actual fact he did nothing, left the room when she requested him to, yet somehow Tony and all of Clay's predecessors on the tape would have you believe that he was Satan incarnate. The fact remains that Hannah also included Clay into her tapes and instead of making it clear from the outset that he had no business being on those tapes, he is led to believe that his actions was more egregious than everyone else's put together.
And that leads to another character problem, which is Tony. I liked the mysterious nature of his character throughout the show, and how supportive he was to Clay. But if he knew Clay had done nothing wrong, why did he keep saying "You have to hear your tape" and all that shit? If Clay didn't do anything wrong, the whole show wouldn't have been from his perspective at all!
I also felt Hannah could have prevented Jessica from getting raped. I can understand she was in shock after seeing what was happening, but I somehow felt it was out of character for her. Granted, she realized what a big mistake she did, but I still believe she could have done something to stop it.
Another small problem I had was the reason why Zach was included in the tapes. I find it hypocritical that she put Zach on the tape when he didn't even particularly do anything that wrong to her. Ok stealing those compliments that Hannah was receiving is being a dick, yes, but I hardly think that is one of the reasons for her to have committed suicide. Zach had his own problems to deal with and Hannah was so angry at the world because of her own problems, yet she is so insensitive and thinks only of herself when it comes to other people's problems. This was a problem with Hannah as a character too. Sometimes she was kinda insensitive to others' problems.
Aside from a few problems, this is an entertaining show that can be seen as a "one-time watch". If you notice stuff such as good editing, you'll really like those aspects. I do wish they had made this as a one-season mini-series though. I mean, it looks like they've covered 90% of what can be done. What more is possibly there? I wanted them to conclude all storylines, get proper justice for Hannah and some of the other characters. I am not that confident about Season 2 though, let's see!
So that's it folks!
Please do comment, and let me know all your thoughts on this show. Whether you agreed with me, disagreed with me etc. Whether my review was too long or not enough, whether I covered everything or missed out some key aspects! I would love to hear your thoughts about all this.
Have a good day! :)
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