13 Reasons Why: Season 3 Review

By Callie Fritz, 2020

Published 10/03/19

Have you ever seen a car accident? Heard the screech of the tires, the loud twisting of the metal, seen the shocked and terrified faces of those around you, every fiber of your being wants you to turn away and cease looking, but something inside of you pulls your gaze back to the bloody wreck. This feeling of compulsive viewing despite deep disgust is what kept my eyes glued to the screen throughout season 3 of the Netflix original series, 13 Reasons Why.

“The road to hell was paved with good intentions”, and Thirteen Reasons Why was a show created by people who wanted to create real concrete change regarding the perception of mental health and suicide. While season one was deeply flawed and heavily criticized for its portrayal of protagonist Hannah Baker’s suicide, a change from the source material, many fans found comfort and felt that they were seen by the humanizing and frank portrayal of mental health and the less than stereotypical high school experience. Season 2 was when the fan and critic response began to sour, many felt that a show based on the death of one character should not have gone on for another season once that story line had wrapped up. The other segment of criticism was much louder, with many former fans of the shows feeling confused and hurt by the increased sensationalism and shocking story lines that seemed to add nothing to the plot, with former Peeping Tom Tyler’s descent into school shooter-dom due to rape by mop being the most controversial plot by far. Many who had begun to watch the show to cope with their past traumas felt that having one more graphic sexual assault on a program that already showcased two in intense detail was gracious and unnecessary. If fans felt that season 2 was a cash grab full of disturbing story lines and moments that seemed to exist only for the show to gain noteriety and virality, they could not have been prepared for the mess of season 3.

To put this in layman’s terms, season 3 of Thirteen Reasons Why is the worst season of television I have ever watched, and I spent almost my entire childhood watching Glee. It is a mess of way too many hot button topics, covering gun violence, homophobia, the immigration crisis, abortion, sexual assault, the Me Too movement, and our corrupt criminal justice system. Not only that, it’s painfully poorly written, riddled with cliches like a bad Wattpad story, including the self-insert new girl who is all-knowing, and the homophobic bully who is secretly gay. The camera work is dull and uninspired, with so many grey, monotone shots of water or the outside of the infamous high school. The writing is like a Riverdale on crack, every character is one dimensional and acts like no high schooler that has ever existed. The acting is surprisingly fine, but since the actors are all 30 years old and refuse to cover up their tattoos, the believability is stretched thin. Ultimately, no human, but especially no high schooler should subject themselves to this offensive, harmful pile of utter garbage that I wasted an entire weekend of my life hate watching. Stay safe, and don’t watch 13 Reasons Why!