Last night, I finished the series finale of 13 Reasons Why. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the show, but I do know that there are a lot of people who didn't for various reasons. Thinking about the show, I would say that, like the characters on the show, it was well intentioned but deeply flawed, messy, and problematic. In other words, it was very, very human.
The show is definitely not a show I would recommend to everyone. If you suffer from depression or anxiety, suffered sexual assault, or are easily triggered, it is not the show for you. They do have warnings on the show about watching with friends or a trusted adult, but it is really heavy and can be emotionally draining. And there are definitely scenes that are really hard to watch.
I think the biggest problem is that they didn't always handle storylines very well. In the final season, they had Justin get HIV which progressed to AIDS in the space of a year or so. Based of what I have read, HIV doesn't proceed quite that quickly, even if it is untreated. That honestly seemed like it was more for shock than anything else and I cannot say that I appreciated it at all. Also, there really wasn't a whole lot of groundwork laid for that, which is another problem. Granted, there were the dark blotches on his face, neck, and back, which I have seen in other movies/shows where someone has AIDS, so that might have been them trying to hint at what was coming, but it still felt so sudden that it seemed to be more exploitative and not something that they really needed to do.
Another storyline that was problematic for some people was the arc in Season 3 when Bryce was trying to redeem himself. Personally, I didn't have a problem with it because I believe that anyone who is truly sorry and tries to make amends can be redeemed. Here the flaw was more in the execution and the fact that it was Bryce; a rich, white, cis, heterosexual male. I do think that he truly realized that he had committed truly monstrous acts or enabled people to commit monstrous acts in his name, but he did seem genuinely sorry for what he had done and was trying to atone for it. Unlike some people in real life, he didn't just mouth platitudes about how he was sorry, he seemed to truly mean it. That being said, the fact that they didn't give Monty (a Latino) the same opportunity strikes me as tone deaf and not a good thing.
I can say that I appreciated the way that they deepened all of the characters after the first season. Just like in real life, there are people who screw up in a major way, but they are not simply bad people. Rather, they are products of their environment and don't always realize how hurtful their actions are. Or they try and protect the people they love and end up hurting other people, either on accident or on purpose. Like I said, flawed and messy. None of the characters could really claim the moral high ground. Each of them made some rather shocking actions that caused a lot of damage. For example, Clay took a picture of Tyler naked and spread it around school to get revenge (he said it was justice, but it was truly revenge) after hearing about how Tyler had taken pictures of Courtney and Hannah kissing. There are so many more I could cite, but I won't.
I also appreciated that the show did have several queer characters and people of color (some of whom were also queer). That sort of representation is a good thing and, in every case except one, the person was accepted and embraced by the people around them. I will say that having Alex kiss Zach and get a boyfriend in the last season (he never defined his orientation) was a little odd because there had been no indication in prior seasons that he was into guys at all. I don't know if they decided to have him be queer between seasons 3 and 4, if it was a long-term plan that was never indicated, or if it was something that Miles (who is in a relationship with Connor Jessup, but has never defined his sexuality that I know of) pushed for, but it was so sudden that it also felt a little exploitative. He had only ever indicated that he was interested in Jessica in the past and had never looked at guys or anything, so it could have been prepared for a little better.
As I said, I did appreciate the series overall and definitely enjoyed it, but that doesn't make me blind to its flaws. I am sure there may be flaws that I either missed or didn't see as flaws, but no one sees everything. If you think the show is for you, I would give it a look.
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