No show in recent times has probably gained as much notoriety as Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why”. Centered around 13 tapes left behind by the late Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), who takes her own life, the show follows the lives of those Hannah claimed are the reasons why she committed suicide. Upon the release of the first seasons, the show has met with almost universal criticism for its glorification of suicide and inability to expand the dialogue on critical issues regarding mental illness.

I was one of those critics when the show first launched. Especially as someone who has lost someone to suicide, I found the show to be too black-and-white for the message it was trying to give. Suicide awareness is a tough image to handle, and unfortunately “13 Reasons Why” failed to meet that standard.

But this is where I’m going to play devil’s advocate. Aside from its poor execution of social commentary, the show in its first season had a plot that had given season 2 somewhat of an incentive to watch.

And with season two having been launched on Netflix this past week, I have to say that it has failed to live up to its momentum.

One thing I will give a tip of the hat to “13 Reasons Why” is that its first season was well organized chronologically, with each episode having dealt with each individual character and in the end have all of their plots converge. This season let that structure go, and because of that it left me almost falling asleep in some scenes.

Moreover, one of the things that I felt was truly disappointing about the show is that it somehow made suicide this mechanism for romantic value. In season one, it was this obsession that main character Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) had with Hannah when listening to the tapes. In season two, it’s him continuing to converse with her in an almost hallucinating way. These frequent conversations seem to give off the notion that even after you’re dead, you’re in some ways, still alive.

Overall, “13 Reasons Why” season 2 failed to live up to its previous season’s momentum. The fragmented storyline, romanticization of mental illness, and incompetence in making clear that suicide is not trendy, continue to make this show have lackluster value.

Is this show problematic? Absolutely. Is it binge-worthy? Some, but not all. My cup of tea? At this rate, I’ll stick to coffee.