On March 31, 13 Reasons Why went live on Netflix and shook the whole world up. The show, centered around a girl named Hannah Baker committing suicide and leaving behind 13 tapes explaining why she did it, has shed a whole new light on the things that high school students face, The show itself was 13 episodes of an emotional roller coaster. And we all had some pretty emotional thoughts and feelings throughout the show.
***WARNING: this article contains both some salty language, some spoilers, and some upsetting topics from the show 13 Reasons Why. Proceed with caution***
1. What the hell, Justin?
When Hannah goes to the park and meets Justin, we all sat, smiling and thinking how adorable they were. When they kissed, it was a pretty cute moment. But then, Justin went and ruined it by showing Bryce the picture and getting it sent around the school. I mean, Jesus Justin, come on.
2. List? There's a list?! What list?!
In the second episode (Jessica), Hannah talks about how she and Jessica fell out. There are mentions of a list, and that Alex made this mysterious list. In this episode, the list is never directly shown, only referenced. So when they keep referencing a list, we all can't help but wonder: what list?!
3. Oh geez, Alex... I thought you were better than that.
We all thought Alex was a great guy, but then he made a "best/worst" list and made Hannah "best ass" and Jessica (his girlfriend at the time) "worst ass." I mean, come on, Alex, I really wanted you to be better than that.
4. What a creep, holy shit!
You remember Tyler right? Of course, you do. The guy always taking pictures for the yearbook. He always has a camera? Yeah, well, it turns out Tyler is a creep. He was stalking Hannah and taking pictures of her in her room. Yeah, weird and screwed up, I know. It's the quiet ones, I guess.
5. Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone, Courtney...
First, in episode 4, Courtney and Hannah very drunkenly make out, and Tyler snaps a picture of it and spreads it around the school. Courtney gets angry with Hannah. Then they make up, and Hannah goes to the dance with Courtney and her friends. When somebody else figures out who the two girls in the picture are, instead of owning up to her sexuality, Courtney spreads a rumor that HANNAH is the one who is gay, and that the photo is Hannah and her girlfriend, and that after that, they asked Courtney to join in for a three way. Now, being gay is nothing bad, and Courtney should definitely not be ashamed of that part. What she should be ashamed of is spreading lies about Hannah to cover her own insecurities.
6. MARCUS, YOU ASS!
In episode six, they talk about the "Dollar Valentines" that the school does. You pay a dollar, take a survey, and they give you the name and number of five people you are compatible with. Marcus Cooley, gets Hannah, and calls her, asking her on a date. First, this dude shows up an hour late to their date, and shows up WITH HIS FOOTBALL BUDDIES. And as if that wasn't enough, Marcus then attempts to force himself on her IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RESTAURANT. When Hannah pushes him out of the booth and away from her, Marcus loses his cool, and says loudly that he thought she was easy, and storms out of the restuaraunt with his buddies, leaving Hannah crying in the booth. Of all the characters I dislike on this show, this dude is definitely pretty close to the top of my list.
7. Oh my GOD, Zach, grow up
In episode 7, Zach goes sit with Hannah at the restaurant after Marcus storms off, angry that Hannah wouldn't sleep with him. He sits with her and then offers to pay for her milkshake. He then leaves her alone, seeing she doesn't want to talk. The next day at school, he sits with her at lunch, and tells her he wants to be with her for her personality, and not her "great ass"... Yeah, okay Zach. Hannah basically tells him to leave her alone, and Zach does the same thing Marcus did: gets all upset and storms off, only unlike Marcus, he doesn't storm off until he tells Hannah that the things that happen to her are self-inflicted. Smooth, Zach. Smooth. Then, to make things worse, Zach takes Hannah's compliments from her anonymous compliments bag in her communications class, which only hurts Hannah even more.
8. Why would you not call the cops for a knocked down stop sign....
In episode 10, Hannah goes to a party at Jessica's house, and gets a little too tipsy, and gets left alone (we will get into that a bit later). Sheri, a cheerleader, and resident sweetheart comes to the rescue and offers to drive Hannah home, and even offers to let Hannah stay the night. While digging through her purse to find her phone so Hannah can call her parents, she hits and knocks down a stop sign. Out of fear of her strict father punishing her, she doesn't call the police to report the knocked over stop sign. This definitely has its consequences.
9. JEFF DESERVED BETTER THAN THAT GODDAMMIT
In episode 10, a lot is revealed, but one of the things that are revealed is that Jeff, Clay's best friend, the incredibly attractive sweetheart jock Clay had been helping with English, was killed in a car accident, caused by the stop sign being knocked down. If I'm being honest, I had to pause the episode and cry my eyes out because JEFF ATKINS DESERVED BETTER THAN TO BE KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT HE JUST WANTED TO PLAY BASEBALL AND HELP CLAY GET THE GIRL.
10. Awwwwww, Clay, oh my gosh
In episode 11, Hannah finally tells us why Clay is on the tapes, and the reason is: he was afraid to love her. The whole reason Clay is on the tapes, is because Hannah loved him, and Clay was so inexperienced and scared, that he didn't reciprocate her feelings as openly as she needed him to, but Hannah herself says that Clay does not belong on the tapes. But when Clay listens to the tapes, he has a small emotional breakdown. It's revealed that Clay and Hannah almost slept together at Jessica's party, but Hannah stopped Clay from doing anything because she has a moment of fear based on the way men have treated her previously, leaving Clay incredibly confused and he leaves in a blur. Clay goes back to this moment after hearing his tape, and reimagines what would have happened if he had stayed, and told Hannah in that moment that he did love her.
11. Okay, maybe I like Justin.
In episode 9, it's revealed that Justin tried to stop Bryce from taking advantage of Jessica, and was incredibly beyond torn up over what he knew damn well Bryce did to his girlfriend. He lies to Jessica and tells her Hannah made it up so that Jessica wouldn't have to face what happened to her. Although his actions were not good, Justin's heart was in the right place, and he just wanted to protect Jessica. He wanted to keep her safe, and honestly that made me love Justin's heart and his character so much more. It's also revealed that Justin lives in an abusive home, where his mom cycles through boyfriend after boyfriend, and is always doing drugs. It is shown that Jessica is his rock through all of the bullshit he goes through at home, which only leaves us feeling worse for Justin, because it makes you understand he lied to Jessica so that he wouldn't lose the person he relies on most in the world. He also lied for Bryce because Bryce has been his best friend for years, and he didn't want to lose that relationship. Justin, in my opinion, is the most complicated character.
12. GET OUT OF THE HOT TUB, HANNAH. I REPEAT GET OUT OF THE HOT TUB AND RUN
Please be aware this next section describes some rape and could be difficult for some people to read. Proceed with caution.
In episode 12, Hannah goes on an aimless walk, and finds herself at a party at Bryce Walkers house. She strips down to her bra and underwear and gets into the tub and hangs out with the people in the tub. Slowly, everyone gets out of the tub, and Hannah is left alone in the tub, as the party died down. Suddenly, the jets turn off, and Hannah turns to find Bryce in the tub with her. Despite her many attempts to get away from him, Bryce manages to force her into a position, and rapes her. As soon as you see Bryce in that tub, knowing what he did to Jessica, we all begged Hannah to run away. We also watch as Clay gets Bryce to confess to raping Hannah, on tape. Or did you not catch that?
13. Okay... what. the. hell. just. happened?
This section includes some description of self-harm/suicide and mentions rape, so please proceed with caution once again.
The 13th episode is an emotional loopdy-loop within the emotional roller coaster that is 13 Reasons Why. Not only does it show that Hannah tries to go get help from Mr. Porter, the school guidance counselor, and he doesn't help at all, but Clay gives Mr. Porter the tapes, and we actually watch as Hannah takes her own life by cutting her wrists in her family bathroom. We also watch the devastating scene as Hannah's mom, Olivia, finds her daughter's lifeless body. We also watch as Jessica tells Justin she never wants to see him again, a scene that broke my heart because of my own personal love for Justin Foley's character. And as if this scene wasn't heartbreaking enough, we find out in the last five minutes that Alex tried to kill himself with a gun to his head. We also watch as Jessica begins to tell her dad that she was raped. And the show ends with a scene of Clay, Tony, Tony's boyfriend, and Skye in the car, driving into the distance.
The ending to this ground breaking show leaves so many questions unanswered.We are all so invested in this show, and everyone who watched the show is begging more questions, and begging for more answers to those questions.