What is ‘13 Reasons Why’s Reason for Still Existing?

“Who killed Bryce Walker?” It’s the question that looms over 13 Reasons Why Season 3 on Netflix. One of the most villainous bullies in teen television history is now dead, and instead of feeling catharsis about this, the audience must now be plunged into dread. It seems that the prime suspect is none other than 13 Reasons Why‘s hero, Clay Jensen (Dylan Minette). But did Clay really kill Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice)? Could it have been Jessica (Alisha Boe) or Tyler (Devin Druid) or any of the other terribly attractive teens at Liberty High? Perhaps the bigger question is who killed 13 Reasons Why? The show, once devoted to telling the tragic story of Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), seems to have jumped the shark and landed in Pretty Little Liars territory. What is 13 Reasons Why doing in Season 3? And what kind of show does 13 Reasons Why even want to be?

When 13 Reasons Why debuted in March 2017, it immediately became a sensation. The limited series focused on the tragic life of Hannah Baker, a teenager who is bullied, abused, assaulted, and abandoned to the point that she ultimately dies by suicide. Hannah is dead at the beginning of the series, but her spirit lingers thanks to a series of cassette tapes she’s left behind, detailing the thirteen reasons why she elected to take her own life. It’s an emotional mystery rooted in one girl’s personal despair, and a chilling look at the casual horror of being a teenager in today’s world.

If 13 Reasons Why worked so well, it was thanks in huge part to Langford’s performance. She was a fresh-faced ingenue from Australia who managed to anchor the melodrama of the show with understated sorrow and an utterly captivating screen presence. She had an almost old Hollywood level of chemistry with co-star Dylan Minnette — in fact, the whole tone of the show was elevated when the two were on screen together. Langford would go on to earn a Golden Globe nomination for her work, and she’s already landed a Netflix show of her own, Cursed.

However, since 13 Reasons Why was such a runaway hit, Netflix decided to forge ahead with a second season focusing on the fallout of Hannah’s tapes. The problem was the show’s leading lady was…dead. The showrunners contrived to bring her back in “spirit” form to communicate with Clay, but once Hannah’s rapist was exposed, she ascended to whatever passes for heaven on a Netflix YA show. Langford has since confirmed that she is done with the series. Nevertheless, 13 Reasons Why isn’t over yet. Netflix has already renewed the show for a fourth and final season, which leads us to the big pressing issue at hand: if 13 Reasons Why is no longer about the thirteen reasons why Hannah Baker died, then what is it about?

It’s about pain, clearly. It’s about death, and suspicion. Most of all, 13 Reasons Why seems to be a ceaseless parade of trauma, never-ending and never healing. The 13 Reasons Why Season 2 finale features an exquisite sequence where an avalanche of women, young and old, come forward to share the stories of their sexual assaults. It’s about these women reclaiming their narratives and naming their assailants, thus placing the burden of the crime on the perpetrators’ shoulders. True catharsis is achieved. However, this is all undone by a truly visceral sexual assault later in the same episode. In this case, school outcast Tyler is assaulted by three boys in the restroom and he is anally penetrated with the wooden end of a mop. By the end of the episode, Tyler is attempting to murder his classmates in a school shooting. Only Clay’s kindness and courage convinces Tyler to stand down.

13 Reasons Why is only going to get darker this season, with a narrative arc focused squarely on a violent murder mystery. Bryce Harper was a rapist, sadist, and sociopathic bully, and now his death is going to bring more trauma unto the characters of 13 Reasons Why. Poor, heroic Clay is the prime suspect, further stripping him of his innocence. At this point, it’s tough to say that the series resembles its origins. It’s not that shows can’t evolve, but the whole conceit of 13 Reasons Why has been thrown away in favor of a luridly macabre soap opera, starring a cast of actors clearly outgrowing their parts. Hard-core fans may yet be invested, but perhaps the series would have worked better as an anthology, or left as a limited series in the first place.

13 Reasons Why is no longer Hannah Baker’s story, which means 13 Reasons Why is no longer 13 Reasons Why.

13 Reasons Why Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. 

Watch 13 Reasons Why on Netflix