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Try to imagine Beverly Hills 90210 as flawlessly cast and brilliantly paced film noir. 13 Reasons Why has the most in common with the work of Gregg Araki (not only because of the excellent soundtrack that provides commentary on what the protagonists are experiencing), who directed two episodes. The characters include most of the types known from high-school movies since at least Grease (which Tony seems to have come straight out of with his hairstyle and outfit), but the series portrays them with unusual sincerity and perceptiveness, handling them in a rather unpredictable way and viewing their decisions in broader contexts (social and economic), so that in the case of most of them, we better understand why they behave the way they do. ___ The gradual untangling of the tightly woven web of social ties runs in parallel with the revealing of who all contributed to Hannah's suicide, thus bringing about the revelation that no one (including the outsider protagonist or the adults) was actually completely blameless, even though the wrongdoing consisted only in a lack of empathy. The decision to build the whodunit narrative on a melodramatic, slightly emo foundation works also thanks to the fact that Clay gets caught up in the narrative and, during the “investigation”, experiences something similar to what Hannah endured. He essentially becomes her avatar, who does what she can no longer do. On the stylistic level, the interconnectedness of the past and present is reflected in the seamless transitions between “then” and “now” – for example, merely by changing the colour tone (cool colours for the present, warm for the past) – and the graphic continuity of two adjacent shots that are actually separated by several weeks/months (the presence/absence of the scar on Clay’s forehead serves well for orientation in the timeline). The suspenseful nature of the narrative is also aided by the varying degrees of the individual character’s awareness – whereas others have already played all of the tapes and sometimes refer to something that will be explained only several episodes later, Clay remains in the dark (and we along with him). ___ To some viewers, the series, which focuses primarily on themes such as rape, sexism, depression, alcoholism and bullying, may seem exceedingly dark, if not exploitative, but in light of the fact that its creators strive for realism mainly in the development of characters rather than in depicting a fictional world (which is deliberately somewhat of a model) and the story is for the most part told and its direction determined by the main victim of most of the physical and psychological abuse, who finds herself pushed beyond the limits of her possibilities, the chosen tone and naturalism in the depiction of said abuse makes sense (regardless of whether we consider Hannah, in the words of one of the characters, to be a “drama queen”). ___ One more introductory episode in which we would have seen Hannah through the eyes of her classmates would have been appreciated, as it would have later been more apparent that their distorted view of her was due to their ignorance of her circumstances. The suggestions that Hannah was an unreliable narrator and her version of the stories was actually only “one side of the tape” could also have been elaborated upon. Of course, there would have been more to it (the occasionally somewhat cheesy dialogue, Hannah as the embodiment of boys’ fantasies of an unusual, sarcastic and sexy girl), but it is still a stylistically mature, narratively remarkable and, in its comprehension of the issue of teen angst, adult series, and it will take me a while to recover from its devastating finale (by which I don't mean the last few minutes, but the final three episodes). (03.04.2017) (weniger) (mehr)

Season 1 – 75% – As much as I was looking forward to this series, I ended up struggling with it to the same extent. Not that I didn't enjoy it, I've seen high school environments in a hundred different ways. But maybe because I've seen a lot in the teen genre, I was surprised by how rarely it delved intensely and precisely into the topics in the first half. Combined with Clay's incredible restraint or almost retardation, constantly falling or breaking something, I sometimes hid my head in my hands out of anger or embarrassment. But the second half is more dramatic and in many ways uncompromising, and even a week after watching the last episode, I can't get some scenes out of my head. That applies to both the finale and the penultimate episodes, where one feels really uncomfortable, but even more so to a specific one that has the greatest chance of showing the power of the whole story. Just the thought of what could have been, the vision of a happy ending for the main couple that will never come true. Something broke inside me and I realized that even though I have a huge problem with 13 Reasons Why, Hannah and Clay will never disappear from my mind. Unfortunately, the problem is the concept of the tapes, the carefully crafted narrative, and the subtle accusation of everyone present with one logically explained exception. Some assholes definitely deserve the feeling of lifelong guilt, but it's difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that some of the participants acted more or less like ordinary, self-absorbed teenagers. They will have to overcome the accusation on the tapes that if they had made a different decision just once, everything could have been fine. Maybe it could have, but no one, not even the main character, deserves to pass such judgments on them. Even those seemingly insignificant situations are acted out perfectly (and no, no situation is insignificant when one unpleasant cut after another keeps coming at you so painfully that you unconsciously perceive every stolen glance from a classmate as a personal attack), and Katherine Langford deserves all awards imaginable for how she can bring the smallest hint of emotion to perfection. But when Hannah walks away from school at the end, and the tape plays the reproach that no one wants to stop her, I shudder to think what a scene like that might do to male and female viewers who are at a critical age and in some very unfortunate episode in their lives. Technically, there's little to fault this collection, but value-wise, I'm still shaking my head over it to this day. Season 2 – 90% – The People v. Bryce Walker. Sometimes I feel like a certain group of viewers don't even deserve contemporary quality work. And after reading another volley of statements along the lines of "Hannah didn't do anything wrong" or "Bryce is a likable guy who should be forgiven", I think even more so. I don't even agree that 13 Reasons Why is just a superficial fail for over-sensitive whiners. No, whatever the show's qualities, it always presents ideas in its second season that are primarily human, emotional, and even understandable to any empathetic individual. Moreover, Dylan Minnette, Langford, and especially Alisha Boe have matured so much as actors that identification with the characters is much deeper this time around. The major leap up for me, however, is the plot, which I was dreading after the announcement of the new story, but which thankfully doesn't repeat the controversial claim that Hannah had no other choice, and instead takes a more logically thorough look at the questions of how to move on and how to even manage to progress to where we are at least a little bit better off. Indeed, the problems, not just of teenage society, that the team around Brian Yorkey point out are so numerous that there isn't an episode that doesn't grab you by the heart, freeze you up, or just point a sufficiently cautionary (but thankfully not wildly moralistic) finger at the problem. Not every such thing is then enjoyable to watch, see the feminist group of students who mean well at the core of their actions, but the consequences of their behavior are almost catastrophic. But isn't every teenage endeavor just like that? Determined, often black and white, and burning every conceivable bridge for even a single value? Even more controversial, then, are the events surrounding Bryce himself. Throughout the first two seasons, there wasn't a viewer who hated the slimy snake Walker more than I did – and yet I'm also the one who champions his character in a cathartic third year. Perhaps because I'm (hopefully) no longer a mental teen and can leave some dry thread on the perpetrator of various evils. Because no one is saying (and through the mouth of the mature Justin Prentice, not even Bryce himself) that he didn't do the heinous things the show talks about, even as he finally accepts responsibility for them and wants to make amends. And here is the biggest crossroads at which everyone in 13 Reasons Why rightfully stops. The place where Bryce wants to come clean and make amends, and quite objectively succeeds on a few of them, and quite plausibly fails on others, because when something unfair matures in a person long enough, you can never quite get rid of it. But the effort is there, and it's not just about promises, it's also about actions, and while some of the characters accept such a change (at least temporarily), others quite logically don't believe it, and I'm sorry how a large percentage of the audience refuses to listen to such a (nowadays quite fundamental) dilemma at least for a while. For me, it's this incrementally debated issue that is perhaps the biggest nut the series has given me to crack so far, and I've fully bought it from the creators, not least because of the perfectly delivered lines (Devin Druid as Tyler is breathtaking and I want to believe that he can break out of the current box) or, given the genre, the adequately attractive couples, who I can't help but root for (I haven't adored anyone as much as Justin and Jessica in a long time). But to not just praise and illuminate the relatively moderate ratings, I have to mention the newcomers I didn't find to my liking. The ubiquitous genius Ani is simply insufferable as an instant best friend and part of the gang, and as much as the episode that focuses on the Bryce-Ani-Clay triangle is quite possibly one of the highlights of the series, I find the sheer targeting of both characters to be a mistake. I simply can't believe how easily she's integrated into the whole plot, and how strong the feelings both of the aforementioned suddenly began to feel for her, which may be a minor scripting rush of events around her, or then the impression that Grace Saif plays all of Ani's positions exactly the same. The questions over the final season are pretty big either way. Because unlike the previous series, there's no outright cliffhanger or trauma, and the journey remains almost completely clean. Season 4 – 55% – A sharp landing. It's as if the last season was written by a different crew, as if someone had fundamentally changed the main characters and made the conscious ones smug (Jessica), the appealing ones empty boxes (Zach), and even the narrator Clay a disturbed individual who is forgiven every time, even though his behavior operates on a system of random outbursts and he comments on the whole event with tone-deaf monologues on "Fuck Love" or "You can't survive high school". I regret this all the more because I've always championed the series, whether it was investigating or instructing, and I continue to find it a thrilling warning for all fragile souls. That's why I don't understand that at the very end it encourages crazy and reckless acts without discouraging them. What all the main characters get away with, what crazy missteps without a shred of thought or logic, is what the mind is left wondering. Most of the time, such moves lead them to a thrilling cliffhanger, but the subsequent episode doesn't refer to it and just deflects it in two sentences. Then, when the entire series functions as a string of specials (the gala, the trip, the riot, the prom, the graduation), in competition with the three previous seasons, each inextricably linked by a central theme (the tapes, the trial, the murder), it's nothing short of sad. I wasn't expecting such a messy send-off, and I'm only relatively resigned to it because of the last episode. It's the only one that speaks to me in the same language as the old days. And I try not to think too much about the fact that, with a few cosmetic tweaks, it could have stuck around for a third season without watching the creative travails of the nine episodes before it. (07.08.2017) (weniger) (mehr)