Netflix and Spill: 13 Reasons Why comes to a controversial ending

After 4 seasons, 49 episodes and countless hours spent dating the hot button issues that the show raises, 13 Reasons Why has said goodbye. Based on the 2007 young adult novel of the same name by Jay Asher and written for television by showrunner Brian Yorkey, it has arrived at a time when racial tensions are flaring in the United States and across the world. There is a lack of faith in the key institutions set up to protect citizens, and an uprising against the structures and systems in place that have singled out minorities and protected those responsible for perpetuating crimes against them.

An interesting time to watch the show indeed.

We begin with a funeral for an unknown classmate of Liberty High, with the pastor bemoaning how once again we could have ended up here. The toll so far since Hannah Baker’s death is 4 (including Monty De La Cruz and Bryce Walker’s deaths in Season 3). Ultimately, by season’s end the town will once again mourn in unison at the loss of another youth, not before reiterating all the moments, choices and responsibilities that each character had leading up to that moment. Surely, the adults and children have learnt their lesson to be kind and look out for each other by now?

Almost.

The first episode sees Clay (Dylan Minette) endure night terrors that have been plaguing him for some time. Ever since footballer Monty’s death in custody, Clay’s been acting like a dead man walking himself and has begun to dissociate. All that repressed trauma from losing friends and dealing with an almost school shooting in seasons 2 and 3 sees the antihero finally attending therapy with Dr Ellman (Gary Sinise). Losing track of time and who he is, he enters senior year with the same kind of broody, intense attitude that questions why he should even bother attending school or thinking of a life beyond its walls. He continues to date Ani (Grace Saif), who has thankfully more of a purposeful role as a companion to Jessica. Ani is quite likeable this season in fact, but the dynamic between her and Clay is more akin to a mystery solving pair compared to a loving boyfriend and girlfriend.

Jessica (Alisha Boe) is as formidable as ever, dually in her roles as class president and the founder of Hands Off, the student organisation against sexual assault on campus. Despite her tough exterior, she pines for Justin (Brandon Flynn), who is recently returned from rehabilitation for his struggles with addiction. He chooses to focus on his recovery at the expense of their relationship, while rival teammate Diego closes in on Jessica despite her best efforts to resist his charms. Diego is a hunky Dominican footballer who is kind to and respectful of Jessica and her movement, but suspects she is covering a secret about Bryce Walker’s real killer.

Meanwhile, newcomer Winston (Deaken Bluman) threatens to tear apart the fragile bond of the group. The Timothée Chalamet doppelgänger is a transfer from Hillcrest private school and inserts himself into Liberty High , digging for answers about Bryce Walker’s killer. Convinced that former lover Monty is not to blame, he latches onto Tyler (Devin Druid), under the guise of a yearbook photographer when we all know the photographs he’s taking aren’t happy snaps, but evidence for later.

Without the burden of protecting Alex (Miles Hezier) as the real killer, the students are on edge as it is.

Yes, the show has addressed teen suicide, sexual identity, sexual assault, mental health, substance abuse and racial profiling. All of these topics were carefully considered in earlier seasons, except one of the hard-to-digest consequences was that not one single perpetrator of assault ever really served time or repented for their sins. Bryce, while regretful of his decisions before his death, should have gone to jail. Monty was killed in custody before his sentence for abusing Tyler kicked in, but equally considered was that he was framed for Bryce’s murder.

What began as a show intended to address the reasons – albeit overly simplistic- for suicide and the ripple effect it has on the community, turned into a murder mystery a la Riverdale that just oozes of the ‘teen drama’ label.

Liberty High thus transforms into a microcosm for the American high school student in 2020. Promising to make the school safer, principal Bolan installs security scanners (in a nod to the inevitable active shooter plot) and armed guards that mirror the type of police that use overt force on protesters. The parents are in on it too, installing tracking apps on their childrens’ phones in an effort to keep tabs on their whereabouts. Once the students do riot and tip over the edge, it comes as no surprise, although the descent into destruction and anarchy is a little exaggerated at times.

So where to for the characters?

By graduation, there’s finally some love and acceptance as seen through Jessica and Clay’s speeches that highlight the need to be resilient and kind to each other. They note the classmates who obviously are not there to graduate with them, and also highlight the importance of life as a gift to be protected. Clay and Jessica head off to college at Brown and Berkely respectively, and fan favourite Zach Dempsey ends his self-pitying act to do music after school. Alex’s admission of guilt to his own father the police deputy gets conveniently swept under the carpet, but he also finds love by way of sweet footballer Charlie St George (Tyler Barnhardt). Tony harnesses his rage into competitive boxing, and impresses a talent scout who offers him a scholarship at the University of Nevada. Eventually the main crew reunites to bury Hannah Baker’s tapes as a time capsule, and to finally offer some closure towards the saga that brought all the friends together for the wrong reasons but rightly reunited them one last time as they farewell their troubles.

This season will be the last one, and rightly so. We finally can lay the pain, struggles and controversy of the series to rest.

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Shahbaz Malik

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