Yes. You read that correctly “13 Reasons Why” is coming out with their fourth and final season. Before releasing the trailer, Netflix released a farewell video showing the cast mates in tears. Some were happy tears and some were sad tears, but I’m sure they all loved being part of something great.
Let me start off by saying: Liberty High needs to be burned down. Straight ashes. I love watching shows that depict teenagers in high school because I was once a teenager in high school, but this show takes it to a completely different level. I have never heard of nor experienced a school that was the center of so much death and trauma. This show puts Degrassi to shame.
The first season of “13 Reasons Why” starts off with a teenager named Hannah Baker. After Hannah’s death, her tapes — recordings outlining the events before her suicide — go on the loose. They aren’t going to just anyone, however; Hannah made sure the tapes reached every person responsible for her death. The show takes a dark turn when Clay Jensen gets a hold of them because he was in love with her, and he would have protected Hannah at all costs. When Clay finds out the real reason she killed herself, he goes to great lengths to clear Hannah’s name and reveal the truth about her time at Liberty High.
In the second season, the focus on Hannah is still there, but school jock Bryce Walker begins to play a more prominent role. Bryce was the person who raped Hannah and pushed her over the edge. Clay confronts him about his actions but Bryce denies it. This isn’t shocking since Bryce came from money. He is stuck up, privileged, spoiled and rich. His parents can make anything go away — which is what they tried to do. Bryce’s past victims come to his court hearing to testify that he raped them as well, yet the jury finds Bryce not responsible. If Clay finding out Bryce raped Hannah didn’t send him over the edge then Bryce not going to jail definitely does.
Toward the end of the second season, Tyler’s anger toward the baseball team begins to grow. Monty assaults Tyler in a bathroom stall with a broomstick. Tyler’s hatred only grows stronger to the point where he is just minutes away from shooting up the school dance.
Once the second season was over, I personally felt like that should’ve been the end of the show. I felt like the show what getting away from its main subject, which was Hannah Baker. For me, the show should have started and ended with her. The way the show was written was so compelling, so you couldn’t help but wonder about the characters later down the line.
Seasons 2 through 4 showed every action and reaction to Hannah’s death. If she had never met Clay, went to the park with Justin, hung out with Courtney, went to Bryce’s party or hid in the closet when Bryce assaulted Jessica, then her suicide would have never happened. I had always wondered what the show would be like if Hannah never died.
The second season of “13 Reasons Why” ends with Clay stopping Tyler from carrying out a massacre. From that night on everyone within Clay’s inner circle keeps tabs on Tyler to make sure he doesn’t reach that same point again. They literally have a whole schedule planned out around Tyler so everyone can take part in taking him to and from school as well as walking him to each class.
Season 3 introduces a new character named Ani. The third season just so happens to be narrated by her, which was one of the main issues I had. Her character is genuinely annoying for multiple reasons. To begin with, she falls for Bryce and has sex with him already knowing about his past allegations. I also feel like she is messy and can’t decide what she wants to do. There are times when she should not have been trusted, but Clay chooses to trust her anyway.
The third season opens with a murder mystery that asks the question: Who killed Bryce Walker? Ani’s conversation with the sheriff investigating the crime functions as narration. She explains that due to Bryce Walker’s horrible character, anyone could’ve had motive to kill him; honestly, Bryce was so terrible I wanted to kill him. While everyone focuses on Bryce’s murder, one of his best friends, Monty, is imprisoned for sexually assaulting Tyler.
Turns out, Monty is gay. He is in the closet, but fears coming out because his father is a drunk homophobe. I personally feel like Monty was so aggressive with Tyler because Tyler is so sure about sexuality. Monty actually had a boyfriend — a secret boyfriend. Now that Bryce is gone the only threat is Monty. Since he was already behind bars it was easy to pin Bryce’s death on him. Or so they think.
Just as Ani tells the sheriff Monty killed Bryce, the sheriff tells Ani Monty died in jail. So not only did they take the focus off themselves, but they pin the story on someone who can no longer defend themselves.
This leads us to the fourth and final season where it seems like everyone and everything spirals out of control. Although the finale ends with the announcement of Monty’s death, the trailer shows no evidence of him actually dying. The trailer opens with Clay and Justin walking through a crowd to see “Monty was framed” spray painted on school doors. So all the work they did to place the blame on Monty was for nothing. It may have stopped the sheriff, but not Monty’s lover, Winston Williams. Winston can attest to Monty’s whereabouts the night Bryce was killed, putting a hole in their entire story.
From the looks of the trailer, Winston pairs up with the jocks of Liberty High to tell the truth and expose Clay and his friends’ secrets. It seems like Winston is taunting the group, sending everyone down a rabbit hole. Justin is seen crying in the mirror, which makes me believe he might relapse in Season 4. Alex is shown swiping his dresser clean, which could mean he’s on the brink of suicide again.
Justin pulls Jessica back from what looked like a fight in the school parking lot. Zach threatens Clay because he knows Clay is ready to break. Clay is the one person who keeps everyone’s secrets, but maybe in Season 4 he can longer do that. If Clay starts spilling secrets then everyone is going to jail.
Clay’s past demons seem to be catching up to him, so he starts going to therapy, but is that going to work?
The big question I have for Season 4 of “13 Reasons Why” is: Is Monty dead or alive? I ask this question because, again, there is no body. If Winston is so certain on clearing Monty’s name could it be because Monty wants to come back home? Before he can do that the truth needs to be said. If the truth does come out then Zach, Jessica and Alex are going to jail for taking part in killing Bryce.
The dynamic duo, Tony and Clay, are seen getting chased and stopped by multiple police cruisers in an alley. What are they running from?
The ending of Season 3 and the trailer for the final season of “13 Reasons Why” leaves so many questions up in the air, which will hopefully get answered in their 10-episode season. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Brian Yorkey, explained 10 episodes was a good length for a season and that it’ll all make sense in the end.
We shall see for ourselves on June 5.
