“I don’t wanna help. I wanna hurt.”
The cruelest, and smartest, aspect of 13 Reasons Why is that it lets us get to know (and, most often, come to like) certain characters before we get to their tape. I love Courtney Crayson – she seems genuinely interested in helping Clay deal with Hannah’s death, and before Tyler took compromising photos of them, she was a real friend to Hannah when Hannah needed one. Which is what makes “Tape 3, Side A” such a gut-punch at times.
It starts at the beginning, with one of 13 Reasons Why‘s most inspired sequences yet. The dance has a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere (Tyler taking pictures in the background is a nice touch). Clay is there because he lost a bet to Jeff, the football player he was tutoring – Jeff did better than a C on his test, so Clay had to go to the dance.
I love details like this because they show that Clay is a good person, and at times, so are people around him. (It makes me dread hearing Clay’s tape, which is good, effective storytelling. And I’m just happy my precious angel Tony isn’t on any of the tapes.)
What makes this sequence so inspired is its ending, when blood starts spilling from Hannah’s wrists. It’s actually shocking, because we haven’t seen any of Hannah’s suicide; we don’t even know how she died. Now, after four episodes of getting to know and love this complicated, funny, smart young woman, we get to watch her die in front of us. That this is all a dream sequence – one of my least favorite forms of narrative – makes for an unexpected relief.
“Tape 3, Side A” presents what could be long-term problems with the show, though, which I’ll get to. But most of it focuses on Courtney, and the aftermath of the picture of her and Hannah. It’s not as focused as other tapes, because most of this story was bundled into “Tape 2, Side B,” so we spend more time in the present, where Courtney is part of a group text about how to stop Clay from…something.
13 Reasons isn’t entirely clear about what they’re afraid of Clay doing, which isn’t terrible on its own, but with the amount of talking about it going on, there better be a good payoff. (But it does allow for a fun scene with Justin and Clay, where Justin warns Clay against finishing the tapes, threatening to shut it down, prompting Clay to respond “‘Shut it down’? Who talks like that?” I love seeing that Clay isn’t easily cowed by people like Justin, and self-referential moments like that elevate 13 Reasons Why above other fare directed at a young-adult audience.)
Here’s what I worry about, though. For most of 13 Reasons Why, the story has been anchored in realism, which is necessary when you have a central conceit like the tapes. But the story is veering more into conspiracy territory, when I think it works better as a mystery. Courtney, Justin, Marcus, and Zach are actively talking about how to curtail Clay’s efforts, and it can lead to some pretty outlandish scenes. (I like that Tyler tries to join the group and is quickly rebuffed.)
When I say outlandish, I mean Alex, Justin, and Zach forcing Clay into Alex’s car after they see him visiting Hannah’s grave. Alex revs the car to almost 100 MPH while Justin tells Clay to cut it out. The scene is nicely tense, but it’s not as effective as I want it to be, because short of publishing Tyler’s picture, Clay hasn’t really done anything. The group is worried that he’s told his mom about the tapes, but the tension there is undercut because we know he hasn’t. If he had done so – or told Mr. Porter, or Principal Bolan – that would be one thing, because then he could scramble to cover his tracks.
That said, I do like the message it sends about the cruel exclusivity of high school cliques. These people don’t trust Clay because he’s not one of “them,” meaning he exists outside of their world, and they can’t control him. Alex doesn’t fit their mold, either, but Alex is more easily controlled – there’s a great moment where Clay asks Alex “Why are you doing this?” and Alex responds with “What else would I be doing?”
So while I might be a little frustrated with where the narrative is going – it’s hewing closer to Brick, a movie I really like but which exists in its own alternate noir reality – the bones of the show remain solid, the ensemble is as strong as ever, and the atmosphere can still suck you in.
A Few Thoughts
- I’m really interested to see this fabled party of Jessica’s. Everyone says Hannah is lying about it, which raises an interesting question about Hannah’s reliability as a narrator. I like that.
- The show nicely sidesteps the potentially problematic plot point of two gay men raising a gay girl. Courtney keeps her sexuality a secret because she knows what people will think of her family; Clay explodes at her, “What people think of you isn’t more important than Hannah’s life!”
- The best ending to this show would be if Tony just said screw it and put all the tapes on YouTube.
Final Score:
4/5
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