10 TV Shows That Went Too Far (In Completely Unexpected Ways)

Netflix’s mega-controversial megahit 13 Reasons Why has never been shy about pushing viewer’s buttons with the show’s premise alone addressing sensitive issues as diverse as suicide, sexual assault, self-harm, bullying, and teenage drug use. However whilst the show’s debut season was criticized for its handling of a suicide scene which some felt was explicit to the point of being instructive, much of the first season’s content was lauded for handling these intensely difficult issues with relative grace and subtlety.

Once the show was renewed, the creators surprised everyone by opting to focus less on the casual misogyny of contemporary American adolescent culture and more on the intense physical bullying which is commonplace in the country’s high schools, replacing the smug villain Bryce with his more mindlessly aggressive teammate Monty.

However, viewers who presumed this thoughtless jock would be any less threatening were left shook by the explicit depiction of his sexual assault on the unsuspecting Tyler, whose subsequent trauma leaves him traumatised and arming himself up to open fire on the school dance.

The gruelling assault sequence spared no detail and left viewers shook. Admirable as the showrunner’s attempts to showcase a very real and underdiscussed problem were, the jaw-dropping scene was far more intense than anything the show had attempted before, and proved too much for many viewers.