13 Reasons Why: 9 Reasons It Ultimately Fails

8. Too Contrived

Stretching the episodes out also leads to another big problem, which is that the whole story feels far too contrived to have as much impact as it needs to, and this happens on a couple of different levels.

The first is with Clay, our de facto protagonist of the series and entry point into the drama. Unlike all of his other classmates, Clay doesn't listen to the tapes in one go (in the book, he listens to them all in a single night, and the story only plays out between him and Hannah). You can see why that decision was made, even beyond fleshing out the characters and the increased episode length, as it could play on a feeling of not wanting to let go to a loved one.

The show doesn't really get that across though, because it has Clay listen to one tape, and then get angry and question the person involved and demand retribution, only to be told to "listen to the tapes." So he listens to the next one, and the whole process starts anew. "Listen to the tapes." A few episodes in, you'll be screaming it at him yourself, because it's not believable by this stage that he wouldn't just listen to them all straight away.

The responses of those around him aren't much better either, and again it all feels like a way to get the story to a certain point, rather than telling a real, relatable teen story, while watching horror after horror unfold (especially in binge-watching fashion) makes it harder to buy into, because each of the things that happens to Hannah is serious and worthy of real study, not just as some ever-increasing pile of misery - to take note from a different Netflix show, A Series of Unfortunate Events.

It takes inspiration from the likes of Heathers and My So-Called Life, but lacks their wit and deftness of touch. Finally by the end of the season we do get some movement from the other characters, such as Jessica, but it's left deliberately late and open-ended just to setup a potential second season.