13 Reasons Why Review: 10 Ups & 9 Downs From ALL 4 Seasons

9. The First Season Wasn't Like Other Teen Shows

With its glossy look (which it would lose in subsequent seasons) and its insanely good-looking cast, one might have mistaken the first season of the show for a run-of-the-mill American teen drama. Oh, how wrong they would be.

The truth is that 13 Reasons Why thrived because it wasn't like anything else in its genre. It subverted narrative conventions renowned with teen television and adopted a much more mature approach in its quest to differentiate itself, telling mature stories with an approach that was anything but glossy.

No, this wasn't a typical YA show, it was an adult TV series that just happened to be about teens... and it was important that those watching it quickly made that distinction.

It's a shame that it eventually devolved into everything it attempted to distance itself from, but in spite of it eventually falling victim to teen tropes, it never shied away from handling topics too sensitive for other shows like it.