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

7. Bringing The Show Back For A Second Season

In spite of its flaws, the first season of 13 Reasons Why achieved all that it set out to do, adapting its source material well while offering up a central narrative that was as thought-provoking as it was gripping. And we can get into all of that later, but the point is that, just like Jay Asher had with his novel, the writers told Hannah Baker's story the way they wanted to.

The decision to have Alex Standall attempt suicide in the closing moments of the season wasn't just a method of highlighting the impact of Hannah's death, it was a definitive decision to carry on what should have been a one-and-done affair. It would have been illogical to end there, but the only thing more illogical than that was to write that into the story at all.

Hannah's story had been told and the majority of the characters felt the weight of their actions to such a degree that Clay Jensen rightfully questioned why they all couldn't have just been nicer to each other. It was an appropriately melancholic note to end on because these characters - the good ones, at least - had learned from it. Nothing was ever going to be okay again, but it could get better. It had to be better.

The decision to continue the show after wrapping up that story was an understandably controversial one and, looking back on it, it never managed to prove that it was the right one to make.