13 Reasons Why - Season 4 Fix
13 Reasons Why is an American teen drama television series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and based on the 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) and the aftermath of the suicide of fellow student Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford).[4] Before her death, she leaves behind a box of cassette tapes in which she details the reasons why she chose to end her life as well as the people she believes are responsible for her death.
13 Reasons Why - Season 4
Through its various storylines, the show explores and depicts a wide range of social issues affecting modern youth. The series was produced by July Moon Productions, Kicked to the Curb Productions, That Kid Ed Productions, Anonymous Content and Paramount Television, with Yorkey and Diana Son serving as showrunners for the first season, and Yorkey for the rest of the series. Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford star as Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker, respectively, alongside an ensemble cast. A film from Universal Pictures based on Thirteen Reasons Why began development in February 2011, with Selena Gomez set to star as Hannah, before being shelved in favor of a television series and Netflix ordering an adaptation as a limited series in October 2015, with Gomez instead serving as an executive producer.[5]
In May 2017, Netflix renewed 13 Reasons Why for a second season due to the success of the initial 13 episodes;[9] the second season was released on May 18, 2018, and was met with generally negative critical reviews. Coinciding with the release of the second season, Netflix released a video with the cast that cautioned viewers on some of the topics covered in the show and provided a support website with crisis numbers for people affected by depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.[10] A third season was ordered in June 2018 and was released on August 23, 2019. In August 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, which premiered on June 5, 2020.[11][12]
In the second season, Hannah's parents sue the school district, during which Hannah's tapes are released online. The fallout from the events of the first season and the toll it has taken on the lives of Liberty High's students is further shown.
The third season takes place eight months after the events of the second season. Ani Achola, a new student at Liberty High, narrates the season as Clay and his friends struggle to keep Tyler's attempted school shooting a secret and to help him in his recovery. Tensions rise among the tapes' subjects after Bryce is killed, with Clay as a suspect. In the wake of his death, Bryce's past actions and the person he has become in the aftermath of the release of Hannah's tapes are examined.
In the fourth and final season, Clay's mental health deteriorates as a result of the deaths of Bryce and Monty, while the other students of Liberty High are planning for their impending graduation and futures.
On June 6, 2018, Netflix renewed the series for a third season, which was released on August 23, 2019.[24] It was dedicated to executive producer Steve Golin (founder and CEO of Anonymous Content), who died of Ewing's sarcoma on April 21, 2019, four months before the third season's release.[25]
In June 2016, Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, Christian Navarro, Alisha Boe, Brandon Flynn, Justin Prentice, Miles Heizer, Ross Butler, Devin Druid and Brian d'Arcy James were cast as the main leads.[18] In September, Amy Hargreaves, Kate Walsh and Derek Luke were cast.[16][17] Langford exited the show after the second season.
In August 2017, Jake Weber, Meredith Monroe, R. J. Brown, Anne Winters, Bryce Cass, Chelsea Alden, Allison Miller, Brandon Butler, Samantha Logan, Kelli O'Hara, and Ben Lawson were cast for season two.[26][27]
In September 2018, Timothy Granaderos and Brenda Strong were promoted to series regulars for season 3 after recurring in the previous seasons.[28] On September 5, 2019, Gary Sinise was cast as a series regular for the fourth season.[19] On February 11, 2020, Jan Luis Castellanos joined the cast as a series regular for the fourth season.[29]
Filming for the series took place in the Northern Californian towns of Vallejo, Benicia, San Rafael, Crockett and Sebastopol during the summer of 2016.[30][31] The 13-episode first season and the special were released on Netflix on March 31, 2017.[32][33] Therapy dogs were present on set for the actors because of the intense and emotional content of the series.[34]
Filming for the second season began on June 12, 2017,[35] but was briefly halted in October in response to the then-ongoing Northern California wildfires happening around the areas where the series was being filmed.[36] Production on the second season wrapped in December 2017.[37] The second season was released on May 18, 2018.[38]
Netflix renewed 13 Reasons Why for a second season in May 2017 due to the success of the initial 13 episodes; filming of the second season began the next month and concluded that December. The second season was released on May 18, 2018. Coinciding with the release of the second season, Netflix released a video with the cast that cautioned viewers on some of the topics covered in the show and provided a support website with crisis numbers for people affected by depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.[10] A third season was ordered in June 2018 and was released on August 23, 2019. In August 2019, the series had been renewed for a fourth and final season, which premiered on June 5, 2020.[11][12] Critical and audience reaction to the series has been divided, with the program generating controversy between audiences and industry reviewers alongside acquiring a loyal following.[42][43][44]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an average rating of 35%.[52] On Metacritic, the weighted average rating for all seasons except the last one is 60 out of 100, based on 38 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[53]
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 77% of 65 critic reviews are positive for the first season, and the average rating is 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "13 Reasons Why complements its bestselling source material with a gripping look at adolescent grief whose narrative maturity belies its YA milieu."[45] Metacritic assigned a score of 76 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews.[46]
Jesse Schedeen of IGN praised 13 Reasons Why, giving it a 9.2 out of 10, "Amazing", stating that the series is "a very powerful and hard-hitting series" and "ranks among the best high school dramas of the 21st century".[54] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave a glowing review for the series, saying, "The drama is sensitive, consistently engaging, and, most importantly, unblinking."[55] Maureen Ryan of Variety asserts that the series "is undoubtedly sincere, but it's also, in many important ways, creatively successful" and called it "simply essential viewing".[56] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the entire season a score of B+, calling the series "a frank, authentically affecting portrait of what it feels like to be young, lost and too fragile for the world".[57] Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter also praised the series, calling it "an honorably mature piece of young-adult adaptation", and citing its performances, direction, relevance and maturity as some of the series' strongest points.[58]
The second season received generally negative reviews from critics, with criticism aimed at the writing; many declared the season unnecessary and boring.[64][65] On Rotten Tomatoes, 28% of 53 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus states, "By deviating from its source material, 13 Reasons Why can better explore its tenderly crafted characters; unfortunately, in the process, it loses track of what made the show so gripping in the first place."[47] On Metacritic, the season has an average score of 49 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[48]
Catherine Pearson from Digital Spy wrote a negative review, calling the season "even more problematic" than the first. She ends the review saying that, "Unrelenting depression seems to shroud the season, briefly lifted only to collapse back down as the show's thirteenth episode, once again, delivers a deeply disturbing scene of suffering."[66] Jordan Davidson from The Mighty wrote that he "felt sick" after watching the final episode of the season.[67]
Season 3 was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews, with criticism aimed at the screenplay for poor execution of its topics, including the rape of Tyler in the final episode of the previous season,[70][71] the new character of Ani,[72] the sympathetic redemption of Bryce,[73] genre changing from drama to mystery, and the conclusion. However, the technical aspects and the performances received some praise.[74]
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 11% of 18 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 1.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "13 Reasons Why attempts to break away from its first two seasons only to become a melodramatic mess of a murder mystery."[49] On Metacritic, the season has an average score of 23 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews".[50]
Similarly, clinical psychologists such as Daniel J. Reidenberg and Erika Martinez, as well as mental health advocate MollyKate Cline of Teen Vogue magazine, have expressed concerns regarding the risk of suicide contagion.[136][137][138] However, Eric Beeson, a counselor at The Family Institute at Northwestern University noted that "it's unlikely that one show alone could trigger someone to attempt suicide."[133] Mental health professionals have also criticized the series' depiction of suicide itself, much of which violates widely promulgated recommendations for reporting on actual suicides or not depicting them in fiction, in order to not encourage copycat suicides.[139] The season finale, which depicts Hannah's suicide in graphic detail, has been particularly criticized in this regard.[140] Nic Sheff, a writer for the series, has defended it as intended to dispel the myth that suicides "quietly drift off", and recalled how he himself was deterred from a suicide attempt by recalling a survivor's account of how painful and horrifying it was.[141] 041b061a72