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IT’S OFFISH: ’13 Reasons Why’ Will Return So Here’s 13 Things We Wanna See In S2

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Warning: This post discusses suicide and may be triggering.

It’s offish – after weeks of speculation (come on, we knew it would happen), Netflix have confirmed TV’s worst kept secret: 13 Reasons Why is getting a second season.

The series has become nothing short of a pop culture phenomenon. Netflix posted the good news to their socials to much excitement.

While the show has built a following of legions, it didn’t come without a whole stack of fairly directed criticism.

Reflecting on the first season, here’s 13 things we want to see in season two:

1. More trigger warnings in place

The biggest flaw of the first season was the lack of appropriate trigger warnings. Each episode should begin with a message to viewers, not just the episodes that involve sexual assault – as the original warnings included. After the initial backlash, Netflix eventually strengthened its advisory warnings and season two should be even more thorough.

2. Jessica receives help and support

Like Hannah, Jessica is a survivor of sexual assault and the new episodes will hopefully address her state of mind and offer resources to her, as she continues to deal with the aftermath of such trauma. This should be done in a way that positions the adults in Jessica’s life as a resource she can seek help from.

Obviously, her rapist should be charged as well. Series creator Brian Yorkey told The Times regarding the new season, “There’s a rapist who hasn’t been brought to justice, and there’s a living survivor of that rapist who is just beginning her journey of recovery,” said Yorkey.

3. Less gratuitous depictions of suicide

Aside from the lack of trigger warnings, the Netflix drama has been plagued by critique concerned with the graphic depiction of Hannah’s suicide. The depiction is particularly dangerous, as this kind of explicit material has been connected to cases of ‘suicide contagion’ in the past. Season two needs to learn from these mistakes.

4. The counsellor should get fired ASAP

This guy is the worst. Behind Bryce(obvs), he’s become the biggest villain of the series. The “school counsellor’ Mr. Porter pretty much told Hannah that being raped was her own fault, and that maybe she’s lying and just regrets having sex. Ugh! He even instructs her to just “move on”. Yeah… fire this dude asap.

5. The adults become more human and approachable

While ’13 Reasons Why’ has grabbed viewers for its honest and genuine depiction of teens, the adults in ’13 Reasons Why’ are as one-dimensional as they come. Both the teachers and adults in the series appear completely unsympathetic, unapproachable and negligent. They don’t feel like real people and this should be rectified.

6. The insensitive framing of suicide needs to stop

From romanticising suicide for teens, to encouraging those left behind to blame each other, the first season offered disturbing views of how to emotionally digest the aftermath of suicide. The harmful aspects of the series need to be rectified.

7. Clearer direction to support resources

While the YA book adaption was created alongside a website with links to resources, the website was not clearly integrated into the series. As the series explores emotionally triggering subjects like suicide, rape and bullying, it should be easy for those affected to reach out, so support hotlines and web pages need to be readily available.

8. Bryce is held accountable for his crimes

The major cliffhanger of season one is that Bryce was not held accountable for his crimes of sexual assault against both Hannah and Jessica. This should obviously be one of the first issues addressed in the new season. “If we left these 13 episodes out in the world with [the rapist] not being brought to justice … it’d be incredibly dissatisfying to me,” said Yorkey.

9. Sheri’s story to be continued

Sheri was arguably the most mysterious character of all. We only saw her in a handful of eps, and we don’t learn much of her background.

What we do know is that she was involved in the death of beloved Jeff and that she didn’t tell the police about what really went down. Will Sheri be charged with manslaughter? Hopefully we find out.

10. We find out what Hannah’s parents do after listening to the tapes

The finale ends with Clay passing Hannah’s tapes to her own parents. Since the parents are in the midst of filing a lawsuit against the school, for their complicity in Hannah being bullied, these tapes could be a game-changer.

11. Mental health should be specifically addressed

Another flaw of season one is the avoidance in diagnosing Hannah as suffering mental illness. For viewers it would appear that for Hannah, there was no help she could seek, which was far from true.

In the next season, there is the opportunity to speak openly about mental illness. This could be approached in regards to characters such as Alex and Skye – which both appear to be struggling with their mental health in season one.

12. Focus on Tony and Hannah’s relationship

An area of the series that felt not fully disclosed was the friendship between Tony and Hannah. While we can assume the two were close – she trusted the guy with the 13 tapes in the first place- but we were never shown how their bond was formed.

 13. Finally, we find out what happened to the second set of tapes

What about the other tapes?! Where did they go? We see Hannah go to the post office to mail tapes BUT we know that she dropped the tapes at Tony’s house. Where did the second set of tapes go and what will this mean for the next season? Hopefully, we find out.

If you or someone you know needs support, both Lifeline on 13 11 14 and the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 offer 24-hour assistance. For further information about youth mental health, both Headspace and Reach Out can provide guidance. Or you can also talk to a medical professional or someone you trust.