Yahoo Movies 13 Reasons Why: 3 characters to watch out for in season 2
13 Reasons Why season 2 is mere days away from landing on Netflix. It’s been a long year waiting to see how the characters of the enormously popular show will deal with the aftermath of Hannah’s suicide in season 1.
Writer-producer Brian Yorkey has promised Entertainment Weekly that “We’re going to answer all of the burning questions that people have… Is Tyler going to do something? What’s going to happen to Alex? Will Bryce be brought to justice?”
The show is bound to be slightly less focused on Hannah than it was in season 1. Though she is now dead and 6 months have passed, her spectre will still hang over the show. Most notably, her parents are suing the school so the trial is going to take its toll on all involved. Especially poor old Clay no doubt.
But season 2 is also going to expand its scope. What made season 1 so compelling is the characters the surround Hannah and Clay at the centre of the story. With such a wealth of flawed characters, 13 Reasons Why is spoiled for choice in where the stories can go. Here’s the three characters I most want the show to follow:
Tyler
Ending season 1 feeling bullied, isolated and angry, Tyler is the character to watch. He has a stash of guns and thinks he has a good enough reason to use them. 13 Reasons Why could not be more timely if it decided to tackle the reasons why a young white teenage boy decided to take some guns into his school. The consequences could be tragic and the controversy could be too much for the show to live through. But it would also be real, terrifying, and potentially insightful. Yorkey has said that Tyler gets a friend this season and that it’s “a really great story, until it isn’t”. Could this friend be a partner in crime?
Jessica
Clay might be grieving for Hannah, but more importantly Jessica is moving from victim to survivor of sexual assault. Yorkey has admitted that Jessica’s “experience continues to be a central part of season 2” and that “we wanted very much to look at her recovery”. This is good news for anyone that was worried her story ended with her telling her father about the rape. She is also likely to play a big role in the story of a new character Nina that may or may not also be struggling with a history of sexual abuse.
With Yorkey stating that the show “is about the way we raise boys up into men and the way we treat girls and women in our culture — and what we could do better in both cases”, don’t expect the stories in season 2 to get any easier to watch. It sounds like Jessica’s story is going to become more relevant and hopefully, as she recovers, perhaps more inspiring.
Mr Porter
The school counsellor vitally let Hannah down in season 1. It is an absolutely heart breaking story, both for Hannah, and for the counsellor. In season 2, Yorkey says that Mr Porter is “coming to terms with the mistakes that he made, with the ways that he let her down”. Yorkey calls Mr Porter’s part in this season one of the most “compelling”. It’s hardly surprising when this is the man that has to be a counsellor in a school full of kids with serious issues. He could have a potential school shooter on his hands in Tyler. Jessica is going to need help to recover. Bryce is a dangerous rapist. Clay is probably still deep in grief. Alex may survive his gun shot. The school is being sued so Mr Porter will be on trial.
It’s all happening and I certainly would not want to try being the counsellor at that school.
Which character are you most looking forward to catching up with in season 2?
