In case you’ve been able to sit through three seasons of 13 Reasons, the worst is for you. Though it’s all style and no substance, the season is better.
You can imagine the basic plot and also the climax of this teen drama by merely having a look at a few of the season’s episode names Winter Break, College Tour, Valentine’s Day, Senior Camping Trip, College Interview, Acceptance/Rejection, Prom and Graduation.
Following the template, the authors kill a character this time too. The suspense is that this season opens with a funeral. From here, the narrative shifts to six months before.
What revolves around teens helping a friend cover up a murder, freely ventures into a lot of serious issues, and handles it loosely. Topics like feminism suicides, bullying, what punishment rapists deserve, addiction, and diminishing school system are touched upon. An episode focused on school shootings in the US is the closest that the makers get to showing the raw emotions of students at times and the anxiety.
In between, we receive sequences that are engaging thanks to its editing and Clay Jensen’s storyline as he copes with his injury. One of the characters, tragedies of Justin Foley and the backstory, makes for an emotional opinion.
Most other characters in the seasons are flat. Take, for example, Alex, who committed the murder last season. We see him navigating through its injury. Instead, he is figuring out his heritage. The story voice Ani Achola, of Season 3 is shelved this season. I never knew why Ani and Jensen started dating in the first place and could not care less when they awakened.
The storylines of Tony Padilla, Tyler, Zack Dempsey, and Jessica fail to hit a chord. This is a drama made for younger audiences. Nonetheless, it is disappointing to watch a series that indicates it aims to’raise discussions around issues’ not advocate any solutions. Without giving a complete account of those either, it is mostly fixated.
Among the cases where the show steers towards any storyline that is solution-based is through Jensen’s treatment sessions. However, this turns into outbursts and rants that increase our frustration. Meanwhile, the preferences and performances continue to impress.
All of the subsequent seasons are somewhat stretched and forgettable beyond the point, while the first season raised eyebrows throughout the world. Unlike previous seasons with 13 episodes every day, this last season has only ten (all nearly an hour-long), but it still manages to push one’s patience to the limits.
This latest season gave me yet another drama streaming on Netflix, a renewed appreciation for Riverdale, frequently compared to 13 Reasons. An unabashed soap, Riverdale, and its intentions stick together. Despite its tall claims, it is all around the area and falls from being a soap short.