Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” to Continue in a Third Season

Crux of previous seasons

The first season of the series, 13 Reasons Why, debuted on Netflix in March 2017. The teens’ drama is a screen adaptation of the 2007 novel written by Jay Asher titled Thirteen Reasons Why. It was initially intended to be a Universal Picture feature film set with Selena Gomez playing the role of Hannah Baker.

The first season has 13 episodes in total and each of the episodes is based on one side of the seven different tapes recorded by Hannah before she committed suicide. The final episode of the first season reveals how Hannah took her own life. The episode ended with Clay surrendering the seven tapes to the relevant authorities and depositions began to find out the accurate details of events that led to Hannah’s mysterious death.

The second season of the show was released sometime last month and the story remains etched around the events leading up to Hannah Baker’s suicide. As expected, it picked up from where season one ended. In a bid to seek justice for their daughter, Andy Baker (Brian d’Arcy James) and Olivia Baker (Kate Walsh), Hannah Baker’s parents brought an action for negligence against Liberty High School. The students involved all had to testify and give their own account of the story. This made them recount the details of the events that led to Hannah’s death.

At some point in the second season, Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe) finally reports to the police that Bryce Walker (Justin Pretince) had abused with her. The police arrests Bryce and he is put on probation for 3 months. Jessica’s former boyfriend, Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn) is arrested as an accessory to the assault and he serves about a month in a juvenile detention.

The second season has 13 episodes, each of which is 13 hours long.  All episodes were released at once on Friday, 18th of May

Third season comes in 2019

The video streaming giant, Netflix has stated that it will begin production on a third season of the series later in the year. This means fans can positively hope that a new season will start streaming in 2019. Sources indicate that the series’ creator, Brian Yorkey still remains the showrunner. He will also be the executive producer in conjunction with Selena Gomez, Kristel Laiblin, Steve Golin, Mandy Teefey, Joy Gorman and Tom McCarthy.

Cap: Brian Yorkey to continue as the showrunner for the third season of 13 reasons why Reed Hastings, the CEO of the streaming website while explaining the decision to go on with the show’s production at a shareholders meeting acknowledged the controversial nature of the series and stated that no one has to continue watching it.  The third season’s production will be done by Anonymous Content and Paramount TV will also have a similar number of 13 episodes just like the previous seasons.

Media outlets report that one week after the premiere of the second season, Katherine Langford took to her Instagram page to hint that she may not be returning for the third season of the series. She expressed that the role she played was her debut job and further expressed gratitude to have been allowed to recount Hannah’s story in the first and second season. She further added that the show will remain an integral part of her life and she hopes to keep making positive impact in whatever form whether in music, film and other artistic forms.

Season 2 receives mixed reactions

Since its release last month, the second season has continued to experience mixed reactions from different quarters.  It will be recalled that the first season had quite a number of positive ratings and commendations

Rotten tomatoes already gave the second season less than 50% critic score. Educational institutions have also issued out warnings to guardians and parents concerning the second season.

Netflix shows indication of adhering to the suggestions it got after its release of the first season as the new season includes a “13 Reasons Why” discussion series which can be downloaded, a  “Beyond the Reasons,” more explanations provided at the end of each episode on how teens can reach out for help. There is also a PIN lock in case parents intend to first screen the series before allowing their children to watch it.

It will be recalled that media outlet reported that the first season of the original Netflix series got mental health experts talking as they deemed the content of the series a dangerously graphic depiction of suicide for teens.

The second season which was released sometime last month resurrected those concerns and has even raised fresh issues such as exploration of substance abuse, intimate assault as well as gun violence. A clinical director at the  Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, Phyllis Alongi who followed both seasons stated that she generally sees the show as containing highly disturbing content. She even added that the show had certain scenes where she had to turn away, for instance, a scene where a male student was assaulted in the bathroom.