Duncan Lay: Does 13 Reasons Why really need a third season?
THE news that Netflix will be making a third season of 13 Reasons Why concerns me. Is this just another case of television jumping the shark and taking a good idea too far in the hopes of cashing in on ratings? Duncan Lay asks.
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- Mental health experts don’t want 13 Reasons Why banned
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THE news that Netflix will be making a third season of 13 Reasons Why concerns me.
This is the highly controversial show about teenage suicide that has nonetheless got parents and teenagers talking about some very difficult subjects, from suicide to sexual assault, drug use and bullying.
The first season was flawed yet highly entertaining and was based on a book by Jay Asher.
The second season was an original story, moving on from the events of the first season. The messages were generally much better in this one, although the storyline was weaker, some episodes dragged and the rewritten versions of characters were not as convincing.
It also had a highly controversial male rape scene and threatened school shooting, just in case the rest of the subject matter wasn’t shocking enough.
Its Rotten Tomatoes rating was well down — but it was obviously widely watched, hence the third season.
But what can a third season add? We know it is going to be without the central character Hannah, played by Australian Katherine Langford.
She was just head and shoulders above the other characters, despite the best (or worst) attempts to rewrite her in season two.
As compelling as Tyler (Devin Druid) was in season two, his character — the misunderstood, socially awkward loner — has been done before.
The central theme of the show was to get families talking and to get teenagers thinking a little more about their actions and how they affect others.
This paper has spent the past few years championing that same theme through its Can We Talk? program.
It’s great to see that the show has had an effect.
For instance, Netflix rightly champions results from a survey that shows most teens who have seen the show have felt the urge to be kinder to others. In these selfish, selfie-obsessed times, that is a real achievement.
What more does it hope to gain?
Is this just another case of television jumping the shark and taking a good idea too far in the hopes of cashing in on ratings?
I hope not. But I do wonder what a third season can add — and I hope it doesn’t undo the good work that has been done.