Idk if I have a real review of this show... there was a lot I liked and a lot I didn't like. I thought it was a little predictable... but I thought it did a good job of shifting between present and past... and although I haven't read the book- I think they did a good job creating more for the book than the series.
This is very spoiler heavy and the subject material of this show is very heavy... so reader discretion advices
1) Alex's story is a mirror of Hannah's- There are fan theories that Tyler killed Alex... but what I think is the more powerful storyline is that Alex's story was the audiences version of Hanna's story. All the signs that he was going to kill himself were there... he was the one that pulled away from the group that he, Jessica and Hannah had formed. He quits band and stops caring about things because of what happened with Hannah and the tapes. He also jumps into the pool at Bryce's house in a dramatic way... all the signs were that he was going to commit suicide but it is (supposed to be) a shocking reveal at the end that it was him so that the audience sees that we ignored his cries for help the way that the people on Hannah's tapes ignored hers.
Hannah- would then be Alex's hurricane.
2) The Picture of The Bunny- One mystery I'd like resolved who drew the picture of the bunny in the compliment cards? Did anyone notice it was also on her locker?
This is very spoiler heavy and the subject material of this show is very heavy... so reader discretion advices
1) Alex's story is a mirror of Hannah's- There are fan theories that Tyler killed Alex... but what I think is the more powerful storyline is that Alex's story was the audiences version of Hanna's story. All the signs that he was going to kill himself were there... he was the one that pulled away from the group that he, Jessica and Hannah had formed. He quits band and stops caring about things because of what happened with Hannah and the tapes. He also jumps into the pool at Bryce's house in a dramatic way... all the signs were that he was going to commit suicide but it is (supposed to be) a shocking reveal at the end that it was him so that the audience sees that we ignored his cries for help the way that the people on Hannah's tapes ignored hers.
Hannah- would then be Alex's hurricane.
2) The Picture of The Bunny- One mystery I'd like resolved who drew the picture of the bunny in the compliment cards? Did anyone notice it was also on her locker?
My guess... maybe Alex? He was the Artist right? Plus that makes his connection a little bit more meaningful. Other theories... Maybe Skye, Maybe Courtney. But probably Alex the more I think of it. That even makes it even more sad that he shot himself because
3) The Mr. Porter thing was super obvious to me- Seriously from the beginning I was like "This guy knows there's something up." And although he did not listen to the tapes until the end of the story... it really seemed like he was trying to get them from coming out. I feel like... they could have been more subtle with this.
4) Clay's wounds never heal- In all the present time scenes- clay has a scar on his forehead... this has 2 purposes. 1) Clay never heals. Just as he starts to accept things and they start to get better... he gets hurt again. He's never not going to hurt. It also serves as a good way to show continuity in the series. We know if it's a flashback or the present based on Clay's forehead. Similarly, Hannah's haircut shows some continuity as well.
5) I feel sympathetic towards some characters and none towards others- And that says a lot to me. Jessica, Alex, Clay, and Zach shouldn't have had their lives ruined with these tapes. I felt some sympathy for Justin... but what he did was really unforgivable... but then again- so was what Hannah did by ignoring it... so there are a lot of bad things going on here. Ohhh the gay guy I felt kind of bad for too... he didn't publish her poetry because he thought it was good... he just kind of published it
6) This is a weird town- It's a really small town with failing businesses and a lot of the students are struggling money-wise. Hannah's parents own a failing business, Justin's mother lives in a pretty bad place. Tony is from "The bad part of town... I believe they mentioned." The Crestmount is another sort of run-down business that is shown in the town... but somehow there are still super rich kids like Bryce... what do his parents do? I'm curious. It seems like it's a run down town with failing businesses... yet there are still super successful and well-off people in the town?
7) Also... why doesn't Clay Drive- As someone that doesn't drive and is over the legal driving age... this one is one I appreciated them including. I don't know if maybe Clay isn't of legal driving age yet... or if it was because of his medication or something... or if he just didn't want to drive after what happened to Jeff... which does make sense. I feel like this was just sort of a weird unexplained thing. It did make things more dramatic with him on the bike or always needing rides. I don't think Hannah drove either... but that makes sense...I don't really think she could afford a car... but who knows in this weird town... where somehow there's still a crappy movie theater... but no family owned pharmacies. So there could be that.
8) The thing I don't like about this kind of story- This kind of happens a lot while male writers write sort of tragic stories about beautiful girls that die... you see it from the boys point of view which is idolizing the victim. This makes sense for the narration, I'm sure that this happens in real life...but it's creepy and overdone. The Virgin Suicides, John Green books... there's a lot where this sort of idolization happens and... it just isn't my favorite thing in the world. Whenever I see or read it... I roll my eyes a little. I think this author and the team did a great job researching the subject... The show did a great job of representing a lot of different points of views. Her parents, her friends, boyfriends, bullies, teachers... a lot of people going through a lot of different things. I've never really been through this situation... but I know more people than you would think are affected by that... which leads me to my next point.
9) The Repercussions of Everyone's actions- That was something that was very apparent in all of the episodes. That's sort of another thing I thought about Clay's injury... something small happened in the first episode that kept popping up and getting worse in all of the other episodes. Alex's episode talks about the Butterfly effect- and that's kind of how everything did. Alex made a few dumb mistakes that ended up ruining his life... and that's kind of something that could easily happen in high school... and even college. You never know what is going to effect someone... I would recommend NOT putting books like these in high school or college curriculums.
10) I like the meaning behind the Blue Nail Polish- That's a super simple thing that was so deep and meaningful. It showed that Hannah did care about things and wanted to live. She cared enough about blue on her nails... she cared about things... that makes the last tape so very sad... and the scene where Hannah's mom paints a nail even more meaningful... it's also meaningful because fans of the series have also started painting their nails blue... it's sweet and that moment of the show- you can see things start to change.
11) Parts of the flashbacks are such a joy to watch that it makes you forget about the very dark ending of the show- If you watch this series till the end... it gets really hard to watch... but there are so many moments where it seems like it will be a cute show with likable characters. Justin doesn't seem like a bad guy at the beginning. Hannah has a crush on him and he's cute and everything... and then he's a jerk. Bryce doesn't seem unlikable... the scenes with Jessica and Alex at Monet's are definitely a breath of fresh air... it just makes everything so dramatic at the end when you learn these people aren't the best for Hannah.
12) Jessica and Hannah's friendship- This is so heartbreaking because... their friendship shouldn't have ended. Jessica still wanted Hannah's friendship and now more than ever... she needed Hannah's friendship... and it seems selfish of Hannah that she and Jessica went through the same situation with the same person... and Hannah didn't confront Jessica about it... she doesn't get help for Jessica... I don't think it's selfish because she couldn't handle it...
Also the men seem to either be into Jessica or into Hannah. Justin dated both of them... but he also dated Hannah's friend Kat (Cat?)... so that's kind of a theme. He and Alex are very interested in and in love with Jessica... not in love with Hannah. Clay is in love with Hannah- not in love with Jessica... it's an odd thing that I don't think is a coincidence. It kind of shows how Hannah became jealous I guess? It was an interesting choice... but I liked it.
13) The Show is Not Subtle- The first few episodes especially are not very subtle at all... the communications class and the teacher explaining things and the students are all doing the opposite. Mr. Porter, a lot of things were just kind of overdone and spelled out... I think that kind of put me off at first... but then on a second watch- there are tons of things you can miss. The Alex theory I wrote above, The bunny, some things between the friends that are foreshadowing... it was kind of subtle. I don't think the unsubtle moments took away from the show because there are so many subtle moments... when I started writing this review maybe I didn't think that... but at the end of the review and with rewatching it... it makes sense to me and I appreciate everything a little bit more.
Also I like that Hannah is a palindrome... that makes sense to me.
So overall I loved this show... this is one of the most complicated reviews I've ever done... and I had fun with it after all of that. I could probably go on and on with this... but this is definitely one to watch!
Byeee!
-Shannon
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