Of course, rumors are flying everywhere about a second series for 13 Reasons Why. I’d like it to happen, but in no particular order, here are some things I think they’ll need to do if they want it to succeed. Jay Asher would probably disagree…
- Get more professional consultants. For example, a second series would almost certainly cover the Bakers’ lawsuit against the school district. They made some obvious gaffes in that subplot in Series 1, and it’s sure to be a major plot line in Series 2.
- Tyler’s false-bottomed steamer trunk let us see his stash of weapons, including pipe bombs. There are other hints that he’s planning some serious violence. If this happens, he should be captured alive. Or maybe they could have a butterfly effect prevent the act before it happens.
- Bryce needs to go to prison. A combination of Jess and Justin coming forward, Clay’s “Tape 14”, and forensic evidence from Hannah’s autopsy should be enough to convict. Getting those things to happen won’t be easy though. In any case, if Bryce thought he got a lot of Dollar Valentines at Liberty High…
- Who shot
J.R.Alex? A multi-episode arc on the multiple possibilities could be Series 2’s central mystery. - Kat should move back. She could be a serious dramatic foil for the people who are covering their own backsides. Also, Skye’s character should be more prominent–she and Clay could get together, albeit complicated by Hannah’s memory.
- They should tackle a different Big Issue. One (possibly fake) teaser for Series 2 has Jess shooting herself. The danger here, from a storyline standpoint, is that we don’t want this to turn into Heathers. This is not supposed to be a comedy, and if the bodies keep piling up, social media will turn it into one.
- Hannah flashbacks should be used with extreme care. We don’t want to have to keep mourning her death again and again (although that’s precisely what will happen if Bryce or the Bakers go to trial).
- Porter was not a bad guy, he was just bad at his job. I’d like to see the story of him maybe going back to grad school to become a better counselor, and maybe we find out that he ultimately became an excellent therapist.
- Justin needs to get his mom into rehab. Maybe one of her abusive meth-head boyfriends could be Bryce’s cellmate. If Bryce gets put away, Justin won’t have the pool house to use as a crash pad.
- Don’t stomp on our hearts too much. They can have pretty serious drama without taking us all the way to hell. Maybe if there’s a Series 3, they could put it back into high gear.
- There needs to be redemption for characters like Marcus, Sheri, and Zach. They exhibited bad judgment and misplaced priorities like any adolescent, but with unexpectedly severe consequences.
- There was absolutely no mention of religion in Series 1. It might be interesting to explore that in Hannah’s aftermath.
- The tattoo artist who inks all these under-18s should be a minor character. Only to satisfy my own curiosity, since the place where I get inked doesn’t even let kids into the waiting area.
Thirteen again. Funny how that number keeps popping up.