If you brought up Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why in a conversation, there would be an immediate discussion following on the perception of suicide and controversy surrounding brutal graphics of rape scenes. The hit teen drama made waves, as expected when it first premiered in 2017, and continued to do so in season two.
The first season explored the tapes Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford) left behind explaining what led to her suicide and revealed Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice) as her rapist. The second season dealt with her parents’ civil legal battle against Liberty High for allowing an environment of bullying, torture, and gossip to spread like wildfire, with no one responsible for fanning down the flames which eventually led to Hannah’s demise.
Season three throws in a complicated, dark twist with the murder of antagonist Bryce. It was a shocking reveal in the trailer and Prentice talked about the steps taken to reach that huge decision.
“We had sort of told the whole story with Hannah Baker [played by Katherine Langford]. The source material had been run through and this is a new, fresh twist to the show,” explained Prentice. “Season three definitely has a different vibe and feel from the first two seasons, but still has a lot of the same rewarding elements. The season still talks about a lot of cultural touchstone points and does a lot of spotlighting on issues in society. We still have all those elements in there, just in a new package.”
The personal lives of Liberty High’s students come out into the light once again as the suspect list grows and the frustration to this case’s conclusion leads to heavy outcomes. “No one felt that this issue had been resolved,” said Prentice. “Bryce got a little slap on the wrist, so our characters at Liberty would very much like to right the wrong themselves.”
This season will dive deeper into Bryce and how the character developed into somewhat of a “monster.”
“Along the way, we get to see a little bit of a different side of Bryce,” said Prentice. “That doesn’t change anything he’s done in the past. He has still done atrocious things. But we get to see different colors of Bryce where maybe by the end of the season people aren’t as happy about the death as they are at the start of the season.”
Netflix announced that season four – currently in production – will be the show’s last.