13 Reasons Why follows a boy called Clay who receives a box of tapes explaining the reasons that his friend, Hannah Baker, killed herself.

The show takes a while to really get going. Every episode connects and sometimes for those who break their binge forget what happened in the previous episode, and sometimes when the characters talk about things it isn't always clear what it is they are talking about. Clay will listen to a tape and the audio will play throughout the episode, but then he'll talk like he'd heard the tape already when we hadn't. And he had, so when they talked about certain aspects of Hannah's life that we hadn't been introduced to I became rather confused. It doesn't take long to put everything together, but it is confusing. Also, it drags at first, though it's not necessarily boring or uninteresting.

Part of the problem is the acting. Sometimes the cast comes off as fake and wooden. The acting is usually adequate and doesn't take away from the series, but when it sucks, it stands out. Unfortunately, the actors who really should've stood out didn't. Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette played their parts and didn't really bring a lot to the table, despite being the main characters. It seemed like the smallest roles pulled the biggest punches. Josh Hamilton as Clay's father was probably the most real performance in the whole series, and Kate Walsh as Mrs. Baker really managed to pull off a good performance, and while her role was substantial, it wasn't as big as the teenagers themselves.

On occasion the writing seemed to suffer as well. The decisions characters made and the reasons Hannah gave proved unconvincing and sometimes far fetched. And it took me out of the show. As it goes on and the characters are developed better, it begins to make sense, but some of them, even as I'm done with the show, prove to be quite a stretch in terms of believability.

And on top of that, I had a few 'nitpicks' as some may call them. Many of the actors who played high school students (specifically in grades 10 and 11) had more than one tattoo, which is illegal at that age. I know the actors are probably older than their characters, but again it pulls the audience out of the show to see a portrayal of something that simply wouldn't happen. Also, the character of Tony, played by Christian Navarro, did not look like a high schooler. He looked to be late twenties or mid-thirties, and again it took me out of the show from time to time.

Despite these flaws, I was basically weeping by the end. Reason being this is a show that doesn't pull any punches. When it wants to tell the audience something, it does it and I truly do admire the show's bravery to do what it did.

The writing proves to be relatable fairly often. While the show largely proves to be hit or miss with how well it portrays high school, most of the shots it takes are hits. Sure, I haven't dealt with a lot of things that the characters go through in the show, but the conversations that characters have and the way they react to certain situations adds this level of authenticity to it, and the things that I couldn't relate to I found myself at the very least understanding. As a result, the truly crazy parts of the show prove to be much, much heavier.

The first bit of the show takes a while to get going, but once it gets going it gets going fast. The last set of episodes are both well-directed and absolutely heartbreaking, and I found myself fighting tears more than once or sitting completely still in shock, my attention fully on the screen. The way certain aspects of the show are shown are simply hard to watch, like I've said multiple times. But it is. The director makes choices with these parts to show them as not over-the-top, but real and gut-wrenching in a way. Moreover the characters that are initially introduced as hated people that deserve nothing prove to be some of the best characters by the end, and the message is quite clear by that point. Unfortunately to speak further would be spoiler territory, but believe me when I say that the show doesn't stop with Hannah Baker.

The way the show tied it off was a little challenging tone-wise. In the span of about five minutes the audience was met with bad news followed by somewhat hopeful characters listening to an upbeat tune. I'm happy that the show didn't go any longer, in a way it strengthens the show's message, but if the music was a little better used (or simply not) than maybe it wouldn't have been so awkward to watch the last bit.

Overall 13 Reasons Why is undeniably a fantastic show in terms of story and characters and all that, but it has it's fair share of flaws. It isn't a fantastically well-made series or anything. The directing is, while very good in some scenes, proves to be adequate, and so does the editing, acting, and just about everything else technicality-wise. It's a show clearly focused on it's plot and characters and less on technicalities, but one that I think would've benefited from trying just a little harder. In the end, however, this is one show I consider to be a must-watch. As a whole it is simply fantastic, but even more, it's necessary. It's heavy, yes, but it's important to learn what you will from this series, regardless of whether you are suicidal or not. No, it doesn't just teach you about suicide, I can promise you that. But I can almost guarantee you that regardless of how much you enjoy the series, you will take something from it.