13 Reasons Why

The drama is sensitive, surprising, consistently engaging, and, most important, unblinking.

It’s a tough story. An honest story. And a story that beautifully connects its Baker’s dozen of tales and characters with each other, and the audience, even though there are some bumps and missteps along the way.

The lows are low, but the highs are very high, and truly affecting.

In a sense, 13 Reasons Why turns its audience into voyeuristic bystanders as well. Yet while Hannah's fate isn't pleasant, as presented in this enticing, slickly constructed package, it's hard to look away.

In its examination of the ways we hurt each other, deliberately or casually, knowingly or otherwise, the adult edges to this story ring with honesty and truth.

As much as it can be hobbled by archetypes and cliché, the series also smartly self-corrects, offering something rare in Millennial mass entertainment: A frank, authentically affecting portrait of what it feels like to be young, lost, and too fragile for the world.

Clay’s conduct sometimes borders on the insufferable. And while Hannah’s traumas are authentically dramatized, she’s forced to endure so many indignities that, in total, she occasionally comes across as a symbolic vessel for an important message, rather than a flesh-and-blood human being. Fortunately, Langford’s wounded-yet-bold lead performance is altogether charming, and Minnette is equally credible.

For all the teen angst and buzzy butterfly stomachs,13 Reasons Why is an incredibly mature and a devastating look at the ripple effects of loss.

The talents of Minnette and newcomer Langford carry much of the story.

A steady 13-episode descent into grief and emotional confusion, 13 Reasons Why is an honorably mature piece of young-adult adaptation, fleshing out Jay Asher's well-regarded novel in a way that allows its cold-hearted high-school environment to breathe while revolving around tremendous lead turns by Dylan Minnette and particularly Australian newcomer Katherine Langford.

A compulsively gripping drama that could be thought of as My So-Called Suicide. [20 Mar - 2 Apr 2017, p.19]

For the record, both Minnette and Langford are so good, you almost forget they are too old to be playing high school sophomores. While the script may be overly contrived at times, it at least aims to make its points about teen suicide through drama and only occasionally resorting to speechifying.

This story is sure to be devoured by teens who respond to its dark themes. But it could use a bit more leavening, acknowledging the reasons why life can be something more than apocalyptic.