We're still eagerly awaiting the release of season 2 of 13 Reasons Why, and while we have gotten plenty of casting updates since the series premiered last year, we are definitely lacking information about what the sophomore effort will entail. What will become of the people that Hannah (Katherine Langford) left behind when she died by suicide? We will have to wait until, well, whenever the new season drops on Netflix to find out, but star Kate Walsh, who plays Hannah's mother Olivia, is already teasing some season 2 spoilers. According to Walsh, 13 Reasons Why will connect deeply with the current cultural climate — and very likely the #MeToo movement.
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In a new interview with E! News, Walsh revealed that the series would show what happened to Bryce (Justin Prentice), the student who raped both Jessica (Alisha Boe) and Hannah.
"We go off the book this year, and it kind of continues along the Bryce Walker storyline. [We deal with] sexual assault, and culpability, and responsibility and truth and relationships... I think this storyline is fantastic and really does reflect what is happening in the culture at large."
13 Reasons Why premiered months before people in Hollywood began sharing their stories of sexual harassment and assault in droves, using activist Tarana Burke's hashtag as a battle cry. However, Hannah's sexual assault (as well as the many instances of sexual harassment she dealt with over the course of 13 Reasons Why's first season) is disturbingly similar to many of the harrowing accounts that women and men have shared. While harassment happens in Hollywood, it can also occurs in America's high schools.
Walsh added that while hard topics will be explored within the second season of the Netflix series, there's hope for the characters.
"I think it's a much more redemptive and hope-filled season, season, too," Walsh told E! News. "You see my character developing relationships with different kids, trying to find out the truth, trying to assign responsibility for what happened with Hannah... You see how her death has affected the school and the community at large, and all these secrets and lies that come forth, too."
Given the current climate, season 2 of 13 Reasons Why might be the catharsis we need.
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.
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