No one said that 13 Reasons Why was an easy viewing experience, but the season 2 finale featured, perhaps, the darkest moments of Netflix's teen series. While there were moments of great joy (Justin is getting adopted! Courtney has a cute girlfriend! Olivia is going to New York to live out Hannah's dream!), the final episode of the sophomore season also foretold a lot of dark, disturbing drama to come, should the series be renewed for a third season.
But did it have to be that way? Fans on Reddit don't think so. In fact, a new thread on Reddit reveals exactly what scenes 13 Reasons Why could have omitted in order to give the characters on this Netflix show closure... and, at least, a little bit of a happy ending.
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Here's how Reddit user Saevis thinks the show could have created a satisfying conclusion, without so much sadness.
"-remove the shot of Justin’s step dad watching the cafe"
"-Tyler comes back with the buzz cat, clean and renewed. Remove the assault and all subsequent gun scenes."
"-remove Justin relapsing"
"-remove Justin & Jessica having sex"
"-remove Chloe saying she’s pregnant"
"-end the series with the group hugging to 'The Night We Met'"
Truthfully, I think this ending could have worked — if only because 13 Reasons Why kind of did fake us out with "closure" to begin with. The episode features a belated funeral for the late Hannah (Katherine Langford), in which Clay (Dylan Minnette) finally declares he is ready to let her go. Hannah's former friends, many of whom were on the tapes of season 1, have unburdened themselves of their secrets during the trial. They are all ready to move on with their lives, most having learned a great deal from the events of the past two seasons.
"The Night We Met" would have been the perfect final memorial to Hannah, as it played at the school dance, leading to a large group hug with Hannah's former friends. Instead, Tyler (Devin Druid) brings multiple guns to the school dance, as a retaliation for a brutal sexual assault by Montgomery (Timothy Granaderos) earlier in the episode. Ultimately, Clay thwarts tragedy (somewhat problematically, by standing between Tyler and his guns) and Tyler leaves with Tony (Christian Navarro). However, Clay is left holding one of Tyler's guns, suggesting that he could face serious consequences — in season 3, should it happen.
13 Reasons Why definitely has something to say about gun violence, toxic masculinity, and sexual assault. I'm happy that it did bring up those things over the course of the season. But did the season finale have to include such dread? As Redditor Saevis suggests, maybe not.
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