"13 Reasons Why" (Netflix)

I thought the 2nd season was terrible and couldn't finish it. Ridiculous in so many ways. They should have left it as is after season 1.

 

Right....So I have tried to watch season 2 in 10 minute installments as that is all I could bear. I have made it to half way through episode 2 and just had to call it quits. What is going on?? Season 1 was great!! There is no story here!! There is no catch!! Nothing to grip you!! I found it quite awful.

 

The problem at the start of season 2 is the assumption you can remember everything from season 1, as if you watched it last week.

 

This isn’t unique to 13 Reasons Why. I’ve abandoned other shows like House of Cards and Westworld because I feel like I have to rewatch all the previous episodes or read a hundred pages of recap when the new season begins —they just pick up where they left off expecting you to remember every minor character and plot point, and in the meantime I’ve watched numerous other films and shows and read books as well... unless I’m really obsessed, I just can’t keep that much detail in my head anymore, especially with such convoluted shows.

 

I normally don't have that problem, but there were 13 characters in this case that all had a secret we were meant to remember - and we were meant to just guess that someone else had attempted suicide and another hadn't been to school for six months. It really was a mess of a first episode. The last one was even more of a mess for other reasons. But I had no real problem with the ones inbetween!

 

I'll go with the unpopular consensus. I loved both seasons and can't wait for a third.

 

Just started watching S3. They're still taking themselves so seriously with the PSA nonsense, but whatever.

I've only seen the first ep so far, and I quite like it (rewatching the last ep of S2 was extremely helpful as this season follows on from those events).

The thing that struck me at this very early stage is how much the opening episode reminded me of Veronica Mars! The new character Ani is like a Veronica analogue - a smart, plucky, quippy newcomer with a penchant for unrevealing mysterious goings on at school, with the narrative being peppered with an internal voiceover and a moody, poppy soundtrack. We already have character analogues of Weevil, Logan, Dick, we just need a Keith Mars!

 

If they didn't take themselves serious, they would get butchered by critics of the series. That said, series 3 could do with a bit of a sense of humour. It's like absolutely no-one in the whole series remotely enjoys life - including the minor characters not involved in the main story.

What is interesting, though, is that reviewers weren't given screeners of the series prior to it dropping, and yet are commenting on the whole series in reviews posted less than twelve hours after the series arrived (in other words, before they could have even watched it). It kind of adds to my theory that minds have been made up before the series even appears.

I've just seen episode four, and have to say I'm finding it a little bit dull, in all honest. I don't like the idea of introducing a new character who then takes over, and the move from present day scenes to flashbacks seems very clumsy, not helped by the change in aspect ratio. Audiences are quite capable of working out what's a flashback and what isn't without such an obvious visual tell.

As of episode four, any reviewer who tells us the series is "shocking" or somehow "irresponsible" is just lying to us. The so-called shock content is all but disappeared, and I'm currently wondering how it's going to keep going for another nine hours. At the moment it seems to be ambling along without much sense of purpose, but the second season had a rather weak opening few episodes too.

As for Veronica Mars, there is a new series being made, which I think will arrive late this year or early next.

 

Am only on EP 3 of the third season. Ani overload is doing my head in. There was a spell in this episode where she appeared to be on screen non stop for about 20 minutes. Whenever different characters would be appear in new scenes, she immediately turned up in those too!

The way the show is shot, out and sequence and in different time frames, meant she never got a proper introduction to the show and just appeared in scenes with characters, as far as we knew, she had no knowledge of. The overall effect was of a very persistent extra not taking the hint.

As much as I dislike the character, I can’t blame the actress who is only doing her job. It’s the writers that are at fault. What on earth possessed them to give someone the audience had no knowledge of such a massive part of the show? She even narrates the stinking thing! What a huge misstep the whole season is! I can only hope Ani isn’t in the final season.