Based on the bestselling novel written by Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why tells the story of why teenaged Hannah Baker took her own life and the events which follow her death, diving into the lives of multiple characters across four epic and emotional seasons. Whilst the show may have aired its fourth and final season, us dedicated fans aren’t ready to let go of this insightful drama-mystery series. We round up 10 emotional moments, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, that occurred over the four seasons.
Please be advised that spoilers will feature in this article along with mentions of potentially triggering events such as self-harm, shootings, suicide, rape, and death.
1. The Night We Met (Season 1)
‘The Night We Met’ by Lord Huron is the designated song for the slow dance that makes up what has to be one of the sweetest scenes throughout the entirety of the show! As the chaotic crowd of headbanging teens at the Winter Formal settles to couples swaying slowly to this sorrowful song, the awkward moment which Clay and Hannah share before dancing together is completely relatable to teenage life and romantic scenarios. When they finally do begin to dance, the atmosphere is tense in all the right ways, the connection between these two characters as well as the chemistry is so painfully obvious that you can’t help but shout at the screen for Clay to make a move and kiss Hannah right there on the dancefloor.
2. The Death Of Justin Foley (Season 4)
Whether you expected it or not, perhaps one of the most heartbreaking scenes came in the finale of 13 Reasons Why’s very last season. . . The death of Justin Foley. After a long battle against drugs, abuse, and being homeless before being adopted by the Jensens and working to turn his life around, Justin’s health takes a turn for the worst and he collapses at prom only to be hospitalised. He is then diagnosed as HIV positive, which progresses to AIDS and acts as his cause of death due to AIDS-related pneumonia and fungal meningitis. The death left many fans furious and heartbroken, what with it being all the more bitter thanks to Justin’s sympathetic story and the efforts to turn his life around, only to have his potentially promising future ripped away from him.
3. The Making Of Tape 14 (Season 1)
Perhaps one of the most tension-filled scenes in the show is when Clay makes the decision to confront Bryce Walker in his own home. After the continuous pressing from Clay about how Bryce raped Hannah, Bryce proceeds to beat up Clay before offering the other an ice-pack and drink. As the two sit together in the following scene, Clay receives the closest to a confession and anyone is likely to get and it is later revealed that Clay cleverly was recording the entire interaction. This tape recording of Bryce’s confession then becomes tape 14, an addition to the 13 tapes left behind by the late Hannah Baker who was one of Bryce’s rape victims.
4. Hannah Baker’s Suicide (Season 1)
It’s every parents expectation that their children outlive them and every parents nightmare that that may not be the case. When 13 Reasons Why begins, Hannah Baker had already taken her own life, however. as Clay listens to the tapes left by Hannah telling of the reasons why there was no question in that it would all lead up to the moment eventually being shown. What is even more emotional than Hannah Baker’s suicide is when her parents find her. . . Her mother’s denial at what has happened and insistence that she is okay combined with her father’s panic makes for one of the most difficult to watch scenes in the show’s first season.
5. Clay Jensen’s Lockdown Breakdown (Season 4)
Ever since Clay Jensen began hallucinating his deceased friend and love interest, Hannah Baker, fans have speculated on and questioned the state of his mental health. Finally, in the fourth and final season, Clay’s state of mind becomes a major focus in the show’s storyline. After hallucinations of Monty and Bryce and the school staging a shooting in a feeble attempt to prepare its students for the likelihood of the drill becoming a reality, Clay finally loses it. This mental breakdown which he has in front of the adults and fellow teens sees Clay behaving erratically and even grabbing hold of one of the guns, asking if having a gun makes him any safer. He is then tackled by one of the team and we next see him having been admitted to a psychiatric ward.
6. “I’m A Survivor” Assembly (Season 3)
Sexual abuse and rape are two of the typically taboo topics which 13 Reasons Why refuses to shy away from and one of the most impactful scenes within the show is this assembly scene in season 3 which sees survivors coming together and taking the chance to literally stand up and announce that they are survivors. It’s a sincerely eye-opening moment in the show as it goes to show just how you never know who and how many people have been affected by such a horrific event, and some of those who make a stand in this episode shocked viewers with their unexpected announcement.
7. Bryce Walker Is Murdered (Season 3)
From season 1, the majority of the fans who watched 13 Reasons Why yearned for rapist Bryce Walker to get his comeuppance and in season 3, he did. What was surprising though is that not only did this bring to the show a new mystery as fans speculated on who the murderer was and waited for it to be revealed, but some were also… conflicted. Before his death, Bryce seemed to be trying to make amends and turn his life around, aiming to become a better person and following his death we were left with not only the question of who killed him but also if, given the opportunity, would he have been able to fully change and should he have been allowed to live for that possibility to come to?
8. Charlie St. George’s Promposal(s) (Season 4)
In a show like 13 Reasons Why where the primary topics of the storyline revolve around suicide, rape, murder, and many of the harsh realities to life, it’s difficult to remember that the characters we see on screen are still just teenagers. In season 4, one of the more lighthearted and comedic moments centre around Charlie St. George and his attempts to ask Alex Standall to the prom. His attempts include banners across the corridor walls, a classroom filled with students wearing masks of Charlie’s face holding a ‘Prom?’ sign and this romantic scene of fake candles and fairy lights.
9. Justin Foley’s Essay (Season 4)
If Justin’s death didn’t have you in tears, then this scene most definitely will. Having cleared out Justin’s lockers in school, Clay comes across Justin’s college essay which just so happens to be written about him. Thanks to Clay’s vivid imagination, he is still able to see Justin as he was able to see Hannah, Bryce, and Monty and he sits across from the other in their room as he reads out the essay that just so happens to be about him. Justin’s college essay acts as a letter allowing Clay and viewers an insight into his mind and how he feels toward Clay who we have watched grow from an enemy to a friend to a brother to Justin throughout the course of the show’s four seasons.
10. Spring Fling Shooting (Season 2)
One thing that 13 Reasons Why is both praised and criticised for as a show is its daring nature to focus on taboo subjects that many try to avoid acknowledging the existence of. In season 2, following a rather graphic sexual abuse scene, Tyler Down shows up at the school during the Spring Fling dance armed with multiple guns and the intent of carrying out a school shooting. Despite how he is stopped from proceeding with his plans by Clay, this close call is chilling to watch and made especially emotional as viewers battle with conflicting emotions of terror as the show edges closer to the sensitive topic of a school shooting and the sympathy felt for Tyler as a character given what he has been through.
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