TV Show review
Review basis: 4 seasons · through June 5, 2020
March 31, 2017 · TV-MA · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
13 Reasons Why follows high school student Clay Jensen after classmate Hannah Baker dies by suicide and leaves him a set of cassette tapes explaining her reasons, which involve bullying, rumors, sexual assault, and failures by friends and school staff. The first season adapts Jay Asher’s 2007 novel closely while later seasons expand into original murder mysteries, a rape trial, and a school shooting threat at Liberty High. The series features a naturally diverse California high school cast with several supporting LGBTQ characters and addresses trauma and consent, but these elements stay personal and dramatic without overt ideological framing or activist messaging.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for 13 Reasons Why.
Woke representation / casting
Natural mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds fitting a California high school plus several supporting LGBTQ characters; no evident quota signaling or story-world mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
Occasional talk about consent, bullying, and mental health support appears in character conversations but stays grounded in personal stories without activist lectures or systemic framing.
Identity-driven story themes
Trauma from assault and suicide drives the core narrative with incidental queer and diverse side stories; these never become the central or didactic focus.
Western institutional / cultural critique
School counselors and jock culture are shown failing to protect students, yet the emphasis remains on individual choices and personal accountability rather than broad attacks on patriarchy, whiteness, or Western institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Backlash centered exclusively on suicide portrayal and graphic content; no documented right-leaning complaints about identity politics, DEI, or left-wing messaging.
Creator track record context
Core team includes mental-health-focused creators and some writers with social-issue credits, but no dominant pattern of activist or identity-politics work across the group.
Production
