Paloma

Maybe I imagined this (because there was so much confusing stuff going on), but Major seemed to be talking very differently from his usual manner--almost like he was still a zombie and had eaten the brains of a giddy teenage girl. I think I noticed this most when he was in bed talking to Ravi about the letters, but also at other times in the episode.

He did. We don't know if she's taken it, but we saw him offer her the syringe. Thanks for that reminder. My husband said it was Natalie, but I didn't remember the scene where he gave her the syringe.

Great observation! My high school days are really ancient (1960s) but your post reminded me that there were "good girls" and "sluts" even then (and probably going back to when high school was invented!). In those days the "sluts" were either girlfriends of the "hoods" (vaguely defined, but in general these girls and guys were not interested in school or sports) or girls who got pregnant. I didn't really know who was having sex and who wasn't (other than, obviously, the ones who got pregnant), but most people made assumptions and judgments. The irony is that at least some of the popular "good girls" (cheerleaders, majorettes, etc.) were probably having sex with their boyfriends, but no assumptions and judgments were made about them (to my knowledge). Not that having sex should have been a justification for anyone getting a bad reputation, but this was a pre-feminist time. I am also very sorry that this happened to you, and it makes me wonder if either of the pregnancies that were whispered about in my high school were the result of rape. That would have made the reputation destruction even worse.

No spoilers, but let's just say this is quite early in the tapes. My husband and I sort of felt the same for the first episode or two, but we were hooked by the 3rd or 4th episode.

Apparently (from what the baby delivery doctor said) Sarah clinically was dead for at least a few moments, but they saved her. I guess we are supposed to assume that she is now like the other people who came back from the grave, except that she didn't have to claw her way out of the grave (same as Vic). I don't remember seeing prescriptions for Sarah, but I do remember seeing a lot of meds in the doctor's office cabinet that were (I think) from the company that she was a part of. Elisha seemed to be giving Sarah prenatal care so it's possible she had given her prescriptions for vitamins or possibly other meds. For some reason I don't think that Sarah was meant to be part of the doctor's research, but who knows. A lot of the story doesn't make sense, but my husband and I were still fascinated by it and can't wait for a second season. I just hope they give some explanations. This was my theory but not sure it would explain why Vic and (apparently) Sarah quickly resurrected without being buried first.

I wasn't totally following that either, and it seemed that the resolution was kind of meh. I think the murderer had been looking through the dominatrix's window but not sure how that led to him having a motive to murder.

LOL, this is why I write down all my passwords and keep them in an obvious place, thus ignoring all the advice about protecting against identity theft. You never know when you may be turned into a zombie and then have to take a cure that wipes out your memory! (Or when you are going to have a non-zombie senior moment.)

Glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't think that Fabian is all that attractive. He reminds me of a Ken doll--kind of a plastic look

Yes, I had a hard time believing they had been a couple. I know that opposites can attract, but Ryan seemed so far from the type of person that would attract Tony. (Though I can see Ryan being attracted to Tony.)

More on the controversy over this show, with an interesting perspective on Mr. Porter's failure to take appropriate action: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/05/01/school_counselors_talk_netflix_s_controversial_teen_suicide_drama_13_reasons.html?wpsrc=newsletter_slatest&sid=5388cdaedd52b81e7a00279e

I'm so sorry for what you experienced, but thank you for your insights and contribution to this necessary dialogue. I feel like the discussion of the show (here and elsewhere) is as important as the show itself.

Yes, he did suggest killing him (though I don't think he used those words--I think it was something like "end him"). He was clearly feeling desperate, and I don't know whether he would have actually done it. But the fact that he considered such extreme action is bad enough.

It's a shame that we've reached the point that Jasper's death is such a desirable outcome! Although he was never one of my favorite characters, I did find him interesting in the Mt. Weather story. But for a long time now he has been incredibly obnoxious, and what makes it worse is that he has recruited others who might have made a different choice without his constant "party until we die" attitude and reckless behavior. If Monty dies (which I'm sure the writers will find a way to avoid), Jasper will be the one to blame not only for Monty's death but for the loss of his important skills to the rest of the group's future survival in the bunker or wherever.

I understand your reasons for putting Justin third, but I think Marcus is worse because he actually committed a sexual assault in public knowing that he could get away with it because of his reputation as a smart, athletic, and upstanding student. Also, he had to know that framing Clay with drugs could have resulted in Clay being expelled, arrested, and even imprisoned--in other words, ruining his life. Justin's actions regarding Hannah and Jessica were more passive than active (though I'm not letting him off the hook for those actions) and seemed to be related to his abuse of alcohol and drugs as well as his need to keep Bryce's approval. In other words, I see Marcus's actions toward both Hannah and Clay as more malicious than Justin's.

So happy that we will be back from a month-long trip just in time for the premiere! I really miss this show.

Through all the scenes with the party-til-we-die crew, I kept yelling at Jaha and the others trying to get them out of the locked room, "Just let them die!" If they refuse to help themselves, much less anyone else, they do not deserve saving. I would have more respect for Jasper and crew if they all made a reasoned decision to stay but helped those who were leaving to get ready, rather than just use the latest threat to survival as another excuse to party on. I was also angry at Harper for not leaving with Monty, especially after he came back--I get that she's depressed, but they are all in the same boat (well, ark) and she knows that her refusal to leave dooms him as well. Maybe that's romantic to some, but I never saw them as a great romance--certainly not worth Monty's giving up on life.

I'm so sorry for what you experienced, but it's important that people know that Hannah's experience is not uncommon. Although I did not have the horrific experiences you did, I would also say that high school is hell and that this is not something new. My 50th (!!) reunion is next year, not that I would ever consider going to it, because I still remember and occasionally feel the pain of not being popular and not having a boyfriend (or even being asked out) in high school. The irony is that years later both female and male former classmates would tell me that they always thought I was pretty/nice/smart etc.--but all I felt like was an ugly loser. That self-image has affected me throughout my adult life, no matter how many good things have happened since. I wish I could go back and tell my high school self that things would get better soon (I blossomed in college), but my high school self couldn't have heard that lesson--just as Hannah could not see beyond the dark clouds.

I would have agreed with this if not for my own daughter's experience. She was attractive, smart, talented, and seemed to have a lot of friends and an active social life, but eventually I found out that she saw herself as inferior and without real friends. We did get her into counseling, but (like me) she has periodically struggled with depression and feelings of inadequacy even as an adult. But anyone superficially looking at her, talking to her, and seeing her success in life would never believe it. It's all about how you feel inside, and those feelings often do not match the positive image you project to others.

I think we have to remember that for many teenagers the need to be popular overrules common sense. Most kids probably would give up and look for other friends (or give up looking for any friends and just be depressed), but others might keep trying to get in with the popular crowd. Again, the teenage mind is not completely rational, and peer pressure is huge. I'm sure one part of Hannah was recognizing that this was a bad idea, but another part was recognizing that this type of carefree partying was what the popular kids were doing, and maybe she would be accepted if she joined in. At the moment she stripped down and got in the jacuzzi, she probably thought she could control the situation. Once things started going bad, she could not act fast enough to escape. Good observation--I didn't pick up on the neatness and what it might mean.

This confused me, too, but I think Bryce was tape 12 and was supposed to hand the tapes to Mr. Porter after listening to them. Except that it seems obvious that Bryce would never hand over the tapes to an authority figure, and the other people on the tapes seemed to be trying to prevent Bryce from even knowing about the tapes.

It also was evidence of his being so distracted and/or upset by his memories that he got injured because he didn't pay attention to his surroundings.

This is true, but in her depressed state of mind, she probably could not see that seeking help would make a difference. And because she kept up a good front with her parents, they could not see that she needed urgent help. In a way committing suicide was not really a choice for Hannah, but the result of the distorted thinking that is part of depression.

This makes sense regarding Tony's feelings about Hannah and Clay, but I don't know why he would blame himself for not paying attention to Alex. Tony and Clay seemed to have a long-standing friendship (if perhaps not as close as it used to be), but I didn't see any signs that Tony and Alex were friends--did I miss that?

But when you are seriously depressed, it can be impossible to see anything except your negative perspective. Maybe TMI here, but I have struggled with depression my whole life, with occasional suicidal thoughts though never actually attempting. When at my lowest points, I have felt that nobody loves me or even likes me, despite evidence to the contrary which I can see when I pull myself out of the emotional hole (or am helped out of it with therapy). Mostly I have blamed myself for these feelings, but sometimes I attribute feelings to others that may not be accurate. For example, as an adult I developed a friendship a few years ago that at first seemed great, but after a couple of years it ended because she stopped calling. I decided that she didn't want to be around me anymore because she is slim and always perfectly dressed, with perfect hair and makeup, while I am overweight and the opposite in terms of dress, hair, and makeup. If I were a teenager, I might have considered her ending the friendship for these reasons a betrayal or at least very hurtful. But as an adult I was eventually able to see that she didn't really end the friendship unilaterally--I had actually been pulling away for a while because I was annoyed with some things she did and said (not related to how either one of us dressed or looked). So she might have blamed me for ending the friendship! My point is that Hannah may seem to be unfair in blaming all these people for why she kills herself and in not acknowledging the people who really do care about her, but she is actually unable to see it another way in her state of mind.

Justin chose not to stop Bryce? He knocked, entered the room, tried to grab Bryce off of her and then was shoved back, shoved out of the door and Bryce locked the door behind him. That's not doing nothing in my book. Could he or should he have done more? Yes, absolutely. But I can't co-sign he chose to do nothing. But wasn't there a brief exchange between Bryce and Justin at the door before Bryce went in, when Bryce said something suggesting that they could share Jessica (something like "what's mine is yours")? Maybe I'm mis-remembering, but I thought Justin felt guilty not just because he didn't stop Bryce (and then lied to Jessica) but because he was complicit in allowing Bryce to go in the room in the first place. Of course, they were both drunk and/or high, but I think Justin knew what Bryce intended to do and did not initially make an effort to stop him.