The Reviews Are In for “13 Reasons Why” Season 4 and Yikes

Welcome to your tape, 13 Reasons Why.

13 Reasons Why, AKA the show that no one really wanted or needed to go on for as long as it has, finally came to an end on Friday when Netflix dropped its fourth and final season.

And though fans and critics have become increasingly agitated with it (even more so since its highly controversial first season), the reaction to its latest and last batch of episodes is inciting the most outrage yet.

No, the outrage isn’t this time regarding its problematic depiction of youth issues (though that’s still a big part of it). Mainly, the consensus seems to be: it sucks, big time.

Robyn Bahr’s blistering review for The Hollywood Reporter called out lead character Clay Jensen (played by Dylan Minnette) for being a "vulnerable narcissist who believes his romanticism somehow absolves him of his controlling and megalomaniacal behaviour", as well as the handling of last season’s murder plot, concluding the show has "no clue how to actually examine racism" and that its episodes have "no business being a full hour long". (She also takes issue that one of the apparent 17-year-olds, played by Ross Butler, is 30 in real life.)

Over at IGN, Ginny Woo is unconvinced by the presence of, ahem, ghosts from the characters’ pasts (Bahr also had a problem with the fourth season’s attempt at psychological horror). Woo notes that its attempts to be poignant is undercut by attempts to seem provocative and moments played entirely for shock value: "Considering the current social climate in America, its cop-heavy storylines revolving around riots, cover-ups, and guns make this a poor time for Brian Yorkey’s series to deliver its clumsy central messaging while mired in mental health misunderstandings."

The website Fansided doesn’t mince words, with Ian Thomas Malone’s headline reading, "13 Reasons Why season 4 is terrible in just about every way." It’s grade? F. "Season 4 is a disaster that betrays 13 Reasons Why’s characters, its only remaining asset," Malone writes. "The show has squandered any goodwill left over by its once-charming cast. There are plenty of legitimate discussions to be had on whether or not the show is dangerous for young people, but far fewer to be had regarding whether anyone should spend their time watching this poorly written mess."

Mashable’s Proma Khosla also criticises the way in which the show keeps on using the spectre of school shootings simply to cause a stir. The final line of the review indicates the general consensus, tbh: "13 Reasons Why was frustrating and difficult, but it’s over, and there will be no looking back."

'Okay, but what do the real fans think?' You may be asking. Well….

13 reasons why season 4 sucks , and it’s not for reasons like glorifying self harm or toxic something, dialogue sucks ass ,like bad porn dialogue type season , even Gary sinise cant save the season
— joseph melendez (@joeyam58) June 5, 2020

In fairness, over on IMDB, the individual episode ratings are slightly higher than those for Season 3. However, the fourth episode, "Senior Camping Trip", has, as of this writing, the worst score of any 13 Reasons Why instalment: 5.6 out of 10.

Meanwhile, we're waiting for a score to emerge for S4 on Rotten Tomatoes. Season 1 received a fresh 78 per cent, but Season 2 dropped to 27 per cent and Season 3 plummeted further to 12 per cent. Will Season 4 wind up with a coveted zero per cent? This is now, truly, the only cliffhanger we care about.