13 Reasons Why - Episode 9

CW: Talk of rape, if you don't like it please don't read this.

Who authorised this to be a tape?

13 Reasons Why
Episode 9: Tape 5, Side A

Christ, where do I even start with this one? How do I write an introductory paragraph to this? Shit, I can't, let's just get on with it.

Plot: Hannah watches as Jessica gets raped.

Rape: Just gonna get this part over and done with. It's Jessica's return to school party and she gets insanely wasted, to the point that she passes out while she and Justin are getting ready for some sexy time. Justin checks if she's awake, kisses her and leaves her on the bed. Good boy right? For now yes. He leaves the room to a drunken Bryce saying Quote: "what's mine is yours right?" (I'll be getting into that later). We then see the rape and Hannah frozen in shock and fear as she wants to do something but...can't. Jessica is in a state of denial of what happened to her after Justin tells her that the two hooked up and went to sleep and that Hannah's lying. Eventually, she remembers and is visibly shaken. Shaken probably isn't the right wording for that...words kind of escape me right now because I know as soon as I put one foot out of line with this, someone is gonna fucking slam me for it.

I do have questions about this though. How did Bryce get into the room if Justin was stood outside? Did Justin wave him in or did he just push past him? If so, why didn't Justin fight him on it? And why didn't he fight harder to keep Bryce off of Jessica? He's proven that he does care about her so...why didn't he fight harder to protect her? He could have caused a scene or gone downstairs and get his friends to fight Bryce, I dunno, just so much could have been done to stop this and nobody did anything to help this poor girl. What's worse is that because it had been so long, there is no way she could get any sort of justice or closure other than what she can find for herself. It would be hard as hell for her to do and maybe she wouldn't get the proper closure she needs and undoubtedly this is the sort of thing that will, at the very least, be in the back of her mind for years or even the rest of her life.

What's mine is yours: This is not the way you should speak, unless you're talking about your boyfriend's hoodies or if you're sharing food. Do not speak this way about each other's girlfriends. It's fucking appalling to hear this sort of language but I understand why it's important to show it so that if young people are watching this show, they can see that within this context this sort of behaviour is horrid and shouldn't be accepted. If you're seeing someone and your friend says "what's mine is yours" referring to sleeping with your partner, drop them as a friend, you do not need that sort of person in your life.

The actual tape: What the fuck does this have to do with Hannah's lead up to suicide? I don't mean to deviate from the issue but isn't that what this series is about? The thing's that lead up to Hannah taking her own life. Is it the guilt she's feeling from not doing anything? If so why didn't they show that? Why didn't they show the struggle she was having with this? Why didn't they show her try to talk to Jessica, to convince her to go to the police? I do understand the need to show this sort of thing but it just felt so out of nowhere considering this is about the events that lead to this girls death.

Also, why was this Justin's second tape? Why the hell wasn't it a Bryce tape? Bryce was the offender, Bryce was the rapist, Bryce deserved this tape. Not Justin.

Hannah: I...understand Hannah in this episode. Let me explain. When you're in a situation like that, where you are paralysed with fear there is nothing you can do to make yourself snap out of it, especially when the person you're supposed to take action against is a huge, athletic, muscular man, and you are a small woman with barely any physical traits that would enable you to come out on top in a fight. There's nothing you can do, adrenaline could probably fuel the fight and you might win if that's the case and at the very least, being at a crowded party you could cause a big enough scene to get whatever is happening stopped. But like I said, when you're paralysed with fear, you can't do shit.

I'm not saying that I agree with her actions, I'm saying I understand why she did what she did here.

Clay: To end on a slightly better note. Clay gets suspended for possession of pot. God, I swear this school is run by some sort of mini mafia it's almost funny. Marcus slips pot into Clay's bag and tells the school counsellor that he's worried about Clay, gets the police in and gets Clay's bag searched and gets him suspended in order to "send him a message". Honestly, if it wasn't so serious it'd be hilarious. I genuinely just can't deal with the kids at the school. What y'all trying to hide? What's the conspiracy?

Also, remember that gash on his head and remember when I said that the boy needs a plaster? Guess what? The boy got a plaster, hallelujah, holy shit. Seriously though, praise every higher being, this boy got a plaster. Words can't express how soothed I am by this, I'm just hoping he keeps his plaster on through the rest of the 4 episodes.

Anyway, that's it for today, I don't know what else to say really because...what else is there to say? I'm out, g'night guys.

This is just my opinion and if you disagree then that's great, I'm open to discussion and I'm always interested to hear how you feel about this episode/series. This is also a critique which is considered "Fair Use" under the Copyright Act 1976. If you like this series then go and support its creators by watching it again on its platform.