13 Reasons Why - Episode 3

Episode 3 focuses on Alex and his bad decisions. In this episode Hannah talks about how a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane somewhere else in the world. This is a metaphor for little things being blown out of control and effecting others without that being the initial intent. In this case it’s the list, the list that Alex added Hannah’s name to the ‘Best Ass’ category. His intentions were to make Jessica jealous as their relationship was in a rough spot at the time. This caused Hannah to feel very embarrassed and obtain a lot of unwanted attention, which made her feel very self-conscious. Most girls would love the attention but this is an example about how you can’t possibly know what is going on in someone else life and how actions that you may think are miniscule, can have a massive effect on people.

Simultaneously, Courtney is trying to conduct acts of kindness like making memorials for Hannah, which causes one of my favorite scenes in the series. Olivia visits the school to find answers about her daughter’s death in which the principal declines to reveal any information because it will interfere with the court case but assures her that there isn’t a bullying problem at the school. Olivia makes her way to the bathroom, overwhelmed with sadness and breaks down in a toilet cubical. To her belief the finds out that the stall is covered in graffiti, insults towards other students at the school. After taking photos she leaves and is stopped by Courtney asking of she likes the memorial for Hannah, covered in roses, to which Olivia replies that anyone who knew Hannah would know she hates roses, they’re too cliché. This highlights how two-faced students can be and how mean they are on the inside.

Overall, this episode really makes you think about other people and what might be going on in their life. It’s a very clever episode.

-Jayden