Just finished the series for the first time...

[u/autumnlaynecraig]

As the title says, I just finished the series for the first time and I am blown away at how amazing this show is. It's beautifully written and acted. Like the acting is what made it so believable. I loved every characters' arc throughout the show. I feel like it's rare to have an ensemble cast where each character goes through their own character development but Clay is still the main character. My favorite characters throughout the show were Alex and Tyler. I also liked Jessica. I thought they were some of the most complex characters. Tbh I found Hannah kinda annoying which might be a hot take. I think what made me madder than anything in the show is how the school handles all these issues, especially in season 4. I work in education and I can't remember a single time in the series where the staff members did the right thing. Ik that's supposed to be the point of the show but I feel like the adults/staff members never progressed and got better at handling issues like I feel the rest of the characters progressed. Mr. Porter and some of the teachers act remorseful after season 1 but it's like the school just fired those staff members wanting to change and continued treating students like shit.

Season 1 is my favorite season and honestly one of the best seasons of any show I've ever watched. I love that it's all about the tapes and that the episodes each correspond with a different person. Seriously a great season.

I think season 2 was my least favorite. I thought the trial was really dragged out doing a different testimony each episode but I get why they did it. I thought it was pretty obvious the whole time that the bakers were going to lose the trial. I thought that sucked but made a lot of sense. The whole clubhouse mystery was probably the lamest "mystery of the season" out of all of them and is the main reason season 2 gets brought down for me. The fact that no one gets in trouble for that also makes it feel pointless. One thing that bugs me about seasons 3 & 4 is that ghost Hannah isn't there. Clay sees Bryce, Monty, Justin after they all die but he only sees Hannah in season 2 which I just don't get.

I loved season 3!! It's probably #2 for me. I loved the "who killed Bryce Walker" storyline but hated Ani. Ik this isn't a hot take but she just comes out of nowhere and buts into everyone's business? And then to make her police interview the narration for the season was confusing at first. I love how the story was sorta told in reverse like in season 1. We hear about all this stuff at homecoming and the murder motives and then to see who actually did it and what actually happened at homecoming was a pretty nice payoff!! It reminded me of season 1 of Riverdale mystery wise and I really enjoyed it.

Season 4 I wasn't a huge fan of. I feel like I was more let down by the plots in season 2 but this was probably my second least favorite. I hated what they did to Clay and Zach's characters, especially Zach because it really felt like his downward spiral came out of nowhere. I actually liked Winston's character. I love love love Charlie and Alex together. I think they are my favorite relationship out of the show. Their personalities just seem to mesh so well together, I wish we got more of them onscreen. The prom scenes with them were some of my favorite scenes in the whole show. I liked the lockdown/SRO plots a lot. I feel like Justin's death was super unnecessary. Like 4 main character's deaths weren't enough we had to throw in one before right before graduation? Either way, I really loved this show, way more than I expected to. The characters, the plotlines, the acting, the cinematography, all of it is just chef's kiss. I'd love to hear some of y'all's opinions, especially if you have already rewatched the show a bunch.

[u/skxnnyangel]

IKR!! It is so touching in so many ways. Justin's death was just so tragic though because he really had become so strong and built a beautiful life and future for himself and then it was taken.