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Thursday, May 24, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS

Few 
recent 
shows 
have 
caused as much controversy and 
sparked as many discussions 
as Netflix’s adaption of Jay 
Asher’s 2007 novel “13 Reasons 
Why.” It tackles a variety of 
topics 
from 
depression 
and 
sexual assault to bullying, while 
drawing 
criticism 
for 
what 
some believe to be its graphic 
depiction of traumatic events 
and glamorization of topics like 
suicide and self-harm.
The 
show’s 
first 
season 
explored 
the 
circumstances 
surrounding 
the 
suicide 
of 
Liberty High School student 
Hannah 
Baker 
(Katherine 
Langford, 
“Love, 
Simon”) 
through a series of thirteen 
audio 
tapes 
narrated 
by 
Hannah herself. The tapes, 
each addressed to an individual 
who contributed to Hannah’s 
suicide, revealed a harrowing 
series of events caused by both 
individual and systemic failures 
in her high school. 
Season two begins months 
after Hannah’s death, at the 
beginning of a civil lawsuit 
between Hannah’s parents and 
her high school, the latter of 
which is being sued for failure 
to protect Hannah and enabling 
the damaging culture that led 
to her suicide. Each episode 
centers on the testimony of 
an individual mentioned in 

one of Hannah’s tapes, while 
also 
exploring 
the 
effects 
of Hannah’s suicide on the 
students of Liberty High.
The show’s first season dealt 
with difficult topics with a 
sensitivity and maturity that few 
shows centering around such 
a demographic do. Moreover, 
the characters, from Hannah 
herself to her close friend Clay 
Jensen (Dylan Minnette, “Don’t 
Breathe”), felt like realistic, 
multi-dimensional 
teenagers. 
Season two deals with similar 

issues but is let down by 
its own writing and overall 
execution. The dialogue, one 
of the strongest aspects of the 
first season, is now stilted and 
overly melodramatic, especially 
during the courtroom scenes. 
Without the structure provided 
by the series of tapes in season 
one, the early episodes of season 
two lack a sense of cohesion and 
unity. Hannah’s appearances in 
Clay’s hallucinations feel more 
like cheap plot devices. The 
antagonists of the story feel 
almost cartoonishly evil, which 
belies the actual heinousness of 
their crimes.

Season 
two’s 
redeeming 
qualities 
mainly 
concern 
the 
development 
of 
certain 
characters. In particular, Tyler 
(Devin Druid, TV’s “House of 
Cards”), one of the students 
implicated in Hannah’s tapes, is 
slowly fleshed out, albeit in an 
unsettling fashion that seems 
to be a large focus of the season 
as a whole. Minette’s portrayal 
of Clay’s trauma and inability 
to rid himself of memories 
related to Hannah is excellent, 
especially in a set of awkward 
scenes 
with 
his 
girlfriend 
Skye (Sosie Bacon, “Story of a 
Girl”). Zach (Ross Butler, TV’s 
“Riverdale”) and high school 
counselor Kevin Porter (Derek 
Luke, 
TV’s 
“Roots”) 
begin 
compelling 
redemption 
arcs 
as well. Scenes with Hannah’s 
mother Olivia (Kate Walsh, 
“Girls Trip”) are also high notes, 
as she emotionally recounts the 
little moments that she believes 
helped drive her daughter to her 
tragic end.
Season two of “13 Reasons 
Why” takes an even darker, 
more sinister tone than season 
one. Unfortunately, its shoddy 
writing and poor dramatization 
make 
it 
feel 
more 
like 
a 
stereotypical high school drama 
or an ineffective PSA. Season 
one, despite some issues with 
its pacing, tells its story in a 
unique, thoughtful way, which 
season two does not replicate 
with consistency.

‘13 Reasons Why’ Season 
2 strays from its successes

TV REVIEW

NETFLIX

FILM REVIEW

MADELEINE GAUDIN
Daily Arts Writer

SAYAN GHOSH
Daily Arts Writer

“13 Reasons 

Why”

Netflix

Episodes 1-3

“Under the 
Silver Lake”

A24

Cannes Film Festival

There is a wonderful eagerness 
with which Sam — Andrew Garfield 
(“Breathe”) at a career high — 
accepts the miraculous nonsense 
of “Under the Silver Lake.” His 
refusal to spend more than one 
perfect facial reaction questioning 
the bombardment of bizarre is, 
in large part, why director David 
Robert Mitchell (“It Follows”) gets 
away with the most unrelentlessly 
odd film of the year. It’s how he 
out-Lynches Lynch and out-Jonzes 
Jonze.
Sam 
is 
33, 
white, horny and 
unemployed 
in 
L.A. He’s not just 
“working 
on 
a 
script” unemployed, 
he’s 
directionless 
without 
seeming 
to want direction. Or rather, he 
thinks direction will come find him, 
preferably in the form of secret codes 
planted by other modern geniuses in 
popular culture.
When his mysterious neighbor 
Sarah (Riley Keough, “American 
Honey”) disappears as quickly and 
seamlessly as she appears, Sam is 
finally called to action. The universe 
demands he quit his day job of 
spying on his aging, topless neighbor 
and uncover what the hell is going 
on under the Silver Lake.
Sam follows the bread crumbs 
that align so perfectly (the film 
more than earns this narrative 
ease) it’s a wonder he didn’t plant 
them himself. He takes us through a 
version of L.A. that bears a striking 
resemblance to “La La Land.” Not 
in its choice landmarks per se, but in 
the way it constructs the city around 
cinematic homage. Extremely meta. 

But while “La La Land” earns charm 
from its referential existence, “Silver 
Lake” gets an added layer of unease. 
What came first: Los Angeles or the 
on-screen version of it?
Mitchell has more than just 
Hollywood in his sights though, as 
Sam’s journey drags the audience 
deeper and deeper into the maze 
(sometimes literally) of the film’s 
plot. It becomes obvious Sam 
believes the world was created 
just for him. Beyond the codes and 
keys and messages in songs, Sam 
believes he deserves everything just 
because he exists. His undeserved 
want manifests itself 
brilliantly in the way 
he views women. 
From the moment 
we meet him, behind 
a pair of binoculars 
on his porch, Sam 
is the leering male 
gaze incarnated. He 
wants women so they should want 
him. He wants sex so he deserves it. 
The infatuation that sets the plot in 
motion is born, more than anything, 
out of an unresolved sexual fantasy.
Andrew Garfield’s specifically 
twitchy brand of skinny-guy acting 
has never been better. He is equal 
parts compelling and unsettling as 
Sam. It is as satisfying to see him 
succeed, as it is to see him fail.
“Under the Silver Lake” plants 
a thousand seeds and reaps every 
single one. Although inane, the trail 
Sam follows is airtight. Every twist 
and turn pays off. As he did with 
his other two features, Mitchell 
reimagines what is possible for 
a genre and pushes his film well 
beyond the limits of the expected. 
“Under the Silver Lake” is brilliantly 
acted, a perfect neo-noir and a biting 
social commentary. And it’s fun — 
it’s so much fun.

Cannes: ‘Under 
the Silver Lake’

A24