The TV phenomenon that is Selena Gomez’s 13 Reasons Why gripped fans around the world when it launched on Netflix earlier this year.
A second season of 2017’s most tweeted-about show is on the way, but what can you expect? From who’s returning to plot details and fan theories, here’s everything you need to know.
13 Reasons Why season 2 release date: When is it on Netflix?
Netflix officially announced a second season to air in 2018. Everybody from the cast to the author of the original novel Jay Asher was calling for it, so ultimately the renewal was no surprise.
Showrunner Brian Yorkey – who was behind season one – will be back at the helm, with 13 more hour-long episodes of the show in the works.
The official 13 Reasons Why Twitter account posted a short teaser trailer confirming season two, showing various memorable locations from the first season such as Liberty High School, The Crestmont, and Monet’s.
The video on social media had the caption: “Their story isn’t over.”
Right now, there is no exact release date besides “2018”.
On June 12, 2017, star Christian Navarro (who plays Tony Padilla) shared that the cast and crew were on set for the first day of filming for season two.
Day One. S2. Ready to make some magic. 🎧🏎
— Christian Navarro (@ChristianLN0821) 12 giugno 2017
Season one launched on March 31, 2017, so Netflix may consider releasing season two at around the same date in 2018.
13 Reasons Why season 2 cast: Will Hannah be back?
Despite showrunner Yorkey playing around with the idea of making 13 Reasons Why an anthology seriesat one point – à la True Detective – season two will keep the same cast and the same setting.
Most notably, yes, Katherine Langford will be back as Hannah Baker.
“I think one of the things that is still hanging out there is this question of, is someone responsible for Hannah’s death?” Yorkey said. “Is the school responsible? Who is responsible, if anyone is?
“One way we’ll explore that question is through the trial and also through all of these kids reflecting on where they are a few months down the road and what other secrets are being uncovered.
“That’s going to take us into the past, into Hannah’s story.”
We also can’t have a second season without Clay Jensen. Actor Dylan Minnette seems certain to continue on, as he shared this pretty cool Instagram snap:
Riding into season 2 like:
Ross Butler (Zach Dempsey) confirmed his return, after he revealed that he dropped out of Riverdale to be part of the second season of 13 Reasons Why.
Christian Navarro (Tony Padilla) tweeted that he was back on set, while Kate Walsh (Olivia Baker) gave an interview confirming her character will play a part in the new episodes.
Brandon Flynn (Justin Foley) said he was excited for season two, posting on Instagram: “Can’t wait to get back to work with this beautiful team!”
Alisha Boe (Jessica Davis) and Justin Prentice (Bryce Walker) also seem certain to come back, with Yorkey stating his interest in continuing their stories (more on that later), while Miles Heizer (Alex Standall) suggested his cliffhanger will be addressed – meaning he will return in some form.
Michele Selene Ang (Courtney Crimsen) said on Instagram: “See all you freaks back at Liberty High.”
Devin Druid (Tyler Down), Amy Hargreaves (Lainie Jensen), Ajiona Alexus (Sherri Holland), Tommy Dorfman (Ryan Shaver), and Timothy Granaderos (Montgomery de la Cruz) all shared the season two teaser video on Twitter and/or Instagram following the show’s renewal – which implies that they are all interested in coming back as well.
Brian d’Arcy James (Hannah Baker’s father Andy) said in an interview that he would love to return.
And lastly, could we finally see justice for Jeff? Brandon Larracuente shared in an interview that he would love to play Jeff Atkins again, and suggested that he could feature in flashbacks.
“Considering the entire first season, Jeff was shown entirely in flashbacks, that could be a possibility,” he said.
Selena Gomez did not make a cameo in season one, and fans shouldn’t expect her to appear in season two, either.
Hargreaves commented on the possibility of Selena popping up, saying: “It would kinda distract from the main story. So I can’t imagine that she would pop up for a cameo, but who knows? You never know.”
13 Reasons Why season 2 spoilers: What will happen?
Firstly, the tapes are being scrapped. Those cassettes still exist, of course, but rather the episodes will no longer be structured around Hannah’s narration.
Instead, there will be a “different sort of analogue technology that plays a hugely important role in season two”, showrunner Yorkey teased.
“The cassette tapes aren’t at the centre of it – those two boxes of tapes are still hanging around and matter to people, but there will be a new piece of technology for 13-year-olds to Google and try to understand what it was.”
Season two will keep the multiple-timeline storytelling, but Hannah is no longer the narrator. Instead, somebody else will be providing the voiceover.
We will see “other perspectives on Hannah’s story”, too. This is particularly interesting, because there were a couple of moments in the first season where certain characters questioned Hannah’s “truth”.
Of note, remember the letter that Hannah gave to Zach? The one which she claimed he had thrown away, thus rejecting her plea for help?
The reality is that Zach actually kept the note. Did Hannah lie, or was she just mistaken? Maybe that will be explained.
“Hannah told her version of events, but there are at least 12 kids who have another version of those events that we actually haven’t really heard from yet,” Yorkey said.
Time-wise, the second season will pick up “a number of months” after season one (according to Yorkey), and will in part cover the trial and the Bakers’ lawsuit against the school.
Kate Walsh (Hannah’s mother Olivia Baker) teased: “We’ll see more and more of the mystery getting revealed, and I think you see Mrs Baker still questing for the answers of what happened to her daughter.”
You should also expect a number of other loose ends to be addressed when the show returns. Most of the characters were in a dark place by the end of last season, but could some of them find happiness?
“[The individual cliffhangers are] all related, so I would very much like to explore where they all go and to see if there is, as I think there will be, some light for these kids,” Yorkey said.
Jessica is still trying to recover from her rape, while Bryce – who raped Jessica and Hannah – will hopefully be receiving some form of comeuppance, whatever that may be.
“I want to do Jessica’s story the deserved justice of following her as she goes back to school, as she tries to begin to recover from what happened to her, because it’s something that millions of young women go through,” Yorkey said.
“And also [I want to] see somebody punch Bryce in the face.”
The cast seem to be in agreement as well, with stars such as Alisha Boe and Brandon Flynn saying that they hope to see “justice for Hannah and Jessica”.
Timothy Granaderos similarly wants the people who wronged Hannah to be “held accountable”.
Other cliffhangers from the season one finale include what happens with school counsellor Kevin Porter (will he be fired?), Alex’s suicide attempt, Zach desperately trying to reach Alex only to receive a call from somebody else, and Tyler’s stash of guns.
Selena Gomez, pop singer and one of the producers on the show, said that she has been in the writers’ room and that there were story moments she learned which left her “almost freaking out”.
Any fears that 13 Reasons Why would have to censor itself in light of the controversy the show drew for season one (over its depiction of suicide) can rest easy: Dylan Minnette and executive producer Tom McCarthy have both said season two will not be censored.
“I’m sure it’s going to be just as important and dark as last season,” Minnette said.
13 Reasons Why season 2 theories: Did Tyler shoot Alex?
With the way the season one finale ended, it’s not surprising that people have been coming up with fan theories about season two – many of which are truly clever and imaginative.
Perhaps the most popular one out there is tied to Alex’s cliffhanger. In the finale, Alex was fighting for his life after it was revealed that he shot himself.
We never saw this happen on-screen, and fans have suggested that Tyler actually shot him instead. The theory points out that Tyler had a stash of guns hidden in his room, and that he ominously took down Alex’s photo that he had previously hung up in his studio.
However, Miles Heizer (who plays Alex) has appeared to dismiss that theory.
“That’s another subject that’s very rarely shown on screen and is probably a lot more common than people think it is: people attempting to take their lives and it not happening. I’m sure that will bring a crazy set of issues. It would be interesting to go into that,” he said.
That’s not all. Alex was seen in an ambulance – but if you ask some fans, they think that scene is actually a flashforward and it’s not Alex there at all. Maybe it’s Bryce. Maybe it’s Justin.
As for Tyler’s stash of guns, one common theory is that he is planning a school shooting.
Tyler had photos of numerous other students (including Clay) in his studio – people who have wronged and bullied him. Maybe these students are the targets, and maybe he actually took down Alex’s picture because he had decided to spare him (the opposite of the ‘Tyler shoots Alex’ theory).
Lastly, a lot of fans seem to think that Tony is either a ghost or a figment of Clay’s imagination.
This one is a little more difficult to swallow, mainly because we have seen Tony interacting with plenty of other characters besides Clay, but it’s interesting nonetheless…