#1

Anybody watched? Rifled through it over the last week or so. Despite it being an oddly lurid, tasteless depiction of suicide, it’s…kinda compulsive. Intrigued to see what others think. The format/gimmick seems to overwhelm the content, and the genuinely traumatic events are given somewhat short shrift so as to move onto the next tape. It’s pretty infuriating given the talent involved.

#2

I started it a week ago. I think I’m four or five episodes in. It’s entertaining enough but not amazing; it’s inevitably a teenage show but is no My So-Called Life.

I do agree with you completely on the gimmick aspect overwhelms and undermines a teenage suicide.

I’ll stick with it. Despite the fact that it’s an audio diary prior to a suicide it’s oddly an easy no-brainer watch.

#3

Just watching it for Tony at this point.

#4

Jake Shillingford: The Bloodening?

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#6

I finished it just now. A very good series despite the target audience probably being 20 years my junior. The final episode was moving in parts; an excellent final episode with Angel Olsen’s Windows playing towards the end.

#7

I’m about 5 episodes in, seems like total trash but compelling enough to see through to the end

#8

Generally being slammed as a really poor way to address issues around suicide, particularly for the audience its aimed at (these seem to have been true of the book).

and

Both cover this.

#9

Just finished it. Not sure what I thought really, think it treats some serious issues well, but suicide was not one of them, which is used more as a plot device, having set that it is given more weight towards the end, those final episodes are brutal, but it does treat suicide as revenge for most of the series.

Thought it was good at showing bullying as more complicated as popular unpopular insider/outsider type thing, with them all being part of a broad social group, and some of the wrong doers have their own problems that are treated sympathetically.

Thought the whole premise didn’t really work, there was never any tension over Clay’s role as that Tony guy is always nice to him. Also all the non-Clay people banding together to stop the truth getting out seemed bit weird as most of their roles are minor compared to the main persons crimes.

Thought it was weird the last episode left so many threads, the legal case, what the guidance councillor will do, the creepy photographer buying a gun, Alex shooting himself (and I’m sure the person in the back of the ambulance had dark hair). Seems like things that are being set up for another season but surely they can’t extend this premise over another season.

Was hoping the Gregg Araki episodes would have a bit more of his signature to them. Loved the use of Codeine’s cover of this in one episode

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#10

Finished this yesterday, and I know it’s not really aimed at my age group, but I thought it was bloody awful. Or rather, there was just enough about it that was well done to make me persist with it, and make me disproportionately angry about the absolute state of the end product.

The last two episodes kind of made the whole premise make sense, and fair enough if the “look out for each other” message gets across and helps people. But Christ, what an absolute slog to get to that point. It would probably have worked better as a 2-hour film, at least then we could have done without the glaring inconsistencies and endless scenes of Tony telling Clay to just listen to all the tapes, already.

In short: even if the message is right-on (don’t feel qualified enough to say), it fails spectacularly as entertainment. Just felt like Netflix padding out its content library, while leading us on with the promise of a nice juicy suicide at the end of it. God forbid they make a second season…

#11

I reckon they will make another series, given all the loose threads they shoehorned into the last episode and it has done quite well, it is a shame as the premise doesn’t warrant it.

think one potential thing it would be interesting to explore is the towns reaction to the sports star being a scum bag, watched that Audrie & Daisy documentary recently that showed several examples of schools and towns authorities closing ranks to protect abusers. But guess the focus will be on the photographer and his gun collection doing something

#12

No doubt there’ll be a second series, I think Netflix have renewed all their original series so far? At least Hannah had a personality though, Tyler and Alex are just teenage no-marks who in no way deserve their own show, so it’ll probably be even more drawn-out and exploitative than the first. And I will absolutely have to sit through it all because my TV is a Netflix junkie :slight_smile:

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#13

it is weird how Clay was the main character, must be one of the least interesting lead characters ever

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