Too real for reel?
After an explosive second season this year, the Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why has found yet another way to storm its fans with excitement by giving the characters social media accounts on Instagram.
That’s right. All the 13 characters from this popular series have live and breathing Instagram feeds that are updated regularly.
And just like every other person on Instagram, you can tell a lot about the lives of these characters from their feeds.
The accounts read like a book of revelations about the events that transpire in the lives of the kids of Liberty High in the five months since Hannah Baker's (Katherine Langford) suicide.
It all began when the characters started popping up in the Instagram 'Stories' of the official Instagram account of the show.
The ingenuity lies in how these accounts crept up quietly without much buzz, further intensifying the mystery surrounding the second season.
The Instagram accounts are exactly what one who follows the show and the lives of these young characters would expect them to be.
Alex Standall's (Miles Heizer) feed is full of heavily filtered cappuccinos and artsy pictures of his then-girlfriend, Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe). Meanwhile, Zach Dempsey's (Ross Butler) account is (quite naturally) brimming with school spirit.
Jessica's profile is full of quotes of encouragement. But under the pastel shades of the filters in her posts is a definite sense of the struggle of a girl spiraling into a dark place.
At the end of season one, Jessica is confronted with the reality of being raped, and her Instagram suggests that she's doing "the best she can."
There are also many characters who have Instagram accounts that were private for the longest but not anymore: Clay Jensen, Montgomery, Tony Padilla, Justin Foley, Bryce Walker, Courtney Crimsen, and Tyler Down.
Justin Foley’s account however, is private again. Wonder why?
Here’s a look at few of the main character’s Instagram feed in detail:
Alex Standall
At first glance, Alex' account appears quite innocent and tailor-made for Instagram.Filtered photos of a video game controller, a cup of coffee, and more everyday objects, occasionally tagging the accounts of other characters.
But if you’re looking for answers to secrets from season 2, then Alex's profile is a goldmine.
This obviously begins with solving one of the biggest cliffhangers of the show: that he is alive. Most of his recent Instagram posts have hinted that he's still recovering from being in critical condition after shooting himself in the first season.
A week ago, he shared a photo of curtains, writing alongside it, "Really into the hospital decor."
The next post may confirm fan theories about that suggest Alex's mental health is being closely monitored after his accident. In a photo captioned, "Welcome to my life now," Alex shows followers his (assumingly new) prescription drugs.
Jessica Davis
Not unsurprisingly, Jessica’s feed is full of inspirational quotes, house parties and many throwbacks. But as discussed earlier, an undercurrent of some kind of struggle runs constantly through all her posts.The change in the mood of her posts is evident as she goes from merry 'friendship goals' posts with Sheri and Hannah to more self-reflective stuff.
Clay Jenson
It’s not hard to imagine what a sneak peek into Clay’s life would reveal.His posts are marked with a stark shift from the good-boy geeky stuff like robots, comics and more robots to well, Hannah of course.
But that’s not all of it. Clay’s recent post is a photo of a new guy. Seems like a new character is on the cards for the latest season. His story on the show's official Instagram account suggested that Clay is involved in a romantic relationship with someone in the upcoming season. But who is this guy?
Tyler Down
One of the most complex and controversial (and possibly creepy) characters of the show is Tyler Down. Driven by Hannah's reputation for promiscuity, Tyler spied on her and took photos of her in her bedroom without her permission.The life photographer for school, Tyler is shown to have a wide collection of cameras and lenses.
And his Instagram account is amazing.
However, the key to his character lies in his Instagram bio which is a quote by Andy Warhol on how people change, giving an insight on his inner workings after Hannah’s death.
Bryce Walker
As for everyone's least favourite character, Bryce's post on the 13 Reasons Why official account showed him hitting a baseball, with the caption "State champs."Season 2 was all about sexual assault within the high school athletics community. Bryce leading the baseball team to a statewide victory may cause his coaches and/or teachers to further sweep his crimes under the rug.
However, not much can be discerned from his Instagram.
Bryce is…well Bryce.
Photos of baseball, girls, alcohol and extravagance in general with a self-inflated sounding bio pretty much sums up his feed.
It seems the makers of the show really know how to keep their audiences hooked.
