Fresh from quietly removing an explicit suicide scene from its controversial teen melodrama 13 Reasons Why, Netflix has confirmed the show has been renewed for a fourth and final season.
THR reports that the newly ordered Season Four of the series will feature the core cast’s graduation from high school and will welcome back the series’ central cast, barring, uh, Hannah Baker. Filming for the forthcoming season is currently underway.
The news coincides with the announcement of Season Three’s Aug. 23 premiere date and the arrival of its first teaser trailer, which seems to be taking grim-dark stylistic and aesthetic tips from Riverdale. Season Three, which marks the return of the series’ central cast and welcomes newcomer Grace Saif, revolves around the disappearance of Bryce Walker, the show’s main antagonist and, uh, bonafide terrible human being. Looks like Clay Jensen finds himself back under police scrutiny—no surprise there—and an outsider comes to stir the pot after Season Two’s bizarro ending.
A source familiar with the plot told THR that Season Three will not feature a suicide scene, so that’s a step in the right direction.
Premiering originally as a one-off series in 2017, 13 Reasons Why revolved around a teenage girl and the people in her life she considered to have played a role in her decision to commit suicide. Though the series was given an approval rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and ultimately went viral upon its debut, Netflix was immediately criticized by mental health professionals for glorifying self-harm and depicting Hannah’s suicide in graphic detail. Despite the fervent backlash, Netflix decided that the show must go on and renewed it for a critically panned second season. And another.
Remember the good old days when 13 Reasons Why was considered a miniseries? Before the original young adult novel’s author withdrew creative input from the series and the franchise was beaten like a dead horse?
You can revisit our coverage of the series here and check out Season Three’s date reveal trailer below.