Thanks to the resurgence of reboots and revivals, audiences may already be wondering if they might one day see 13 Reasons Why season 5 - despite season 4 ostensibly being the last. It's become increasingly popular for shows to end their runs and come back on the same or a different network to pick up where they left off. But audiences shouldn't expect to see 13 Reasons Why season 5 anytime soon.
Based on the book of the same name, Netflix's 13 Reasons Why initially followed flashbacks of a high school student named Hannah after she decided to end her life. She left 13 audio tapes dedicated to different classmates, explaining how they contributed to her decision to commit suicide. Over the course of its four seasons, the popular Netflix show eventually came to focus on the lives of the classmates that Hannah left behind. 13 Reasons Why season 4 follows the students as they wrap up their trauma-filled four years at Liberty High.
Netflix announced ahead of 13 Reasons Why season 4 that this would be its last season. It wasn't cancelled due to poor viewership, but rather because the team decided that the students' senior year would serve as a natural conclusion. The chances of 13 Reasons Why season 5 might be slim, but audiences shouldn't dismiss it completely.
13 Reasons Why Season 4 Is The End
While there's always a chance it could come back, 13 Reasons Why season 4 is the end of the show as it is. 13 Reasons Why is very much a show about high school students. Season 4 saw its core group of students graduating in the series finale. Plenty of high school-centric shows avoid this by introducing younger characters over the course of the show, but 13 Reasons Why always remained focused on students in the same grade, which means it would be near impossible to continue the show at its prime setting of Liberty High without them. At its core, 13 Reasons Why is a story about how tough it is for kids in high school, meaning that it'd be unlikely for the show to follow its main characters into life after high school.
When 13 Reasons Why Season 5 Could Release (If It Happens)
While it's unlikely that audiences will see 13 Reasons Why season 5, it's not completely out of the question. But if a new season were to hit Netflix, audiences will likely have a long wait. Reboots and revivals have become trendy in the last few years, but they typically come out of one of two scenarios: shows that have gathered a strong following despite their cancellation (like Netflix's One Day at a Time, which was saved by the TV network Pop), or nostalgia-inducing shows that ended their runs years ago (like Full House, which got a sequel in the form of Netflix's Fuller House). 13 Reasons Why doesn't fit either of those categories. Not to mention, with the coronavirus pandemic delaying productions across the board, almost no TV shows are currently filming anyway.
What 13 Reasons Why Season 5's Story Could Be About
While it might seem to make sense for a potential 13 Reasons Why season 5 to follow its core group of students in life after high school, the natural setting for a potential next season would still be Liberty High itself. 13 Reasons Why focused on the students' problems and traumas that seemed unique to life as a student at Liberty High. Following the example of Degrassi: The Next Generation and Love, Victor, a possible 13 Reasons Why season 5 could follow the next generation of students at Liberty High. If the show brought back students from its original run, 13 Reasons Why could keep the original spirit of the show while passing the baton on to a new class of students. But for now, fans of 13 Reasons Why will have to take Netflix's word that season 4 is truly the end.