Is '13 Reasons Why' the Best Teen Show on TV?

For about an episode and a half, 13 Reasons Why feels like the next great teen drama. Netflix's adaptation of Jay Asher's novel, in which a girl reveals in a set of audio tapes the baker's dozen reasons why she committed suicide, spends 13 episodes trying to nail a tricky tone. It attempts to capture some of the natural levity of life while telling an incredibly dark story.

Somewhere between episodes two and three, 13 Reasons Why really feels like it achieves this tricky tone. But all too quickly, it loses steam amid a glut of plot showrunners Brian Yorkey and Diana Son seem unwisely determined to power through. The result is a 13-episode season which should've been eight installments, with a lot of missed opportunities gumming up the works.

Between this big-swing-and-a-miss and the diminishing returns of the CW's Riverdale, the other major teen drama of the season, it seems we'll be waiting a while for a worthy successor to the teen drama throne, previously occupied by shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and My So-Called Life. But in fact, both of these series have what the other lacks. Somewhere between 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale is the next great teen drama.

Read the rest of the article on Mic.com.