Was ’13 Reasons Why’ Renewed for Season 5?

On Friday, Netflix dropped the 10-episode fourth season of its hit teen drama 13 Reasons Why, but will it be renewed for a Season 5? Following the season premiere, many fans began asking when and if they should expect the next season to drop. Unfortunately for fans of the series, Season 4 marked the last time Netflix would be taking them into the halls of Liberty High School.

After initially debuting on the streamer back in 2017, Netflix announced in August of 2019, just ahead of the Season 3 premiere, that the series would be ending with Season 4. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly just ahead of the most recent season premiere, creator Brian Yorkey revealed that he decided to make 13 Reasons Why “a four-season story” while filming Season 2. Yorkey explained that he was “always a little bit suspicious of high school shows that go beyond four seasons because high school is four years long.” He added that “it felt like bringing these characters to their graduation and to scattering to their next things felt like the logical ending point.”

Although the ending was said to be due to a creative decision, it came after years of controversy and surmounting calls to cancel the series. An adaptation of Jay Asher’s young adult novel of the same name, the series’ debut season focused on the aftermath of high school student Hannah Baker’s suicide and the 13 tapes she left explaining her reasons for ending her life. As it drew backlash for its portrayal of suicide, with many slamming the show for glorifying teen suicide, several studies linked the series to an increase in teen suicide in the months that followed its premiere.

In response to some of the backlash, Netflix revealed that after speaking with experts, it had decided to finally remove Hannah’s suicide scene — a graphic sequence that showed her taking her own life. In its place, the series now shows Hannah looking at her reflection in a mirror before it goes to her parents’ reaction to her death. The series also added a suicide warning ahead of every episode.

The controversy, however, did not stop there, and the series sparked further outcry in the following seasons for featuring graphic sexual assaults as well as a thwarted school shooting. As a result, the Parents Television Council, on multiple occasions, encouraged Netflix to pull the series from its platform entirely. Netflix consistently stood by 13 Reasons Why. All four seasons of 13 Reasons Why are available for streaming on Netflix. Stay tuned to PopCulture.com for the latest information.