History TearJerker / ThirteenReasonsWhy

* It's small but one of Tyler's targets for his planned school shooting is revealed to be Clay.

* The show also (but subtly) utilized social media (mainly Instagram) to go along with fans in the show's lore. Hannah's instagram is ''overly'' heartbreaking, especially a Instagram story where the aftermath of "Tape 1, Side B" is shown, where [[spoiler: Jessica burns bridges with Hannah over Alex putting her name on the "hot list"]]. Just seeing [[spoiler: Hannah trying to tell Jessica the list is a lie only for her to block her on her own Instagram account and on Facetime is ''heartbreaking'']]. Katherine Langford's heartbroken expression as [[spoiler: she attempts to Facetime Jessica only to be told she can't Facetime her is hope-shattering..]]

--> [[spoiler: '''Hannah''']]:[[spoiler: '''''WHY ZACH?! WHY?!'''''']]

--->'''[[spoiler:Clay]]''': [[spoiler:[[PrecisionFStrike GODDAMMIT!!]]]]

** The biggest kick in the gut? [[spoiler: [[ItsNotYouItsMe Hannah firmly believes she would have ruined Clay's life had they gotten together]]]]. Clay's [[LittleNo reaction]] is just as painful.

* In "Tape 2, Side A", Hannah describes how she'd go to a certain liquor store where she "felt safe", only to have that "safe" location ruined by [[spoiler:Bryce Walker]], who tries to play off as a nice guy and even pays for Hannah's items, only [[spoiler:for him to grab her ass and [[SmugSnake smugly tell her she does have a good ass]]]]. What makes the scene unbearable is that as [[spoiler:Clay listens to Hannah describe how defeated she felt about the incident and imagines her running out of the liquor store, in tears, and ''he tries to approach and comfort her when she's not there'']]. ''GOD''.

* Justin is portrayed as a JerkAss, but as time goes on and the story unfolds, detailing his abuse at the hands of his mother's boyfriend and her mother's parental neglect and how none of his "friends" are really there to support him, it's hard not to feel bad for him. [[spoiler:There is also the fact that he is obviously both deeply ashamed of his failure to protect Jessica from being raped at the hands of Bryce and in deep denial about it.]]

* Justin is portrayed as a JerkAss, but as time goes on and the story unfolds, detailing his abuse at the hands of his mother's boyfriend and her mother's parental neglect and how none of his "friends" are really there to support him, it's hard not to feel bad for him.

--> '''[[spoiler:Hannah]]''': [[spoiler:Clay... ''[[AffectionateNickname Helmet]]''... you shouldn't be on this list...]]

** [[spoiler:Simply put, Clay's Tape boils down to Hannah basically telling Clay that he was the lone bright spot in her life.]]

** When [[spoiler: Clay pours his heart out to Hannah, her response? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "Why didn't you tell me this when I was alive?"]]. Clay hugging Hannah as they both cry doesn't help as well..]]
** The worst part? [[spoiler: Hannah says in his tape that he ''doesn't deserve to be on it'' due to the fact she calls him the nicest and kindest person she's met, but is included as he was there...and blames herself for pushing him away when she needed him]].
--> '''[[spoiler: Hannah]]''': [[spoiler: Clay... ''[[AffectionateNickname Helmet]]''...you shouldn't be on this list..]]
** It becomes depressing when as [[spoiler: Hannah and Clay about to have sex]], she has an ImagineSpot where [[spoiler: she sees herself and Clay dating and ''being happy'', all while holding hands with him and the school (including Justin, Jessica, Courtney, Zach, Alex, Tyler, Ryan, and ''even Bryce fucking Walker'') all being happy for the two]]. Hannah even [[spoiler: imagines Clay and her spending time with her mother as if she accepts Clay as Hannah's boyfriend]]. It goes into full blown heartbreaking mode considering the WhatCouldHaveBeen in-Universe had Hannah [[spoiler: gotten together with Clay if she wasn't so broken at that point]].
* Every single horrible thing Hannah undergoes, [[spoiler:especially her rape by Bryce and Mr. Porter essentially telling her to move on from her rape if she refuses to disclose Bryce's name in her rape.]]
* Justin is portrayed as a JerkAss but as time goes on and the story unfolds, detailing his abuse at the hands of his mother's boyfriend and her mother's parental neglect and how none of his "friends" are really there to support him, it's hard not to feel bad for him.
* Jessica's downward spiral into recklessness and the PTSD that ensues [[spoiler:when she remembers bits and pieces of being raped by Bryce while drunk, which Justin, after saying Hannah lied about it the entire show, confirms to be true. To find out your boyfriend allowed his best friend to rape you at your party, on your anniversary almost verges into NightmareFuel territory.]]

* Finding out that Jeff, the athlete that Clay tutored, the one who encouraged Clay to step out of his shell and to go after Hannah [[spoiler:was killed in an accident that was indirectly caused by Sheri, who was drunk and driving Hannah home.]]
* Tony disclosing to Clay [[spoiler:that the reason he has Hannah's second set of tapes and the reason he's so adamant on everyone involved listening to the tapes is because she came to his house to drop off the tapes and he avoided her, due to the drama she had at school, only to go to her house and discover that she committed suicide and the immense guilt that came from ignoring her when he did drove him to fulfill her wishes, as she trusted him to do so.]]
** Tony, telling his boyfriend in a shaken, lost voice [[spoiler:everything involving his role in Hannah's tape circulation and the guilt he feels from keeping it all a secret from her parents, who trust and confide in him to help them discover why she would commit suicide.]]
* [[spoiler:The infamous scene where Hannah graphically slits her wrists with a razor blade and bleeds to death in her bathtub and being discovered by her parents, shortly afterwards. All while being narrated by Clay to Mr. Porter. No poetic music, no artsy camera shots. Just a very despondent 17 year old girl, hurting herself, with her cries of pain and her last shaky breaths before she silently passes away, alone, depressed and crying.]]
** The [[spoiler: lead up to her parents finding her is... Heartbreaking. You hear Mrs. Baker, asking Hannah about the water leaking from under the door and jokingly commenting about it, but when she opens the door, her face just..drops. There's no scream or terror at first: Just her quietly processing what happened with [[LittleNo small no's]] as she carefully approached the tub and tries to pull Hannah out, all while telling her she's going to be okay [[DespairEventHorizon before crying out for her husband and still telling Hannah's lifeless body that she's okay]][[note]]She is basically in denial, and is trying to convince herself that Hannah is still alive.[[/note]]. Mr. Baker's reaction is ''worse'', as he just tries to grab his daughter and just gets told by Mrs. Baker to go call and ambulance. Just...[[AdultFear every parent's fear of finding their children dead]]]].

* [[spoiler: When Clay confronts Mr. Porter, the Mr. Porter we see throughout the series slowly dissolves into a man who brokenly attempts to convince himself and Clay that he did everything he could, only to tearfully stop after Clay tells him in detail that after refusing to help Hannah, Hannah would wait outside his office in hopes that he would come after her and when he didn't, after leaving the school and putting certain things in order, she would go home to commit suicide.]]
* [[spoiler: Finding out that Alex shot himself in the head and is in critical condition by the end of the series.]]
* Tyler isn't exactly a clean individual, [[spoiler:having stalked Hannah repeatedly and ruining her friendship with Courtney by inadvertently outing her and releasing a photo of the two girls kissing out of revenge for Hannah refusing his friendship, but he has zero issues with being outed for what he did to Hannah, claiming that he "loved" her, and then the reveal that he plans on shooting up the school as retribution for being bullied, judging by the small arsenal of pistols, a rifle and a shotgun he has hidden in one of his photography cases...]]

** Then Clay, not knowing who wrote the poem, calls them a "dark human being" and says, while he likes the poem, he's not sure he'd like to hang out with it's author, unwittingly hurting Hannah even more.
* [[spoiler: Zach]] telling Clay that [[spoiler: he never threw away Hannah's letter and even still has it in his wallet]]. While Clay's reaction and his refusal to [[spoiler: read Hannah's letter]] is bad enough, that one part where [[spoiler: Zach stares at the note and even his lip quivers shows ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone such...such regret]]'']].
* In "Tape 2, Side A", Hannah describes how she'd go to a certain liquor store where she "felt safe", only to have that "safe" location ruined by [[spoiler: Bryce Walker]], who tries to play off as a nice guy and even pays for Hannah's items only [[spoiler: for him to grab her ass and [[SmugSnake smugly tell her she does have a good ass]]]]. What makes the scene unbearable is that as [[spoiler: Clay listens to Hannah describe how defeated she felt about the incident and imagines her running out of the liquor store, in tears, and ''he tries to approach and comfort her when she's not there'']]. ''GOD''.

* [[spoiler:The infamous scene where Hannah graphically slits her wrists and bleeds to death in her bathtub and being discovered by her parents, moments later. All while being narrated by Clay to Mr. Porter. No poetic music, no artsy camera shots. Just a very despondent 17 year old girl, hurting herself, with her cries and last shaky breaths.]]
** The [[spoiler: lead up to her parents finding her is... Heartbreaking. You hear Mrs. Baker, asking Hannah about the water leaking from under the door and jokingly commenting about it, but when she opens the door, her face just..drops. There's no scream or terror at first: Just her quietly processing what happened with [[LittleNo small no's]] as she carefully approached the tub and tries to pull Hannah out, all while telling her she's going to be okay [[DespairEventHorizon before crying out for her husband and still telling Hannah's lifeless body that she's okay]]. Mr. Baker's reaction is ''worse''. Just...[[AdultFear every parent's fear of finding their children dead]]]].

* In "Tape 2, Side A", Hannah describes how she'd go to a certain liquor store where she "felt safe", only to have that "safe" location ruined by [[spoiler: Bryce Walker]], who tries to play off as a nice guy and even pays for Hannah's items only [[spoiler: for him to grab her ass and [[SmugSnake smugly tell her she does have a good ass]]. What makes the scene unbearable is that as [[spoiler: Clay listens to Hannah describe how defeated she felt about the incident and imagines her running out of the liquor store, in tears, and ''he tries to approach and comfort her when she's not there'']]. ''GOD''.

* [[spoiler: Zach]] telling Clay that [[spoiler: he never threw away Hannah's letter and even still has it in his wallet]]. While Clay's reaction and his refusal to [[spoiler: read Hannah's letter]] is bad enough, that one part where [[spoiler: Zach stares at the note and even his lip quivers shows ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone such...such regret]]'']].

* Tyler isn't exactly a clean individual, [[spoiler:having stalked Hannah repeatedly and ruining her friendship with Courtney by inadvertently outing her and releasing a photo of the two girls kissing out of revenge for Hannah refusing his friendship, but he has zero issues with being outed for what he did to Hannah, claiming that he "loved her, and then the reveal that he plans on shooting up the school as retribution for being bullied...]]

** Then Clay, not knowing who wrote the poem, calls them a "dark human being" and says, while he likes the poem, he's not sure he'd like to hang out with it's author, unwittingly hurting Hannah even more.

* Tyler isn't exactly a clean individual, [[spoiler:having stalked Hannah repeatedly and ruining her friendship with Courtney by inadvertently outing her and releasing a photo of the two girls kissing out of revenge for Hannah refusing his friendship, but he has zero issues with being outed for what he did to Hannah, claiming that he "loved her, and then the reveal that he plans on shooting up the school as retribution for being bullied...]]

** The [[spoiler: lead up to her parents finding her is... Heartbreaking. You hear Mrs. Baker, asking Hannah about the water leaking from under the door and jokingly commenting about it, but when she opens the door, her face just..drops. There's no scream or terror at first: Just her quietly processing what happened with [[LittleNo small no's]] we she carefully approached the tub and tries to pull Hannah out, all while telling her she's going to be okay [[DespairEventHorizon before crying out for her husband and still telling Hannah's lifeless body that she's okay]]. Mr. Baker's reaction is ''worse''. Just...[[AdultFear every parent's fear of finding their children dead]]]].

--> '''[[spoiler: Hannah]]''': [[spoiler: Clay... ''[AffectionateNickname Helmet]]''...you shouldn't be on this list..]]

!! In the Book:

!! In the Series:

* The very last tape. [[spoiler:Tape 7, side B. The one that supposedly had nothing on it. Nothing but static for a few minutes, and then, Hannah's voice, whispering, "Thank you."]]

* At one point when he's in the local diner that lead to one of Hannah's reasons, his waiter gives him a free meal after seeing the expression he had on his face after having listened to the tapes.

* Clay's thoughts during the thirteenth reason. He's begging [[spoiler: the teacher to just stand up and help Hannah, to not simply ignore her pleas for help. But the ForegoneConclusion makes it very clear that he won't help her.]] One of Clay's main roles in the story is really to increase the gravity of the massive TearJerker that is this book. At one point when he's in the local diner that lead to one of Hannah's reasons, his waiter gives him a free meal after seeing the expression he had on his face after having listened to the tapes.

* Clay's thoughts during the thirteenth reason. He's begging [[spoiler: the teacher to just stand up and help Hannah, to not simply ignore her pleas for help. But the ForgoneConclusion makes it very clear that he won't help her.]] One of Clay's main roles in the story is really to increase the gravity of the massive TearJerker that is this book. At one point when he's in the local diner that lead to one of Hannah's reasons, his waiter gives him a free meal after seeing the expression he had on his face after having listened to the tapes.