13 Reasons Why was about the death of a young girl after she was raped. Of course it would leave a haunting mark on anyone.
- Bryce's rape of both Jessica and later Hannah. The fact that Monty saw Hannah's rape happening but willingly did nothing. Unlike Bryce, he can’t even use the excuse of sexual pleasure or doing it for self-serving reasons. He’s just being a sadistic, sociopath with no regard for other people.
- Hannah's suicide. From the build up of Hannah in the tub to the quiet, somber gasps as she slits her wrists, and to the complete devoid of silence in the scene except for her cries just makes it more unnerving. Then again, the blunt nature of the suicide was the point.
- Clay's Imagine Spot during "Tape 3, Side A", where he shows the tapes to Mrs. Baker and she begins to choke him with his headphones cable, screaming that he killed Hannah. No wonder he runs off terrified.
- Bryce beating Clay to a pulp when he confronts him about raping Jessica and Hannah. Clay only manages to land one punch on him, which did nothing and by the end of his beating he's knocked out.
- The announcement trailer for Season 2 is insanely unnerving for its Soundtrack Dissonance showing shots of characters (Tony and Ryan in his car, Jessica taking a happy selfie, Mr. Porter in his office, Mrs. Baker doing her own investigation of the tapes, Bryce with a girl at his mansion, and Clay getting ready for his subpoena) but interlaced with Polaroids showing different stories: Tony's car being smashed and Tony having a black eye, Jessica crying with shots of graffiti calling her a "liar" and a note that says "KEEP YOUR FUCKING MOUTH SHUT", Porter's office in shambles, him being distressed and the message "KNOW YOUR PLACE" scrawled on his wall while looking at a file of Bryce, Mrs. Baker showing distress as she does her investigation, a woman Bryce is with being drugged and Bryce showing horror at the fact he's soon to be caught, and a message to clay saying "TALK OR YOU'LL PAY" all while a Polaroid of Hannah's eye is around him. The predictable follows as his bedroom door gets slammed and he finds that same photo, only to turn it around and bearing a message and the show's tag line:
- The final episode of Season 2. After a tumultuous season of acting out and violence, Tyler is sent to a wilderness camp for teens with behavioral issues and comes back with a much more positive and kind attitude, ready to make amends. Then, just because the baseball season was cancelled, Monty and his jock lackeys corner Tyler in the bathroom, smash his head into a mirror (hard enough to break it) before slamming it on a sink twice, and then force his head into a toilet. All of this is topped off with what many immediately considered the most horrific and upsetting moment of the entire show after Hannah's suicide — Monty violently sodomizing Tyler with a mop so badly that there’s blood all over the handle once he’s done. This pushes Tyler to almost become a school shooter, thankfully stopped only by Clay's intervention.
- Montgomery De La Cruz is walking Nightmare Fuel to the highest extent. He is much more irrational, explosive and violent than Bryce, being an absolutely brutal and sadistic bully who frequently beats up weaker kids (especially Tyler) in fits of rage. He’s also shown to be homicidal as well trying to run Clay over in Bryce’s car and attempting to force Alex to kill himself without a shred of remorse. And that's not even getting into the bathroom scene...
- Monty has an intense sexual encounter with a guy named Winston at a party. Winston clearly doesn't know about Monty's reputation, and when he sees Monty leaving he suggests that they hang out again sometime. Obviously scared that people will find out he's gay, Monty brutally beats him up.
- Even though his actions prove him to be a complete bastard, Monty's fate is horrific, even by the standards of the show. While it is mentioned that he was beaten to death in prison, we never saw the scene. The rest stays with the viewer's imagination...
- Bryce's death.
- After getting his arm and leg broken by Zach, he’s pushed into a river by Alex and is unable to swim due to his injuries. It takes around 30 seconds before his fighting stops and he’s eventually drowns. Even Alex and Jessica are absolutely horrified watching this.
- His fight with Zach moments before is also very disturbing to watch. Even with an injured knee, Zach quickly gains the upper hand and beats the tar out of Bryce, pounding him head on the concrete to the point where the latter is begging to stop and brutally shattering his knee. The sound of his bones breaking is pretty damn gross.
- On that note, Bryce breaking (or dislocating?) Zach's knee at the game also qualifies.
- Alex Standall gives quite a lot of this. He's a Nice Guy for the most part, and yet he's an Ax-Crazy Mood-Swinger at his worst. It certainly doesn't help the fact that he's Bryce's killer. Ani says it best.
- The scene with Jessica and "Bryce" in the forest in season 4. Jessica hallucinates Bryce taunting her while she is in a forest during a camping trip. Then bugs starts to crawl out of Bryce's mouth and nostrils...
- Zach trying to rape a girl at the prom before Alex stops him.
- The terrifying thing about Justin's death is that even though it's not violent or bloody like the other ones in this show, it's a horrifying look at what an HIV infection can do if unchecked. Yes, it isn't a death sentence in this day and age but if gone unnoticed and untreated, it can be. It might be even scarier since over the course of the finale you watch a young strong human being crumble with in front of many people he cares about who can do nothing about it.
