Important Details You Missed in “13 Reasons Why” Season 2

Sometimes, there’s more going on than meets the eye.

Here are some little things most viewers probably didn’t catch on their first viewing of the new season.

Alex’s Joy Division Poster

“13 Reasons Why” deals heavily with the subject matter of suicide, and the series’ multiple references to ’70s new wave band Joy Division continue this. Alex Standall, who dealt with his own suicide attempt at the end of season 1, has a poster for the band on his wall. Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis tragically ended his own life, reflecting Alex’s own harrowing experience. The band’s song “Love Will Tear Us Apart” played in the opening episode of the show in season 1, while Tony was giving Clay a ride home. After Curtis’ death, the band reformed under the name New Order, who are the artists behind another song that can be heard in the season 2 premiere.

Sid & Nancy

Back in season 1, Justin and Jessica attended the school’s costume contest dressed as infamous punk rockers Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. In season 2, in his postcard to Jessica, Justin addresses Jessica as Nancy and signs himself as Sid. Vicious was the bassist of groundbreaking punk band The Sex Pistols, and he and Nancy had a rocky relationship that ended in both of their deaths. The pair were, like Justin, addicted to heroin, and Nancy was found stabbed to death in their hotel room. Vicious was arrested for her murder, but he was released and overdosed before he could be tried. Hopefully Jessica and Justin’s story has a better ending.

Blue Nail Polish

Throughout much of season 2, Clay receives polaroids from an anonymous source along with cryptic notes about the extent of Bryce’s crimes. These notes are written in a distinctive blue nail polish; the exact same shade as the polish used by Hannah to label her tapes before her suicide. Since it was eventually revealed that Zach was the one leaving the messages for Clay, we can’t help but wonder whether the nail polish was a subtle nod from the creators of the series or a conscious decision by Zach, who was another person close enough to Hannah to know the significance of the color.

Do you know any other important details that were hard to spot in the series? Let us know!