Everything to Know About 13 Reasons Why Season 2

Now that we know when 13 Reasons Why will return, we can go back to focusing on what to expect given that last season closed the chapter on Hannah's (Katherine Langford) tapes. In the year since the controversial teen drama hit Netflix, leaving viewers hanging on several cliffhangers, we've gotten a few bits and pieces across the months hinting at what's to come. TV Guide has combed the internet, piecing all these clues and teases together to give a pretty good picture of what the anticipated second season will look like.

Read on to find out everything we know about Season 2 so far!

When does it premiere? Really, really soon! Netflix revealed that the teen drama will return for its second season on Friday, May 18. After making fans wait over a year, it's nice that now only have to wait a few more weeks until the 13 new episodes drop.

The trailer is dark. The first full trailer is not messing around, teasing the new mystery that unfolds through a series of disturbing polaroids given to Clay that reveal "Hannah wasn't the only one." But as the mystery deepens and new truths come to light, Clay may fall so deep into the rabbit hole that he's unable to come out the other side. At one instance in the trailer, an unhinged Clay is insisting to Justin that he needs to get justice for Hannah on his own because no one else will, and in another shot we see the former goody-goody holding a gun. But would Clay really go that far? Judging by the trailer, which shows him seemingly talking to a vision of Hannah, it seems like he isn't exactly thinking straight so all bets may be off.

There will be a time jump. Season 2 will pick up a few months after the events of the first season. But that doesn't mean you should expect the characters to have moved on from the traumas of Season 1. "I think that the impact of Hannah and the tapes on Clay's life will never ever go away no matter how hard he tries," Dylan Minette told Seventeen. "No matter what, it's going to take him a while to recover. You can see that it's not easy for Clay to let anything go. And that's expected. I don't think anyone expects Clay to just kind of think of Hannah and be like, 'No, it was nothing.'"

How Netflix Is Responding to 13 Reasons Why Backlash for Season 2

Season 2 will center around a trial. Now that Hannah's parents (Kate Walsh and Brian D'Arcy James) are in possession of her tapes, they know exactly what their daughter endured and the help she was denied by people like Mr. Porter (Derek Luke). With that knowledge, they decide to sue the school district for their responsibility in Hannah's death, and that trial will provide a driving framework to the new season. The litigation will also create an opportunity for the students who are called in to testify to share their version of events, providing new perspectives on the story we learned in Season 1.

Hannah will still play a major part. As showrunner Brian Yorkey explained ever before Season 2 was officially announced, Hannah 's "story is still very much not finished." The second season will continue to play with timelines, telling stories across both the past and present, which will allow for Hannah's return.

This season will also show viewers more of Hannah's relationships with characters other than Clay. "There's a whole life that Hannah had, and there's more we can learn about her. Overall, learning more about her is more important to the entire narrative," Minette said. To that end, viewers can expect to see a very different Hannah than they saw in the first season.

We will get answers about what happens to Alex and Tyler. The first season left viewers reeling from the knowledge that Tyler (Devin Druid) is apparently planning a school shooting, and Alex's (Miles Heizer) life hanging is in the balance after an attempted suicide. The second season will detail Tyler's emotional isolation and how he came to the decision to buy the guns and explosives, as well as follow Alex as he recovers from his attempted suicide. As part of Alex's story, we'll also get to meet his mother, who will be played by Meredith Monroe.

13 Reasons Why Cast Responds to Criticism the Show Glorifies Suicide

There will be several other new characters. Last year, Variety reported that seven new characters would be joining the cast for Season 2 in recurring or guest roles. Here's who you'll meet: Chloe (Anne Winters), Liberty High's cheerleader "it girl;" Cyrus (Bryce Cass), a mischievous champion of outcasts; Mackenzie (Chelsea Alden), Cyrus' artsy and outspoken sister; Nina (Samantha Logan), a track star with a big secret; Jackie (Kelli O'Hara), a passionate advocate for victims of bullying; Sonya (Allison Miller), an ambitious young litigator; and Rick (Ben Lawson), the school's beloved baseball coach.

Deadline also reported the addition of a few more adult characters, including Bryce's dad Barry Walker (Jake Weber) and mom Nora (Brenda Strong), and Tony's boxing trainer, Caleb (R.J. Brown)

Season 2 will largely deal with sexual assault. In its first season, both Hannah and Jessica (Alisha Boe) were raped by their classmate Bryce (Justin Prentice). The first season ended with Jessica finally beginning to come to terms with her assault, telling her dad what had happened to her. Season 2 will not only explore how Jessica learns to cope with her trauma, but also a case of serial sexual assault connected to one of the sports teams at Liberty High School.

In a storyline that mimics several real-life conspiracies, the horrifying cover-up will come to light through uncovered polaroids during the trial between Hannah's parents and the school district. Since the tapes were finished in the first season, fans can expect the polaroids to serve a similar purpose this year.

13 Reasons Why Stars on Why We Need a Second Season

Netflix is providing additional resources in response to viewers' concerns. In the wake of the controversy that engulfed Season 1, Netflix will provide a new aftershow that will feature actors, experts and educators having conversations about the events of each episode. The season will also include an introduction that will explain to viewers different ways they could receive help should they seek it. The streaming service companion website 13ReasonsWhy.Info will also come with a viewing guide to help people start tough conversations regarding self-harm, suicide and other sensitive topics.

There will be new narrators. Now that the tapes have finished, Langford will no longer be providing the framing voiceover of the season. Although the new narrators have yet to be revealed, Yorkey hinted that there may be a different narrator for each episode. "There are 12 kids who have another version of those events that we actually haven't heard from yet," he teased to The Hollywood Reporter.

Clay and Skye's relationship will continue to evolve. After briefly connecting in the first season, Skye (Sosie Bacon) will play an important role in Season 2. Although when it came to questions over whether Skye and Clay would develop romantic feelings for each other, Minette played it coy. "I can't say too much, but Skye is still around and in the picture and there's a chance that her and Clay could be friends or more," Minette teased. "That's something you'll learn pretty quickly when the season starts. I don't want to spoil that for you, but she's around."

It will have a sense of hope. The first season was largely an endless parade of tragedies, but Season 2 will put a greater emphasis on how the kids can start to recover from these traumas. As Yorkey has said, "Both due to Hannah's death and also independent of that and just as a part of their lives, and we wanted to begin to see them start back on the road toward wellness and wholeness and see what that looks like in the sense that recovery is not a straight line and it's not a simple process."

13 Reasons Why Made the Best Argument in Favor of Binge Watching

Suicide will not be depicted in Season 2. The drama received intense backlash for its graphic depiction of Hannah's suicide in Season 1, but suicide will not be portrayed onscreen or off in the new episodes. Yorkey insists that this was purely a creative decision and that the new season will continue to tell stories connected to Hannah's suicide and Alex's suicide attempt, but that there will be no new scenes depicting suicide will be included.

The book's author will not be involved. Jay Asher, who wrote the novel 13 Reasons Why is based on, was accused of sexual harassment in February. In the wake of the allegation, Netflix released a statement clarifying that Asher was not involved in the second season of 13 Reasons Why, which had recently wrapped at the time.

Mr. Porter will have to confront his own failings. After his contentious confrontation with Clay, Mr. Porter will take strides to make sure he doesn't let down any student the way he let down Hannah ever again. But in his quest to get justice, Mr. Porter may take things too far. "We'll see a man who is determined to reach every kid who needs to be reached and help every kid who needs to be helped, whatever it takes," Yorkey says. "I think he will probably go out of bounds a bit, in the other direction, trying to be helpful in the best way that he knows."

13 Reasons Why Season 2 will hit Netflix on Friday, May 18. You can cat