The final episode of the controversial Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why, has spurred major backlash on social media over a brutal school bathroom scene depicting the bloody beating and gang mutilation of one of the show’s characters.
In an episode titled, Bye, Tyler (Devin Druid) is a social outcast who has just returned to school from a rehab program, where he was sent after vandalizing his high school’s baseball field.
Destroying the field makes him the target of a jock named Monty (Timothy Granaderos) who — together with several other angry baseball players —decide they’re going to get even with Tyler by sexually assaulting him with a mop in the bathroom.
The graphic scene, sees Tyler punched, his head plowed into the sink, leaving him unconscious. “You ruined my life, faggot” one of the attackers yells. Tyler’s head is then shoved into a toilet, and the end of a mop is rammed into his anus.
Some praised the show for daring to depict the harsh realities and dangers of school bullying and sexual assault.
Many other, however, took to social media and expressed opinions that the show went too far in its graphic portrayal.
While the episode does broadcast a trigger warning for viewers at the top of the show about its graphic nature, some were still caught off-guard by the sudden explosion of violence.
A Hollywood premiere of the second season was canceled last week after the deadly shooting at Sante Fe High School near Houston, Texas. The premiere cancellation was reportedly spurred by the fact that the show’s second season includes a storyline about a rifle and handgun-wielding student who plans to shoot up a school dance.
This is not the first time 13 Reasons Why has ignited controversy over one of its episodes. Last year, during its release, the show touched-off a firestorm with its bloody depiction of a teen suicide. In fact, the families of two California girls who committed suicide, claimed that the show inspired their children to take their own lives.
13 Reasons Why, based on a novel of the same name by Jay Asher and produced by pop superstar Selena Gomez, is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn