Courtney Crimsen, 13 Reasons Why

Courtney Crimsen (Michele Selene Ang)

13 Reasons Why revolved around Hannah, a student who killed herself after suffering through sexual harassment, slut shaming, bullying and rape, and left behind a set of tapes about the people responsible. The show was told from the perspective of Clay (a straight white average “nice guy”) as he was listening to the tapes. Courtney Crimsen was a recurring character, Hannah’s 5th reason for committing suicide, and a closeted lesbian.

She had two gay fathers, and was afraid people would point to them as the reason she was gay. She was manipulative and selfish while presenting herself as caring and helpful.

Flashbacks/Pre-Show

Courtney and Hannah became friends, and Hannah told her she thought she might have a stalker, to which Courtney replied that nothing interesting ever happened to her.

They decided to set a trap at Hannah’s house, but instead got drunk and played truth or dare. Hannah took off her bra underneath her shirt, and Courtney took off her shirt but left her bra, and dared Hannah to kiss her. They made out on Hannah’s bed until they were interrupted by the stalker (and fellow student), Tyler Down, taking a photo of them. Courtney freaked out and broke the friendship with Hannah.

After the photo got texted to almost half the school, Courtney started a rumor that the other person in the photo was a different girl, that Hannah approached her for a threesome, and she also confirmed earlier school gossip that Hannah had sex with Justin at a park and that he fingered her and she went down on him, further destroying Hannah’s reputation.

Present Day

After Clay finished listening to the tape, he took Courtney to Hannah’s grave, and confronted her about not having the courage to come out, and for throwing Hannah under the bus. Courtney continued to attempt to silence Hannah’s tapes, insisting she was a liar and emotionally unstable. When discussing Hannah and Jessica’s rapes she dismissed them and claimed they were only “alleged” on several occasions (in one case, she was the only one defending it, and also the only girl at the table full of boys, which one of the male characters pointed out)

Female love interests:

• Hannah Baker 💀 (Katherine Langford, regular, straight, one-sided)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

No male love interests

Relationship story arc with a man: No

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No

Filter Relationship Arc:

• None

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.