Although it has taken me way longer than it should have, I’ve finally finished the third season of 13 Reasons Why, and I’m ready to share my thoughts!
As a very brief recap, season two ended with Bryce’s acquittal, but also his transfer to a new school. The season also ended at the Spring Fling dance, where Tyler was about to shoot up the school following his sexual assault from Monty. Luckily, Clay was able to diffuse the situation, and he and Tony disposed of all of Tyler’s guns. There. All set.
In comparison to the prior two seasons, there were a few distinct differences this go around. First, is the absence of Hannah. While she’s not omitted in name, actress Katherine Langford made no appearance in any of the thirteen episodes. Another stark difference is the narrator. Rather than picking someone from the already abundant cast, we are introduced to a new student, Ani. Her narration also comes in the form of talking to the police, about why everyone could be a suspect in the killing of…Bryce Walker.
That’s right! It all leads back to the night of the homecoming game, so the season focuses on everyone and their respective relationships with Bryce. I’m going to try my best and rattle through them all at a very high level. Wish me luck!
First we’ve got Clay, who obviously hates Bryce’s guts. What’s not helping his case? The number of times he publicly wished Bryce dead, and Mrs. Walker is not forgetting that. In fact, Clay is the prime suspect for most of the season. He’s also got some time he’s not accounting for (hiding Tyler’s guns) when talking to the police. Next up is the new girl, Ani. She’s directly in Bryce’s life because her and her mother live in his home! Granted, her mother is a nurse taking care of his dying grandfather, but that close proximity leads the two of them to more than just conversations. Also, Clay really likes her. Awkward.
Next up is Clay’s partner in crime (literally), Tony. His beef with Bryce is that he’s the reason his family got deported. While I feel like he was underutilized this season, his role was still vital to the overall story. Another problem child in this cast is Tyler. Once the pervy class photographer, he’s also clearly mentally unstable considering he was going to mow down his classmates a few months prior. He’s now on constant watch from the group, but he ends up connecting with Bryce after confiding in him about what Monty did to him. Bryce offered his protection, and that’s pretty noble in Tyler’s book.
Zach has essentially cut Bryce out of his life, and even “stole” his ex-girlfriend, Chole. The two never ended up getting romantically involved, but he supported her when she decided to abort the baby she was pregnant with by Bryce. As retaliation, Bryce destroyed Zach’s knee and in college football. While Zach barely interacted with Bryce, his buddy Alex did. Since he’d started dating Jessica, he wanted to get stronger, so he got some steroids off of Bryce.
Alex leads up to Jessica, who is now dating Justin in the present. She, very rightfully, hates Bryce and probably always will. By the end of the season, we see Bryce really trying to change but not turning a blind eye to all the damage he’s done. He records a tape for Jessica wishing her the best and wanting to let her know he’s trying to get better. Justin, maybe one of Bryce’s only true friends, is now part of the Jensen clan, and treats Clay like a brother. Although he’s got his own set of problems, like the resurgence of his drug use.
Like I said, everyone has a motive to kill Bryce, but the real culprits are maybe two people you expect (SPOILERS!). When Jessica goes to retrieve the tape that Bryce recorded for her, she brings Alex along since Justin was out getting high somewhere. Bryce had just been beaten up by Zach, who is pissed that his life’s been ruined by this injury. Bryce threatens to destroy Zach, which pisses Alex off. He shoves Bryce into the lake, who with a broken arm and leg, ultimately drowns. So no, Jessica didn’t kill anyone, but she was definitely a witness.
It seems everyone is keeping secrets the entire season, so while they’re all putting the pieces together, there is one person who they could believably pin Bryce’s murder on: Monty. He’s a violent hot-head who now hates Bryce for defending Tyler. He also doesn’t have an alibi, because on the night of homecoming, he was sleeping with Winston. Monty doesn’t want anyone to know he’s gay, so why would he say anything. He also never really gets the chance to because he’s arrested for Tyler’s sexual assault, and then very shortly after he’s “killed” in prison.
I put that words in quotes because we never actually saw a body. Winston also seemed pretty pissed at Ani for lying about Monty being the killer. Also, some random fisherman stumbles across the bag of guns that Clay and Tony dumped, so the final season of 13 Reasons Why seems to be setting itself up for some excitement. While this show went from something wholly relatable when its first season came out, this past season seemed way out of the realm of possibility, but it was still good TV. So in that sense, I’m satisfied, and I’m looking forward to what the last season’s got to offer.