Mr. Porter and Pam Bradley step up this episode to defend the school, but Porter is having second thoughts on his responsibility in Hannah's death. Unlike most episodes so far, we don't see the actual testimony throughout. We do, however, open with Porter narrating, as he heads to the school. Inside, he is surprised to find Mrs. Bradley listening to the tapes. Each wonder why the other is there on a Sunday, and she explains her testimony was bumped up to before his, so she, like he, is there is prepare. Having not gotten the chance to listen to the tapes before, Bradley says she now feels like they did everything they could by following protocol, like the lawyers said. Porter notes no one will hear a recording of her class like they heard his chat with Hannah, and says he wonders if he did his best to help her. Though flashback and more voiceover, Porter explains that not all kids can say where they hurt, and he made the mistake of believing Hannah when she said she didn't mean she was suicidal. As opposed to constantly seeing testimonies, this episode shows flashbacks for Porter that show what he wishes had happened between himself and Hannah. The first comes after Porter says he would have naturally taken action if Hannah had been able to tell him her problems in exact words, and we see her this time saying she's thinking of killing herself, and later telling Porter about Bryce. At the Jensen house, Clay comes down to find only his father, who wonders where Justin is. He says Justin left and Matt Jensen shows concern, saying he'll call the cell phone they got him, angering Clay. Matt explains Clay's mom is staying with her sister after their argument the night prior, and wonders why Clay is so apathetic about Justin. Clay suggests they just leave together and find a new home, but Matt says they need to fight for their home. Porter says how some kids can't or won't tell the truth as we go to the Walkers, waiting for an absentee Chloe to appear for breakfast. Mrs. Walker repeatedly brings up the ribbon cutting ceremony as the reason, but her husband shuts her down. When Bryce walks out, she asks how he could be supportive after what they heard on the tape Clay made, but he says Bryce was simply drunk and in a setup. Bryce returns to his father saying to make things right with Chloe, as a woman who loves you should be respected and not crossed, and his wife gives him a puzzled look. Caleb finds Tony at the coffee shop and tries to get him to open up about Lucas, but Tony replies his mood has nothing to do with the man, and he will only be better after he testifies. Tyler and Mackenzie head to the movies, where she makes him feel better about some of his eccentricities at the snack bar. They begin making out in the theater, but Tyler rushes out when he accidentally ejaculates, and bails on the date. While Alex tries to regain his memories playing Desert Duty, Justin confronts his mom, trying to get her to leave her boyfriend and follow him so they can be safe. We get a quick scene of Porter becoming upset after listening to his tape again, then go to the school where Bryce tries to intimidate Clay, only for the latter to be called to the principal's office. This turns out to be a schedule change putting Clay in Porter's class. While Bolan assures him it is to help him with whatever he is feeling, Clay sees it as a direct punishment. Knowing that Clay was gone Friday and not buying the visit to Skye as a full story, Bolan easily realized Clay leaked the tapes, though Clay doesn't admit anything. Bolan claims "suicide contagion" is the reason they're not talking about Hannah, and that he simply wants to protect the kids from idolizing what she did. The two debate on what should be done in that situation and whether the school really was doing anything about it before her death. As Clay leaves, he learns Bolan hasn't heard the tapes, and suggests he listen to them. At the courtroom, Bradley gives her testimony, saying that while she told students they could talk to her after a dark anonymous message from Hannah, but didn't notify parents because she wanted the kids to feel like they could trust her confidentiality. She goes on to say she offered resources, which Dennis takes as her telling students to go elsewhere if they needed help, rather than actually helping. Sonya turns it around that if Bradley broke the students' trust, fewer would submit important writings and get resources, and Hannah didn't want to be identified or make use of the offered services. Porter then takes the stand, and admits that he logged his meeting with Hannah, only to rip out the page, and offers no real reason as to why he did so. Dennis grills him on what exactly Hannah talked about during the meeting, and Porter says her encounter was intimate but she never specifically said "rape." He says he did his job, which was to ask questions, not read between the lines. Explaining she was obviously uncomfortable talking to him, Porter says he didn't have time to refer her to a female counselor before Hannah stormed out. Considering what happened, Dennis asks if he now believes Hannah was raped by a Liberty High student, and he says yes. When pushed further, and after arguing between Dennis, Sonya, and the judge, he names Bryce Walker as the rapist. Word spreads at school, and Bryce is quick to talk to Chloe, asking about the breakfast and explaining that everything is a lie and Hannah just liked him, then made up the rape when things didn't progress between them. Chloe finally accepts his story, but is somewhat surprised when he immediately invites her to a vacation with his family outside the country. Bryce's friends show up worried about the testimonies, and she leaves. Back at the school, Cyrus finds Tyler in the darkroom, wondering about the bail on his sister. Tyler says he just didn't feel comfortable dating his friend's sister, and Cyrus says he needs to apologize to her, not him. Cyrus moves on to saying they no longer need to mess with Marcus, who has been suspended, but says he has another plan to ramp up their message. Later in class, he meets Clay, who he is impressed by, and takes an immediate liking to the views he's taking about the school. Justin's mom finds him trying to steal Seth's money and bail. She tries to get him to stay, saying Seth will kill her, so Justin leaves some money and says she needs to go. In court, Sonya asks Porter if, understanding the school's protocol and Hannah's refusal to tell him exactly what happened, he did everything he could. While saying he did follow protocol, Porter becomes more anxious and flashes back to Hannah running from his office, but this time he stops her, throwing the office phone that distracted him in reality. He says he's going to help her, but Hannah replies it's too late because she's dead, and he says he doesn't want the same thing to happen to another girl. Finally snapping, he says he didn't do everything, and a shocked Sonya ends the questioning. Dennis redirects, and Porter says there was plenty he could have done to help Hannah, tearfully apologizing to Olivia for not doing so. Outside, his wife assures him that the school can't do much worse to him, and that he did the right thing. While he worries, she says he's a good man and they leave. In the school locker room, Clay begins changing when he is suddenly attacked by guys wearing baseball helmets, who brutally knock him down and kick him. After school Cyrus sees, and, realizing it was the athletes, invites him to join his plan. In the meantime, Zach asks Chloe if she's okay, and she assures him she is, thinking in part that he's reporting for Bryce. Jessica is out with Nina, who convinces her to give a chance to a guy whose been staring at her. She ends up kissing him right as her dad shows up. In the car, her dad starts yelling at her, seemingly mad that she managed to get out there again and blaming her for her pain. She asks if it's because he's black and they both start laughing, and she explains things just don't feel right yet, but she wants to handle some things on her own. Alex goes to the Baker store to apply for a job, and after hiring him Olivia is distracted by someone outside, who leaves before she can look further. In one quick scene we see that Tony's car has been totaled, and after a violent outburst where he and Caleb punched each other, he broke down, saying there were some things he had done that he couldn't tell Caleb about. The episode concludes with Clay making a discovery during Cyrus' plan, Justin struggles to stay or go, and Olivia goes to the woman she earlier saw. The change in having Porter flash back to how he wishes things had went, rather than always cutting to court, was a nice touch for this episode. I know that I, for one, have had plenty of experiences that I look back on and imagine ways it could have gone better, so seeing Porter this was relatable to me. And Porter isn't just imagining these things, bur rather using it to motivate himself into changing how he handles situations and how he can help kids. It's also a good way of showing his guilt, which we have seen in a different way with Clay's ghost-Hannah and less-so in some other characters' actions. Last season, although we saw Porter a lot, we didn't learn much about him outside his family and his halfhearted attempts at his job, though he got emotional in the finale. Here, however, seeing him wracked with guilt and having his wife as a source of support fleshes him out and makes him more sympathetic. While it was obviously going to happen, it was nice to see that he, like Courtney, finally broke away from what was expected of him and gave a true, emotional testimony, with the added bonus of things finally not going Sonya's way. It's entertaining watch Bryce squirm as well, with his mom aware of his crimes and goading him, and Chloe obviously aware but doing nothing for now. Whether because she is struggling to admit what happened to her or has some kind of plan, I'm looking forward to what she does in the future. Another character who, like Porter, got more fleshed out in this episode was Principal Bolan, who up until this point has seemed simply like he wanted to avoid the school getting anything negative aimed at it. Although he is taking some insensitive steps and seemingly distanced himself now, he makes good points to Clay about needing to talk to somebody and that he wants to protect the students. His methods, however, are still questionable, notably banning talking about Hannah. In all likelihood, he thinks his and the school's methods are good and justified, and maybe even working, but he doesn't have the same understanding as the students. Jessica's progression, even if she says things are still weird, gives some joy, as she has already come pretty far from how she felt at the start of the season. At the same time as this happens, we see Chloe spiraling down toward how Jessica used to be, as where she used to be bubble and happy she is now quiet and reserved. Tyler's situation came here and there throughout the episode, but it's easy to see that he is becoming darker over time. He got some comfort from Mackenzie accepting his eccentricities on their date, but had enormous embarrassment during their makeout session and from bailing. With Cyrus, even if the latter isn't quite as dark as Tyler, who seemed to enjoy killing a bird before, Tyler is becoming more and more violent and outspoken. We've seen him get alienated by the original main cast more this season, aside from Alex, and losing either Mackenzie or Cyrus due to what he did or his past could push him over the edge. With Clay's ending discovery and Porter's testimony, the search for justice is getting closer, though so is the danger.
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