With Bryce having been arrested in the previous episode, we stay in court for a bit and finally see some closure for Hannah's loved ones. A month after Bryce was arrested, he and Jessica are in court again as the judge prepares the sentence for Bryce's rape of Jessica. Bryce spins things once again, saying how he regrets any actions of his that may have harmed anyone. Jessica, not content to sit by, delivers a speech to the judge about how broken her life has been because of Bryce, and urges him to take action to show that people like Bryce can't get away with anything they want. During Jessica's speech, the other women of the show are brought in one-by-one, sharing their own account of being raped. Despite Jessica's plea, the judge says that, because of suffering all around and not wanting to cause more damage, Bryce will only receive three months probation. As an angry Sheriff Standall questions Monty about all the harassment, specifically to Alex, Justin is stuck in jail because he can only be released to guardian custody. Mrs. Jensen says they're working to get him out and that she has left her firm to work with Dennis on cases like Hannah's. At school, Zach is disgusted to learn of Bryce's sentence and that he is transferring to Hillcrest, where he will be a junior and go to the dance with Chloe. Tyler returns from his diversion program with a more positive attitude, but takes clear blows to his newfound confidence upon learning that Mackenzie is now dating someone and Cyrus still wanting to steer clear of him. While the Bakers visit a church to finally arrange a service for Hannah, Clay finally finishes the semicolon tattoo he started in the first episode. At Hannah's service the next day, Clay steps up to speak. Having finally come to terms with his feelings, he talks about his friendship with Hannah and how, despite feeling like he can never forgive her, the pain will eventually fade and he loves her. Clay finally lets Hannah go, and the ghostly vision of her walks out of the church, where Clay stays behind to talk to the priest about forgiveness. Everyone heads to Monet's, where Alex asks Jessica to the dance and they decide they are definitely dating. Justin arrives, Mrs. Jensen having managed to get temporary custody over him, which Clay offers to make permanent if Justin wants to be adopted, and Justin says yes. Back at the school, Monty desperately apologizes to Bryce for his actions against everyone. He says he wants to do something to Tyler to punish him for ruining he season, and Bryce says they'll do nothing because of his probation, and tells Monty they're done. Justin convinces Clay to go to the dance, and Mrs. Baker, talking about wanting to travel, explains to Clay that she's moving to New York to write, because it was Hannah's dream. To his surprise, she also shows him a list she found on an old computer, where Hannah talked about reasons not to kill herself. He was on there twice, with Hannah wondering about a possible relationship, and Mrs. Baker notes that she came up just short, having listed only three things. A fuming Monty corners Tyler in the school bathroom with two others. Though Tyler tries his best to apologize for his actions, the violent athlete brutally beats him and worse. At this point anyone interested in the show knows what he did to Tyler, But I'd rather not say what happens. However, I found myself agreeing with people upset by how it was shown. Last season, I was one fan who thought it made sense for Hannah's suicide to be shown the way it was, because it forced viewers to actually confront the kind of pain a person goes through that can get swept under the rug or trivialized. This scene, however, I did not feel the same about. I've heard and seen plenty about how sometimes the best and strongest writing is more implied, and there are things you don't have to see. Heck, in one of the following scenes, Tyler deals with the damage of Monty's actions, and seeing just just a few, less direct shots in the bathroom and this scene would have told fans exactly what happened without the graphic imagery. To me, Monty's actions came a bit out of nowhere, and didn't feel like something that needed to be seen, like Hannah's suicide. Feeling like this also led me to more question my feelings about the scene with Hannah, as I started to wonder if it really was necessary to show everything and felt like I better understood why people were upset with her scene. The show's creator has defended the scene, talking about why it happens, but it didn't feel like a good enough reason to me, and obviously plenty of other people, who were angry about the decision. I found myself agreeing with people who felt like the scene was more based around shock value. As Zach teaches a worried Alex how to dance and gives advice regarding his specific physicality, Justin shoots up in Clay's room and we learn who stole the Polaroids. Everyone heads to the dance, where there are good meetings like with Courtney's girlfriend, Tamika, a cold encounter with Bryce, and shocking news from Chloe. The scene is intercut with Tyler making a decision after Monty's attack, and as most of them have fun and Justin deals with the pain he feels about his situation, Clay has a painful moment where the others provide support. The episode's climax has Tyler making a choice and Clay trying his apparent best to handle the situation. Despite disliking how the bathroom scene was handled, I liked that the series accurately showed what often happens with people like Bryce. The part in which the women all tell their stories feels somewhat out of place, much like the animated drug sequence a few episodes ago, but the judge's decision to give Bryce a light sentence mirrors exactly what people have seen before. To me, it felt reminiscent of the Brock Turner case, in which Turner was found raping a girl and got off with only a few months. I really feel like the show has the best of intentions with the actions it takes, trying to cover a lot of hard topics, but it doesn't always do well at doing so, with the bathroom scene the key example. The episode ends in a clear setup for the third season that was announced, and this also detracts from the feeling that the show is meant just to help people. As it is, having a second season was a bit of a stretch, especially because the writers had no more source material to go from. Now, they're taking things to an even more major extreme and it feels like the show is going on unnecessarily. Going back one can easily see I'm mostly positive in my reviews of the series, but after watching everything, I reflected. Specifically, I watched a video from the YouTube channel I Hate Everything, who I've long watched and enjoyed for both his comedy and his real looks at, and opinions of, movies and shows. Now obviously, I didn't agree with everything and found my own opinion of the show, because reviewers are simply giving their opinion and the information necessary for you to form your own opinion, as Alex of IHE says in his videos. However, I did realize I was watching the show with a much more positive view and giving it a pass for some things, forgot to talk about others, or for some things I plain didn't notice at all. I recommend watching his video, because he approaches the show in a calm, reasonable manner and talks about what he thought was both good and bad. I tend to focus on the story aspect of things, because I don't understand as much about technical aspects like interesting shot composition, despite having gone to college minoring in film. However, in terms of performances, I did enjoy a lot of the cast, but found myself agreeing with Alex that it could be weak at times, especially when the writers had to put a hamfisted moment to talk about a big issue. These moments happened the most with Clay, who suddenly this season seemed to constantly make insulting, insensitive statements. When given proper writing, Dylan Minnette can give a great performance. Sometimes this season, though, aspects for his character sometimes felt weaker, especially with the incredibly stupid decisions like what happened with the photos. Overall, I enjoyed this season for what it was, though the first is still superior in my mind. There were issues here and there, and the bathroom scene was a definite negative, but I thought there were some good aspects and, even though I think a fourth season is unnecessary, I know I'll be watching.
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The disgusting mind of Bryce Walker takes the stand to clear his name, and the others set their plan in motion, with poor results. Bryce opens the episode saying what it's like being on a team and feeling like a family as we see him win a football game where he meets Hannah. This is the first sign of some depth to his character, where we learn that he wanted his parents to be there but they evidently rarely show. Clay and Justin show Jessica the Polaroids, but she becomes angry when she sees Nina's and takes it, saying they don't belong to them. Jessica takes the photo to Nina, telling her about the box, and the latter apologizes for her anger prior, saying she has been making herself seem strong for Jessica, because Jess was right; she hasn't dealt with everything. Saying the photo isn't proof of what happened, Nina explains she might be able to deal with it better if there was actual proof. While cleaning the Baker store, Olivia agrees to let Alex go to court for the day, and in the meantime Clay struggles with the fact that Hannah has a Polaroid. When he says he wants the truth from her, Ghost Hannah says she already gave it to him, with her tapes, and he is simply not trusting her for whatever reason, quick to assume the worst after every bad thing he hears. On the stand, Bryce explains that he and Hannah quickly became close after she took him to a bridge and talked about life and death, which he says he found strange. Along with hanging out, he says they would occasionally make out or have sex, until his party where he turned down her hope for an actual relationship. Later outside, Tony is angry about the lies but Clay is unsure Bryce was lying. Alex says they can't tell Jess, but Clay says they have to because they need Chloe. At the school, Coach Rick tries to get Zach back on the team by reminding him of how he was there for Zach when the latter's father died. Zach becomes angry at the manipulation, saying Rick should have stopped the athletes years ago, and storms out. Jessica asks Chloe about marking out the bathroom graffiti, and when she gets little response other than wanting to protect her, she shows Chloe the photos. Chloe admits she's the one who put the photos of Jessica on the classroom board because at the time she wanted to believe Jessica was lying, then agrees to help take down Bryce. A frustrated Clay tells Hannah to say Bryce was lying and asks for the truth, causing her to begin the opening to tape 12. Clay becomes upset and tells her to stop, and a concerned Justin comes in and says everything will work out because of Chloe. Chloe meets with Olivia and Dennis about testifying, and Jessica assures her they will have her back if she decides to. Mackenzie apologizes to Tyler for telling a friend about what happened at the movies, which resulted in an earlier scene where someone shot white goo at him. Cyrus comes to keep an eye on them, but becomes distracted when Bryce walks in to applause, saying he would like to take the jocks down. After turning down and mocking Tyler, he watches as Justin confronts Bryce, then punches him. The other jocks and main cast soon join in, and Mr. Porter and Coach Rick come to break the fight up, only to begin themselves. Courtney pulls the fire alarm and everyone else gets detention, where a puzzled Clay learns Scott held him back rather than fighting because he's tired of being lumped in with people like Bryce just because he's an athlete. Bryce's lawyer pulls him out for court, and Clay, Tony, and Justin manage to get out after learning Chloe decided to testify. The trio heads for Clay's car, which someone has broken into and stolen the Polaroids. At the court, Chloe changes her mind midway through her testimony, saying she remembers giving consent, and an upset Clay stays behind where Tyler invites him to go shooting. Again in Tyler's neighbor's fields, he advises Clay it can be easier to hit a target if you name it, like imagining it's someone you dislike. Clay imagines he's aiming at Bryce, and successfully gets a bottle just before police sirens go off. Porter and Olivia search the Clubhouse with police, only to find a normal shed, and Mrs. Walker confronts Bryce, who graphically details raping Hannah, causing her to slap him and say he brought shame to their family. Alex finds a package for him at the store, and as Justin and Jessica talk about Chloe backing down, he says he could help if she lets him testify. Clay leaves him a message saying to drive to Bryce's house, where he is walking with one of Tyler's guns after being initially too stunned to run from police like the latter. Alex opens the package he got, finding a gun for the bullet he previously received, and suddenly remembers what he meant by how he "could have stopped it." This memory heads into the end of the episode, along with Clay and Justin meeting for a dangerous situation outside Bryce's house. We also see the truth about Bryce's testimony, which is certainly different from what Clay would at least have thought. Justin noticing Clay talking to no one is an aspect I most enjoyed about this episode, as throughout this season Clay has been constantly talking to himself in public around plenty of people, with somehow no one noticing. The idea of ghost Hannah was definitely a strange one from the beginning, and I've simply been assuming the writers are saying Clay has some form of mental illness like schizophrenia. A negative aspect came from the group discovering the loss of the Polaroids, which felt like a poorly thought out way to lose them. Clay has always been said to be a smart character, though he can make poor decisions sometimes or puts himself at risk like when he got Bryce's confession. Throughout this season, however, he has repeatedly done or said incredibly dumb things, often serving as a way for characters to chastise a way of thinking you wouldn't expect from him, like when he wonders how the girls in the Polaroids "got themselves in these situations." The fact that he left the photos in his car is a shining example of this, as while the end of last season he was smart enough to have a tape recording before getting Bryce to confess, here he left the only evidence they had unprotected in his car. He tries to defend himself by saying he couldn't just put it in his locker, but one would thing he'd be able to find somewhere in his house to hide the box. Unfortunately for me, a seemingly unrelated Google search told me who stole the box, but for now the characters are left wondering who could have broken into Clay's car. While it's also disappointing to see Chloe unable to say Bryce raped her, it is expected, as along with the general fear people like Jessica have felt in the same situation, it's obvious she's struggling because of how she thought of Bryce before. Tyler continues to spiral down as now his embarrassing secret has been let out since his outburst, and we see more problematic signs when he suggests Clay think of someone he dislikes while shooting. Clay's confused reaction was honestly pretty funny, but it was odd he didn't just immediately stop when Tyler suggested pretending to shoot a person. Bryce's testimony and Clay's inability to trust Hannah's words has made him crack further, and her assertion that she told him the truth but he doesn't believe her was a good thing for him to hear, though he might not think so. Despite repeatedly saying how much he loved Hannah, he was so quick to judge her even as far back as when she was alive, hearing a rumor and feeling hurt thinking it could be true. This is often due to his jealousy, which he doesn't seem to realize, as he always assumes the worst after thinking Hannah was giving attention to boys that he felt he deserved, treating her more like an object to be won than a person. Bryce's testimony and later scenes give us an understanding of part of why he became the way he is, though obviously without saying his actions are excusable. Seeing more of his home life and how he interacted with Hannah gave us much more character than we ever saw in the first season. With his testimony already believed and then somewhat supported by Chloe, the loss of the Polaroids will only make if more difficult to try getting him caught as the season winds down. It's time for Tony to speak up, and as not much is known of his secrets yet, he has quite a bit he could spill. Tony begins the episode talking about how Hannah was an important friend who saw through his facades. Despite trying to act tough, Hannah knew that he had softer interests, and he says they kept each other's secrets. He finally opens up a bit to Caleb, still sitting outside his ruined car, saying he has done a lot and can't let anyone know. As the school called him in, not the Bakers, he is concerned that his testimony might cause problems for those around him. We cut to Justin as Clay asks if he's high, and after saying no he gives a half-explanation of where he's been. He tries to pay Clay rent with Seth's money, but Clay turns it down, and Justin explains he came back because Clay said he needed him. They head back to Clay's house, and as Justin showers, Clay finds the ghost Hannah in his room again. He explains that he is angry all the time but can't tell anyone, and she tells him he needs to. Explaining that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget Hannah, especially their kiss, he leans in. She pulls away, saying he can't, and he asks why she's there. At the baseball field, Cyrus and Tyler's handiwork is burned into the field, but the coach says they need to go out at their next game to show people who they really are. Zach asks how winning baseball proves they're not rapists, and he and Bryce butt heads once again. Jessica arrives at school and assures her dad she's fine. He notices Justin and goes to confront him, but she holds him back, asking who he thinks he's really hurting. Her father relents, telling Justin to watch himself, as Tony's voiceover says we hurt those we don't mean to when we act out of anger. The girl from the end of the previous episode, Sarah Carlin, is the first we see testify for the episode, explaining that Hannah and two other girls bullied her at another school. When she finally told her mom, the three were suspended, and though they stopped, others began picking on her and she had to switch schools. With Justin, Clay reveals his plan to get into the clubhouse to Sheri, as Justin pulls out bolt cutters. She sarcastically asks why they don't just bust down the door, explaining they need to make it seem like they were never there to prevent suspicion. Nina speaks negatively about the field burning with Jessica, saying the only people it hurts are rape survivors like them. Jessica seems to think otherwise, and is confused when Nina and a boy, Michael, seem to flirt. Tony starts a conversation with Ryan, explaining that he is up last and won't have support, but turns down Ryan's offer to show up. Ryan assures him they won't ask about the secret mentioned in the past, and Tony becomes angry. The scene shifts to the past, when Hannah convinced Tony to ask out Ryan, who he said at the episode's start seemed to have a crush on him. Mr. Porter heads to his office with his fellow employees watching him. Bolan says he's surprised Porter showed, as his employment is being looked at, and tells Porter to stay away from the students until the check is done, saying he knows about Porter threatening Bryce. Sheri, having gotten in with Scott and another athlete, gets into the clubhouse, taking note of the lock's combination. To her surprise and fear, Bryce shows up and ignores her claims of having a test, and gets her to take a hit of weed alone. Despite feeling uncomfortable and trying to leave, Sheri is kept inside as the guys get close to her and Bryce takes a photo. She gets back with Clay and Justin, but says she won't be joining when they search during the baseball game, as she can't go back in the clubhouse. Jessica confronts Nina about having dumped Garrett and getting with Michael. To her surprise, Nina says she got annoyed that Garrett wanted to talk about her feelings too much, and was getting close to finding out her secret. Jessica says Nina doesn't really seem to be over all her issues when it comes to her own rape, and an offended Nina says Jessica still fawns over Justin. Saying it was apparently a mistake to offer Jess her help, she leaves. Inside, Porter sees Justin enter the office and tells him to come to him for a talk. After explaining Justin can potentially scrape by to graduate, he asks about Justin's home. Though Justin tries to lie first, saying he hasn't seen his mom, Porter sternly breaks through the attempts, saying he visited, and tells Justin to sit when he tries to leave. He explains that, even if he wants to, Justin can't go through this by himself, in part because once the school fires him, the new counselor will want Justin living with his mom and Seth. He tells Justin to let go of his past mistakes and take care of himself, and Justin leaves. In a quick scene, Alex finds that someone stole his books from his locker and left a bullet. We then head back to court, where Dennis has to discredit Tony, bringing up his prior arrests and how he could end up in juvie. Tony becomes agitated, remembering a past assault, and taking issue with some of Dennis' descriptions, but agrees to everything. In a flashback, we finally see Tony knows Lucas, as the latter hurled homophobic slurs and him and Ryan on their first date, and Tony brutally beat him. In the current day, he says where he's from, you have to make your own justice, and Dennis says this means Tony tries to assume what the right thing is to do, and as a branch of that, gave out the tapes assuming what Hannah wanted. Though upset, Tony lies that Hannah left him no instructions and he simply assumed what she wanted, agreeing to everything Dennis says. Bryce gives a speech before the baseball game about how they are a family, and Monty notes Zach's apparent anger. During the game, Bryce repeatedly ignores advice from Zach, causing the latter to become angry. Zach says the speech was obviously all talk, and the two arguing draws the crowd's attention. The coach breaks up their fight after Zach says Hannah didn't lie on the tapes, and Zach storms away as Monty watches. He heads to the clubhouse, where Clay and Justin are trying to find the box of photos. Thinking Zach will hurt them, Clay says he won't back down because he's already been beaten up and he's not afraid of what happens if the truth comes out. Zach gets the box of photos, revealing himself to be the one who gave Clay the others, saying he doesn't release them himself because he's a coward, unlike Clay. Olivia heads home after court, finding that Jackie has left after discovering Hannah's past bullying Sarah. Tyler, meanwhile, heads to a punk concert, and though clearly uncomfortable, he takes part in a mosh pit. He goes to leave when his nose is hit and bleeds, encountering Mackenzie. She tells him she understands why he left and that it's actually normal. Embarrassed as she says this while the others are around, he tells her to shut up, yelling that he doesn't want to be with her because she's boring. Cyrus, having walked over just then, stands up for his sister, and tells Tyler to get out as Mackenzie watches silently. At the Baker house, Tony says he's not proud of his past, and when Olivia says they always seem to find out what we're least proud of, he tells her his secret. After assaulting Lucas, Tony ran to the Crestmont, where Hannah hid him and lied to police, then cleaned him up, sharing that she used to be a bully because she wanted to fit in and has always regretted it. He says he wanted to keep Hannah's secret like she kept his. She replies that she's glad Hannah kept his secret, and after she tries to apologize for letting his record be brought up, he says it's his fault for having one. The episode closes out with Tyler making a discovery and being discovered, Tony trying to make amends for Hannah, Olivia facing hatred, and Clay, Justin, and Sheri taking a look at the photos. It's interesting with this episode to see how Tony lies in court, then trying to think about how that should make viewers feel. We saw another liar in court when Marcus testified, trying so desperately to keep his image squeaky clean. Here, Tony obviously doesn't want people to know what he did int he past, as he could get arrested for it, but it's not exactly the same. With Marcus, there were ill intentions throughout. He's trying to keep himself clear of any wrongdoing so his life will get better and better, while further destroying Hannah. Tony, meanwhile, wants to help Hannah's image, as Sonya's slick words made it seem like Hannah wanted people to suffer like she did, so he went all-in to say he wasn't credible in that aspect when Dennis questioned him. This brings in somewhat of a moral dilemma, as although he had good intentions, he did commit perjury by saying Hannah left him no instructions, just like Marcus. But on the other hand, Tony was doing it at least partially because he wanted to help someone dear to him whose name has been dragged through the mud. Seeing Zach finally act out against Bryce was enjoyable, though not quite on par with Alex yelling in the hall. Unfortunately for me, his reveal was spoiled weeks ago, but I was glad to see the way Clay finds out about him was through him giving them the photo box. Even if he feels like a coward, Zach's actions have been important to the others getting what they need to get Bryce. Another split came with Nina and Jessica, and will likely appear again down the line, as Jessica seems much bolder about speaking her story. Initially, she didn't want anything to be known, but since telling a few people what happened, she is more open with her emotions. Nina, on the other hand, wants no one to know, and Jess disagrees with that as a course of action. Sarah's introduction felt odd at first, but in a way I like that something was revealed in this episode that wasn't touched on much before. Last season and this season, characters have mentioned Hannah moving to town from her last school after bullying, but they didn't go into details. Now we see that Hannah wasn't always the one being hurt, though at the same time, it shows the kind of societal pressure we have seen before. No one wants to speak up because the athletes "run the school," even the other guys who think it's horrible. Similarly, Hannah was so desperate to fit in that she went along with something terrible, despite not thinking it was right. While showing that she used to be a bully, the show doesn't paint her as a one-dimensional villain, like some bullies and/or villains end up in shows. Rather than just having her bully because she wanted to and then being okay with it later, we see the guilt she felt about her actions. In later life, the hurt she caused may have contributed to her own pain, as she wanted so badly to take it back. We see the problem in Tyler growing bigger with this episode, as now he is definitely alienated from the only people he saw as friends. While it's easy to see where his snap action came from it doesn't excuse his words, and his lying to both his friends and his parents is causing him to be alone. As we saw in the season one finale, this already could have been dangerous due to his guns. Now, however, it's worse, as the bullying he experiences at school and some negative signs about him have ramped up, his only friends are angry at him, and his parents are punishing him as the nude picture of him is again sent around. With things getting worse for him but apparently going well for those fighting Bryce, conflict is bound to happen soon. 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. The Bakers are finally given the chance to speak in court, as the whole town reels after Clay leaked Hannah's tapes online. The episode opens with Olivia and Andrew Baker getting emotional about Hannah as they look at baby pictures. While Olivia thinks they can use the tapes' leaking to their advantage, Andrew believes it could do more harm than good. Clay wakes up to a buzzing phone, as everyone is asking what he did, and Sheri says she's calling an emergency meeting. He goes to school with Justin, who thinks everyone must be looking at them because of him being back, only for Sheri to quickly tell him. He asks if Clay did it, but Clay, finally getting an answer from Skye, leaves. An anxious Marcus tells Courtney this could ruin his chances at Harvard, and we then see Jessica confused as everyone stares at her, until Alex tells her what happened. Bryce finds the word "Rapist" painted on his locker, and initially tells his friends there's nothing they should or could do, because someone was just messing around, until he hears the tape Clay made of him admitting what he did to Hannah. Immediately suspicious, he accuses Zach, who says the tapes were posted anonymously, and we see angry students lock Tyler in the darkroom. At court, Andrew says that even if Hannah couldn't trust her classmates, she should have been able to trust the school, as they chose it partially for its zero tolerance policy on bullying. He explains that Hannah had been bullied at another school, and they wanted to avoid a repeat incident. His words about the school needing to pay attention echo as we see Tyler still trapped in the darkroom. We then cut to Chloe, who overhears girls in the bathroom wondering if she knows what Bryce did, and if so, why she would be dating him. She goes into the stall where someone wrote that Jessica is a slut, and marks out any negative comments about rape survivors, to Jessica's surprise. Mackenzie arrives at the darkroom to free Tyler, and says that, despite what she heard about him, she doesn't want to cancel their date. Bryce, finally worried, calls his dad for help, but hangs up when he sees Justin, who says he is going down. Bryce points out that if he does, Justin goes with him, to which Justin replies that he doesn't care, but Bryce also says that he has politicians and others essentially in his pocket who will testify to what a great guy he is. After Bryce tells Justin he's nobody and nothing, he flashes back to the day after the party where Bryce raped Jessica, as he tearfully told Jessica that she must not remember that they had sex and she was into it. Tyler soon gets shaken down again as a furious Zach accuses him of taking pictures of his sister and being the one who put a rat in his locker. Tyler swears that he didn't do it and Zach leaves, promising that if Tyler comes near his sister, he will kill him. In class, Justin breaks down and meets with a drug dealer, then we cut back to court as Sonya questions Andrew about his girlfriend. She points out that he began his affair prior to Hannah's death, and asks that even if he broke it off for a time, if Hannah might have known of it and taken it hard. In a flashback, we learn that Hannah saw him with his girlfriend, Valerie, and told him to break it off and tell Olivia, otherwise she would, to which he agreed. In the present day, however, we realize he never told Olivia, and as Sonya steps down, he tries to blurt out how Hannah's problems were all school-related. At a baseball game, Bryce's father tries to calm him down by saying that they'll hear his side of the story when he testifies, and his mother notes that he doesn't want to seem like he's attacking Hannah by speaking early. Though Mr. Walker expresses complete confidence in his son, saying at this point the tape is just a story and claiming the kids are just jealous of Bryce has. Mrs. Walker seems doubtful, obviously believing her son could have done what she heard. Nervous after the pictures he found, Zach demands that they leave the game, but his mother says he needs to support Bryce. Finally standing defiant against his former friend, Zach takes his sister's hand and leaves. Marcus, meanwhile, has been blackmailed again, with a message saying it's him or Bryce. He gets up to speak, and is forced to say that he is quitting as head of his gentlemen's club, as he can't be a gentleman and support "A rapist like Bryce Walker." Principal Bolan tries to calm the situation by saying it was a prank in poor taste, and Bryce tells his parents about the blackmail and tells Chloe that everything is a lie. Tyler and Cyrus, again out shooting, talk about Marcus actually doing what they wanted and Mackenzie asking Tyler out. He tells Tyler he's okay with it and trusts him as long as he's not actually a pervert. Tyler, in a daze, watches a bird land near the cans they're shooting, and kills it with a single shot. He soon becomes fascinated with the thought of it being alive and flying one minute, then dead the next. Alex tries to call Clay about the tapes, and Bryce confronts Marcus, telling him his words were the worst mistake he could have made. Jessica, now at home, comes in as her dad is telling her mom he doesn't care what she wants, they need to come forward, and she goes up to her room to be alone. Once there, she reads the article published after the tapes were released. On the stand, Olivia says that if the school had sent out a notification after Hannah's poem was read, the parents could have talked, and Dennis takes this to mean the school was either negligent or ignorant. Sonya asks Olivia if she ever noticed signs that Hannah may have been in distress, and she remembers a time after Andrew cheated on her when Hannah came into the store for seemingly no reason with Olivia's favorite flowers. Despite this, she says she noticed nothing, and admits that while her family has a history of mental illness, Hannah never showed signs and never saw a therapist. Clay visits Skye in a mental health facility, where she says she is finally happy and has decided to make changes in her life, and that he is not at fault for what happened. After the court date, Olivia and Andrew talk about his affair, which leads into him saying they were partially at fault for Hannah's death. Olivia becomes angry, but he says that he is simply tired of fighting all the time and will be sitting out the case. Skye tells Clay her mom wants her to move in with relatives, and she has agreed, wanting a fresh start. Clay is hurt, thinking she'll forget him, but she says she'll always love him and that he is a good person who can help people, just not the way he thinks they need it. Alex, still trying to find Clay, goes to his house, where he finds Justin lying on his back, overdosing on heroin and choking on his own vomit. After finally manages to flip Justin over, causing him to throw up on the floor. While Jessica reaches out to Olivia, Justin tells Alex no one would have cared if Alex hadn't saved him, and Alex says not to joke like that. Justin apologizes and asks where Alex's scar is, and he says it's on the side of his head, which is why he grew his hair out. Justin tells about a time where people were mocking Alex's hair, and Justin responded that they were being stupid. Clay comes home, angry about Justin's condition, but Alex tells him to stop. He apologizes that his actions may have hurt Jessica, saying it may be time for her truth to come out, too, and Justin asks what gives him the right to decide. Finally calm, Clay says he is trying everything he can to make things right, but that he needs their help to do so. At a boxing session, Tony flirts with his trainer and boyfriend, Caleb, talking about how he is full of energy. When the one-eyed man comes in and shakes his hand, however, he draws back, deciding to leave when the man thinks he recognizes him. Alex and his dad have a light argument about his door and apologize for how they each acted at the party. Alex asks if he could play the game "Desert Duty" again, because when he did at the party, he remembered something. His dad says it's probably not a good idea, since it's a shooter, and Alex sadly relents, saying it was probably a stupid idea. As the episode finishes up, Jessica has a more open meeting with Olivia, while Clay has an explosive encounter with his parents about his actions. While he yells at his Hannah ghost, Justin, upset at every instance of fighting, heads out to meet with someone. Naturally this episode focused a lot on the repercussions of Clay releasing the tapes, and how everyone else feels about it. While thinking he was right in doing so, the article that comes out even says he may have done more harm than good, though now Bryce is in hot water. Although he has people in his pocket, a large force of people has begun developing against him, and it will be hard to stay free when even his own mom is against him. We saw very little of Zach this episode, though his temper exploded in a shocking way, and it was nice to see him finally stand against Bryce. The scenes with Skye were an interesting aspect, considering how much she managed to improved, deciding she wanted to take control of her life back. It was also a wakeup call for Clay, as saying that he can help people in a way other than he thinks is good to say how he needs to consider other people's feelings. This culminates in the scene with Alex and Justin, where the latter asks why Clay has the power to decide when certain truths should come out, as obviously the only person he's truly trying to help is Hannah, rather than Jessica. Olivia had a big wakeup call as well, as despite realizing earlier signs she missed from Hannah, she is finally being confronted with the fact that she wasn't dutiful enough. Jessica continues to struggle, perhaps more-so now that the tapes have been released, but also seems to be improving and becoming able to open up to people. Along the lines of Clay and Jessica, a nice theme the show brings up now and then centers around how men often dictate what women should do or want. The most obvious case is Bryce, being a repeated rapist, but different lighter forms are brought in with other characters, especially Jessica. Clay has continually tried, even since season one, to make the others come forward about what happened, and this season has focused on Jessica. In this episode, he thinks he should be able to say when she should come forward, and her dad does the same after hearing the tapes. Even with Hannah, or in this case, Ghost Hannah, Clay decided to release the tapes despite her telling him not to, saying that she doesn't get a say now that she's dead. This is likely a metaphor about Clay's own morality and how he's struggling with what to believe and do. Ever since first seeing Hannah, she has served as a sort of conscious whenever he was being harsh about something, trying to urge him in the proper direction, like when she says why Justin is shivering during his detox. Obviously he can't just get this information out of nowhere, meaning Clay already knew what was wrong with Bryce and needed a voice of reason to remind him. As the show talks about mental illness and needing to reach out for help, Clay seeing a dead person talking to him is a huge warning sign that he might need bigger help like Skye got at the mental health facility. With the tapes out now and people struggling as they decide what to do, the next testimony will likely cause more waves in the situation. Clay prepares to testify, but not everything goes according to plan when defense lawyer Sonya brings out some unexpected questions. In the previous episode, Clay began to wonder if he really knew Hannah after hearing everyone else's testimonies, but Justin noted how unfair it is that being interested in two guys suddenly labels her a slut. This episode starts in an especially trippy manner, with an animation of Clay and Hannah talking about their existence and thoughts on things like love and infinity. The odd style, something completely different from anything ever seen in the show before, stands out in an odd way. I personally wasn't very into it, but others might be. Seemingly a dream from Clay, the intro does serve as a good way to compare how happily he seems to dream with how glum he is after waking. He calls Skye to give an update on his life, and after seeing his family having breakfast with Justin, causing Clay to become a bit jealous. Annoyed with how well they're getting along, Clay goes outside to get the paper, which he finds marked to say that Hannah lied. As Alex also wakes up, he finds his mom with balloons, talking about his birthday party that he is clearly not excited about. We cut to Tony meeting up with his boxing coach and new love interest, who, when Tony asks, explains the man with one eye was the victim of a mugging. As Tony listens, he is visibly bothered. At the school, Jessica leads a confused Alex to a hallway where Zach waits to show him a "happy birthday" banner. Bryce and Scott Reed interrupt, joking about how Alex's mom should bring cupcakes and how he might get a new cane this year. As they walk away, an enraged Alex screams at Bryce, calling him a rapist and causing him to stop momentarily. Zach berates Alex, saying doing things like that doesn't help anybody, but Alex fires back that doing nothing isn't helpful, either. Jessica, upset at Alex's actions, asks how he could do something like that and leaves. In the darkroom, Tyler gets a surprise visit from Mackenzie, who asks him out on a date, to which he agrees. Clay, in court, tells the jury about the Hannah he knew, who would talk to him about simply things like zombies or more important things like hopes and dreams. We see the two the previous summer, when he explained he'd be going to his grandparents' house, and she asks him to write to her. Despite promising to do so, we cut back to now as he says he never did, as we always think we have more time with those we care about than we really get. He gets emotional, though seems disingenuous as he glances at Olivia Baker. Back at school, Marcus shows him the video Tyler and Cyrus found, which they sent to blackmail him into wearing a dress at school. To Marcus' surprise, Bryce responds that, regardless of Marcus trying to help him in court, he owes him nothing. Sonya takes advantage of Clay being set up with marijuana in the previous season to set him up as a bad influence, noting how he later tries to buy some from Bryce and also keyed Zach's car. She asks if he is responsible for Hannah's death like he accused Courtney of being, and is cut off as he tries to say the defense let other kids and adults get away with worse. The defense asks if, despite never being in a relationship, they ever spent a night together, and Clay admits that they did, and did drugs. Later after court, Clay apologizes to his dad for not being honest with him and his mother, and says maybe kids hide the truth to protect their parents. Before he left, we hear Sonya ask why Clay didn't do anything when he apparently heard Hannah say something dark, though we don't know what that is. At the school's pep rally, Marcus arrives dressed as a cheerleader to get around Tyler's blackmail, enraging the latter. Zach and Bryce get each other with secret barbs as the athletes put Jeff's jersey up, which Clay stays behind to see, as did Sheri. We see Jeff in the past invite Clay to a party at his place with a few friends, which he now mentions to Sheri that the defense somehow found out about. She suggests that his mom found it in his test records, remembering his mom asking what it means when a girl and boy suddenly stop texting. Alex and his dad run into Tyler at the Baker store, and invite Tyler to Alex's party, which he says he will attend. Olivia and Andrew Baker have gone to Hannah's grave after court, with Olivia raging about the lack of care given to it. As the two share a tender moment as he assures her they had good times, he suggests they have dinner. Jessica is at the mall with Nina and her boyfriend, amazed at how cute they are together and how amazing he is. As she and Nina try on clothes, she suddenly thinks back to Bryce stripping and raping her, causing her to hyperventilate and run out of the store with the clothes. As the alarm goes off, Nina gives the clothes back and apologizes, and asks her boyfriend to get them some gelato. Jessica, surprised by his reaction, learns that Nina hasn't told him about them being survivors, saying there's no need to. The Bakers, at a diner they used to go to, make small talk until Andrew says they need to finalize their divorce, rather than staying in a weird limbo. Initially shocked, Olivia asks if he wants to marry his girlfriend, and he says he wants to close a door he can't go back through. While driving around, Clay thinks back to Jeff's party, where they, Jeff's girlfriend, Hannah, Sheri, and Alex all hung out and they convinced him to take ecstasy. As everyone hit their giggly high points, Jeff and his girlfriend left, and Clay and Hannah almost began holding hands. In the present, Clay heads to Alex's party, where only the Standalls, Zach, and Jessica also arrive. Alex tries to apologize to Jessica, but she says they don't need to talk. Tyler later shows up, but Zach and Jessica berate him, saying it was creepy that he took pictures of a comatose Alex, and tell him to leave. They bring up what he did to Hannah, and Clay tells them that Tyler at least tried to help Hannah in court, which they didn't do. Alex, already annoyed with the party and Clay's testimony, says that Clay seems to think that he didn't let her down like them. The scene shifts into the real version of the animation from the beginning, as we see the drug caused Hannah and Clay to open up to each other more. Zach gets a call from his mom and gives generic, shady answers to her, angering Alex, and leaves. For much of the rest of the episode, the focus remains on the group as Alex has an angry breakdown, confronting his friends and family with how he feels now. We also get some time with Tyler, who wants Cyrus' help in messing with Zach more as a result of Marcus getting around his blackmail. Clay also gets a third Polaroid after leaving Alex's party, and he and Jessica have reactions to a sight at his house. In one final flashback, we see the aftereffects of Jeff's party and learn what Hannah said, and in the present day we see some deterioration of Bryce and Chloe's relationship and a decision Clay makes that might will have consequences later. Dennis was definitely right when he told Olivia that Sonya would tear Clay apart, as she throws him curveballs he wasn't expecting in his testimony. When he gets annoyed with Zach and Jessica, Clay says that Zach's testimony labeled her a slut, but as Zach points out, Clay's testimony labeled her a drug user. With Zach saying this, it shows how Clay has seemed to think himself as better than others this season, as despite knowing he could have taken steps to help Hannah, he chastises others for their inaction. This and a phrase Clay uses at the end of the episode continues this season's trend of showing his negative aspects like the first season showed his good. The lack of action against Bryce has resulted in Clay being a lot angrier this season than he ever was before, which caused problems in his testimony. He thought he was being smart in expecting certain questions and wanting to target certain people like Bryce, but he didn't know everything Sonya had in her arsenal to use against him. There is some contrasting in how Clay's parents are seeing everything and talking to him. After Clay's testimony, his dad mentions that despite parents always loving their kids no matter what, kids feel the need to lie to them. At this point, Clay opens up to his dad and apologizes for his secrets, but when Cheri mentions the texts, he becomes angry, likely feeling betrayed as he suspects his mom is the reason the court found out about the drugs. We get a lot with Alex in this episode as well, showing how angry he is about the situation his attempted suicide has left him in. While Bryce ended last season by taking on Bryce directly, the birthday scene at school has Alex screaming at Bryce, and for me it was more satisfying than when Ryan told off Courtney last season. The wishy washiness he has seen from Zach combined with how people have been treating him, both obviously negative and attempts at positivity have finally gotten to him to the point that he will take on anyone he feels deserves it. Tyler is continuing his downward spiral, being more and more bold in messing with people he doesn't like and dragging Cyrus into it. With Jessica we get a painful look at how Bryce has affected her, as she seemed to not even realize exactly what she was doing in the clothes scene. Simply taking off her clothes is enough to trigger a flashback to Bryce prying her clothes off. In this scene, she also finds it odd that Nina hasn't told her boyfriend how they might or what she herself went through. While Nina has an understandable reason for this, Jessica seems to disagree with her. With Clay making a questionable decision at the end of the episode, he may cause more problems than he solves in future episodes. Zach Dempsey delivers perhaps the most shocking testimony thus far in the Baker case, as Justin comes out of hiding. Hannah opens the episode writing the letter she gave to Zach, who is reading it before his testimony, and he assures his mom everything will be okay. After a short scene where Clay asks Sheri about the Polaroids to no avail, we go outside the court. Despite Andrew and even Olivia's friend Jackie suggesting a united front by holding hands, Olivia stands firm against Andrew. Inside, Zach explains the jocks typically talk about sexual exploits with girls, often untrue, though he doesn't name anyone specifically. At school, an exasperated Clay quizzes Alex on what he remembers for a doctor visit, but the latter quickly becomes frustrated. Tyler, meanwhile, tells Cyrus about his neighbor calling his dad about the guns, resulting in his dad calling Cyrus' wanting to take them to a gun range. After his violent encounter with Mrs. Foley's boyfriend, Mr. Porter gets out of jail, with his wife saying she is proud he watches out for the kids, but urges caution. Ryan, wondering about Hannah's words, asks Sheri if she knows what the clubhouse is. Thinking he wants to dig up dirt on Hannah, she shuts him down. Back at court, Zach confirms that no one did anything after a dark letter from Hannah was real aloud in class. Porter gets a visit from the baseball coach, who comes in to essentially blackmail him by saying he knows about the arrest and has a police friend who can make it go away. Justin finally makes his return to the school, telling Jessica he couldn't forget her and that he will stay or leave depending on what she wants. She tells him she wishes he were dead, and as he turns to confront Bryce, he collapses. Despite snapping at Chloe that he's fine, Bryce is clearly scared and agitated about Justin's return. The defense lawyer, Sonya, asks if Hannah reached out to Zach directly after he dark note, and when he says yes, she asks how often they talked. Zach explains that he apologized to Hannah for his past actions, then began going to the movies just to see her. They got closer as a result, even having a date at her house that her parents didn't know about. Prodded about why he told no one, Zach explains he wanted to keep it between them because it was the summer his father died and he found they connected well. As Sonya keeps asking about the nature of their relationship, Zach finally reveals he and Hannah lost their virginities to each other and had sex throughout the summer. Through more flashbacks, we see them repeatedly together during the summer, growing closer as they explore more. After the testimony, an upset Olivia vents to Andrew about their daughter becoming a woman without them noticing. They argue about how they handled problems during their relationship, and he finally admits to living with his girlfriend and her daughter. At Clay's house, Justin hides as someone breaks in and searches his bag, coming out just in time for Mr. Jensen to find him. Word quickly spreads about Zach's testimony, and in the locker room he finds a pair of panties with Hannah's name and a blood spot in his locker. Enraged as Bryce begins laughing, he starts a fight that the coach quickly breaks up. Knowing how Clay felt about Hannah, Olivia is determined to bring him to testify despite Dennis and Andrew's objections, and Dennis finally agrees to contact him. Upset that Hannah had a relationship with Zach but shortly after pushed him away, a fuming Clay rants at Zach, saying he didn't deserve her and to go away. When Sheri comes to let him know about the clubhouse, he snaps that he doesn't care anymore. Tyler and Cyrus learn proper gun handling from Mr. Standall, who agrees with Tyler's dad that they should learn from an expert, and says Tyler is a good kid who has been a good friend to Alex. After Alex's doctor visit, he blows off PT by sitting in the locker room, where he rants to Zach that he is "plateauing," meaning he will never improve further. He gets violently angry, but during a scuffle he makes a surprising discovery. Olivia tries to convince Clay to testify, and while he says the testimonies have made him feel like he didn't know Hannah, Olivia asks if he can put them out of his mind. Jessica finally opens up to the survivors group, telling them about her rape and how ever since, she has felt Bryce every time someone gets close to her. We cut to Tony, entering the place he had his parole, only to leave upon seeing a scarred man learning self-defense from his trainer. Tyler and Cyrus, now drinking some kind of concoction, hack into Zach's iCloud account, finding a photo of Hannah, as well as a video of the jocks with a naked girl at the school. Cyrus wants to leak it, but Tyler suggests messing with Zach first. As Jessica and Nina leave the group, she congratulates Jessica on taking steps and telling her story, saying she should be proud of taking control back. The episode comes to a close with more confrontations, as with previous episodes, starting with the Jensens talking to Clay and Justin, who gives Clay advice about how he feels not about Hannah. Following this comes brutal honesty between Zach and his mom, as well as flashbacks showing the source of Zach's picture and how Hannah dealt with Zach's desire to keep things between them. Zach's character took a sharp turn from things we've seen before, though not unbelievably so. His decision to finally be open with everyone and how he feels reveals a lot about his and Hannah's past. Last season we didn't get much about Zach's home life aside from his mom being overbearing, but here we learn that his father's death hit him hard. While last season he initially helped try to keep Clay quiet, here he is open about everything and is more than willing to take any punishment he deserves. As we've seen with past characters interacting with their parents in new ways, we see a confrontation between Zach and his mom, as he finally confronts the poor communication skills she taught him that cause problems in his life. We also get some emotionally raw moments with Justin, both in him telling Jessica how he's felt as well as in the final scenes with Clay and his family. Like Zach, he spent last season trying to keep Clay quiet, but now he not only wants to get the word out, he also helps Clay personally. While much of the episode focuses elsewhere, Jessica's openness was great to see, as there is a sign she is finally able to start taking her life back from Bryce. Earlier this season, she abhorred the idea of being in a survivors group, saying she even hated the word. With Nina's help, however, she has made strides in telling her story and feeling more comfortable with herself again. Her account in the group shows the kind of lasting damage that is done to a survivor over time, as she says she feels his breath when someone kisses her and feel him pressing her down and forcing her to submit. With Clay, we're getting much more of the negative aspects of his personality than we did last season, which I've enjoyed seeing. He said at moments that he feels like he didn't really know Hannah and doesn't know how to feel anymore. In the same way, we are learning things about him we didn't know before, like his extreme jealousy toward Zach where he acts like he deserved Hannah more than Zach, like she was an object. Much like he has to try not letting the defense's argument completely change his view of what kind of person Hannah was, we have to try to understand that these things don't make him a horrible person, but rather more complex than we previously saw. Now that Clay will be called to testify at some point, an interesting argument will likely appear as a hopefully stubborn Clay faces the crafty Sonya. We get another look at Hannah Baker's poetry with the fifth episode of 13 Reasons Why, as Ryan Shaver takes the stand. Ryan opens the episode saying that Hannah was an artist in need. As he explains that art should shock people, we see Tyler and Cyrus making shirts that say "assholes." The testimony continues that the world expects people to stay silent, and we see Mr. Porter as he discovers a brick thrown through his car's window that says "Know your place." We head to the school, where Bryce tells Chloe that his parents want to have her over for dinner, and he shows slight concern about the case by asking about Jessica. At Clay's, Justin continues to struggle with his detox as the fake Hannah works like Clay's conscience and rationale. He convinces Justin to take a shower, but the move almost results in Mr. Jensen discovering their secret. He later shows Justin the Polaroid, but the latter doesn't recognize the location, and Tony arrives to watch Justin as Clay goes to school. A short cut to Zach shows his mom's lack of concern for Hannah's case, having been convinced of her reputation by the defense's strategy. At court, Olivia sees Andrew Baker, who has finally decided to be there for Hannah, though she is wary of his support. Ryan's testimony goes on, as he explains that no one took Hannah's poem seriously, despite it being read in class. Back at school, Cyrus and Tyler laughably strut down the halls in their new shirts, and Porter calls Tyler to his office. To Tyler's surprise, he doesn't care about the shirt, but questions Tyler about the pictures of Jessica that showed up in the classroom. Outside, Clay meets with Alex, who says he's listened to his tape multiple times and feels like he's missing something from the story. Clay has a realization after noticing a man chalking the field, leaving Alex by advising him not to listen too hard. Ryan, meanwhile, counters the defense attorney's argument that the school is expected to determine a poem's certain meaning by saying they're trained to. The attorney has Ryan read some of Hannah's poems, all of them focusing on her feelings about the boys who had wronged her. After Ryan finally admits some are about Justin, the defense notes it as odd that she kept in touch with someone who had wronged her so. Through flasbhacks, we see that, when Hannah and Ryan were friends, he often acted to prevent her from interacting with Justin. Despite the latter's attempts to talk to her, Ryan gets in the way, telling her to banish him from her mind. Ryan argues that Justin was simply a bad decision and Hannah was writing about love because it was what she so desperately needed, not necessarily because she was obsessed with boys. After the testimony, Tyler fumes over Ryan's words, and decides to get back at him with his new friends. At Clay's, a restless Justin tells Tony how he fell to drugs. Tony explains the reason he is afraid of Justin going outside is because if he gets busted, it will be his third strike and he'll go to jail, but he finally relents due to Justin's current state. We then go to Alex, who tells Jessica he is there for her as the two ignore talking about their kiss. In another room, Clay examines the photo, telling Hannah he saw one of the school's chalk machines, which would make Bryce's crimes relevant to the trial because at least one took place on school grounds. Despite looking around the school, Clay fails to find the room, and vents to Hannah about how he doesn't understand people falling for the wrong person, and how he feels like he didn't really know her. Tony and Justin, meanwhile, take a walk outside, only to be spotted by someone clearly from Liberty High, word of which quickly spreads. After the court date, Olivia thanks Andrew, assuring her friend that she is over him, only to follow him to his new girlfriend's home, where she sees the woman's daughter. Later, Ryan visits her to offer his sympathy, and helps her look through some of Hannah's poems. She believes one to be about Justin, but it seems to be about Bryce. While there, Ryan thinks back to when he stole Hannah's poem, in the process revealing the letter he previously gave to Tony, detailing a day where Tony came to her after beating someone up for mocking himself and Ryan. With athletics at Liberty, we see tension between Zach, paranoid after finding the rat in his bag last episode, and Bryce, as Monty watches, suspicious. Things also come to a boil between Chloe, gushing about Bryce's parents, and Jessica, who finally exclaims that she doesn't want a boyfriend like Chloe suggests, calling her clueless. With word of Justin out, Porter calls Jessica to his office, but she stays adamant that she doesn't want to talk to him and doesn't care about Justin being back. As dinner progresses at the Walker house, we see Bryce interact with his father as his mother carefully observes Chloe, noticing bruises on her arms. Despite not lasting long, the scene does a lot to show that Bryce is the kind of person he is because of his father, who tells him obedience is important in a relationship. With his mother, we see further that she actually listened to Porter's words and has likely dealt with what Bryce does, as she continues watching despite Chloe saying the bruises are from cheerleading. In a PT session, Alex opens up to Zach about his kiss with Jessica, and explains that, ever since waking from his coma, he hasn't felt anything "down below." Meanwhile at Clay's, Sheri arrives to watch Justin, and has an encounter with Mrs. Jensen where she explains a boy and girl suddenly not texting means they broke up. The episode comes to a climax with multiple encounters for different characters, starting with Ryan heading to a bar for a date. Following this comes a decision from Jessica, a confrontation for Tyler from his mom, an experience for Alex, and, inter-cut with decisions from Jessica and Clay, a shocking confrontation for Porter. The strong point of this episode is definitely the dinner scene at the Walker household. The fact that Bryce's actions are a learned behavior speak to how the things he does repeatedly happen and are taught through generations, despite cultural abhorrence for them. When Porter first went to see the Walkers, finding only Bryce's mother, I at first thought it looked like a case of her not caring for what he had to say. In this episode, however, I thought back and realized her apprehension at him being there seemed to come from her husband's talk of needing "obedience." It's nice to see her taking steps to try watching out for Chloe, and shows that Bryce is being closed in on from all around. It's hilarious to see how Tyler's newfound confidence shows itself, while also being interesting, because Cyrus would be expected to "corrupt" Tyler into violent action, he is, in fact, into more simple pranks on people, whereas Tyler is bringing violence to Cyrus with scenes like at the gun range. As has been the case with everyone to testify so far, it's nice to get a little more depth on Ryan. Last season he seemed to have little interesting background to me, though I did love, as most did, when he confronted Courtney. Here, we see through his cynical, sarcastic outer shell to find how alone he truly feels. He expresses to the court that it can be dangerous to feel alone and powerless, and we see throughout the episode that he is craving someone to be close to. With the defense lawyer continuing to create an image of Hannah being a needy slut, and those who bullied her feeling the noose tighten, following episodes are sure to ramp up both tension and results. It's Marcus Cole's turn in the hot seat now as the Baker trial continues and Clay tries to get Justin ready to testify against Bryce. In the prior episode, Justin was revealed to be a drug addict after Jessica's emotional court date, and Marcus was given a fiery warning about testifying. Clay starts off this episode discovering Justin's stash, forced to wash his clothes and keep the secret from his mom. He calls Tony, who sends Sheri to help Justin detox while Clay goes to school, despite Justin's defiance. We see the result of Mr. Porter going directly to Mrs. Walker, as she Watches and talks to her son with newfound interest, to his discomfort. Porter now has even more on his plate, as Jessica and her parents have come to him with a threatening note she received. Porter and the Davis' try to tell her it is safe to tell them the truth, but, feeling pressured, she says nothing. We go to the nervous Marcus Cole and his dad, who assures him that there is no need to worry because he simply needs to tell the truth. Marcus asks what he should do if asked about his friends who have been mentioned in court before, with his father saying that, because the system is unfair, they might expect him to, but he should just worry about himself. Later outside the court, Dennis mentions to Olivia that, because Marcus is a young politician who'd rather blame the school than take blame, he can be an asset. At the school, Alex and Zach have an initially lighthearted conversation that gets dark when Alex suddenly drops his drink, remembering a bit of his suicide attempt. In the halls, Clay tells Jessica about Justin, leaving out the drug addiction, but she states that she never wants to see him again. Zach, again with Bryce's group, vents about his fears of his next test, only to get jokes from Monty and the others. We learn that Zach set Chloe and Bryce up, with some aspect of their relationship bothering him, and we see Tyler and Cyrus with their explosive as eh goes to class. In court, Marcus spins the story of his date with Hannah to be that he wanted to offer her friendship, and she got upset with him when he tried to hold her hand. We see in a flashback that he actually didn't match with Hannah in the Dollar Valentines, but took a bet with Bryce about if he could get in her pants. Dennis takes Marcus' story and turns it to say that obviously, Hannah suffered because of a potentially hurtful program the school put on. Back at school, Chloe continues to try being friends with Jessica, who decides to cut school with Alex, who finally admits to her at the movies what he really said to Hannah after she found out they were dating. Elsewhere, Clay debates with Tony, now refusing to help, about how to handle the situation, as Sheri watches over the suffering Justin. Pressured to explain Hannah's reaction, Marcus claims she was using him because she liked Bryce, and we see that she later groped him at school to show him how she felt. Meanwhile, Clay finds another photo of Bryce with a girl, believing it to be from football player Scott Reed. He tries getting in touch with Sheri, but is distracted when he sees Chloe and Bryce, hearing Tyler rage about Marcus lying in court. Marcus tells Bryce that now things are in his favor, as because of how he spun things, the jury will believe anything that happened between her and Bryce was her doing. Jessica and Alex, now at the Baker store, talk to Olivia before Andy Baker arrives, and we learn they are having problems from her continuing the trial and him being with another woman. After school, Marcus finds Tyler and Cyrus' bomb outside his car, getting a blast of pink material to his face as he finds the word "Hypocrite" on his back window. Bryce offers his help to Zach through a cheat sheet for his upcoming test, then at his house we see him pressuring Chloe into having sex with him. Jessica and Alex share a tender moment until her pain regarding Bryce and Justin resurfaces, and we see Clay take over handling Justin, assuring him they will take down Bryce. After the bombing, Marcus has gone to see Mr. Porter, who has since had a tense conversation with the principal and know he has little time left at Liberty High. Porter tells Marcus that they both know people are getting back at him for a reason, and he intends to give the proper help different kids need. Things go back to Tyler, showing a surprised Cyrus how to shoot real guns, then Olivia, trying to get Tony's help in convincing Jessica to come forward. As the episode ends, we see Alex having difficulties with his parents, Zach the next person threatened, and both Clay and his mom deciding how to handle information they found about the case. This episode focuses on how rumors go around and how information can be twisted around, with Marcus the prime example of this. Despite others knowing exactly how things went from both Hannah's story and flashbacks here, it is all essentially hearsay and Marcus can say whatever he wants. Aside from keeping the truth hidden, this contributes to the idea that Hannah was just a slut who wanted attention. Obviously, it is hypocritical for Marcus to say anything like this, because he is the one who started rumors and is now spreading misinformation in court. It's very telling of his personality for him to do this, as well as how he is progressing as a character, as he is sticking to his lies. Whereas Courtney, one of the most hated characters in season one, finally broke down and told the truth, Marcus is buckling down into his typical political methods. In a way, they are two ways of handling a similar problem, because both were afraid of how people would see them if the truth got out. Courtney finally told the truth and found that, unlike how she thought, no one saw her any differently or treated her poorly for being gay. Marcus, on the other hand, is so set in what his dad has told him and in not ruining his dad's political career as well as his own, that he is willing to commit perjury, which, of course, could get him in deep trouble. It's interesting how everything is starting to close in on Bryce, as for a time it seemed that as Clay thinks, he could keep getting away with his crimes. With the now proactive and aggressive Porter, however, a sharp blow was dealt with Mrs. Walker seemingly learning what her son has done. In spite of what Marcus says, as well, things are now more dangerous for Bryce because, even with his silver tongue twisting things, he has brought attention to Bryce and Hannah. If Justin is seriously willing to help take down Bryce, and Jessica is finally able to come forward, things might go the way Olivia wants. With another student coming to court in the next episode, the Baker trial is sure to become more complicated as truth and misinformation swirl together. Things are up to Jessica now, as despite her fears about Bryce, it's time to tell her story to the court. Episode three opens with Clay, riding home after his disastrous night with Skye, as someone tries to run him down. Fortunately, he sustains minor injuries, so we won't get another season of Clay with a bandage on his forehead. Jessica's testimony begins as a voiceover, as she states that while boys, with some exception, are able to forge their own persona, girls are labeled and feel fear. We see her continuing to struggle with telling the full truth, and go to Clay, visiting Skye in the hospital. Despite his pleas, Skye breaks up with Clay, saying that while she doesn't understand her own problems, she thinks they should figure out themselves apart. At the school, Courtney fears what people will say after her admittance, only to find everything is the same, with Ryan even congratulating her for coming out. Alex, meanwhile, shows Jessica the threat he found, tells her she's not alone in what she's going through, and makes a comment about her hair. Clay arrives, telling them about the car that ran him down, and the trio watches Bryce's group, trying to figure out who is threatening them and how to stop them. Jessica leaves as the two try pressuring her into telling the truth, and Alex tries to get Clay to find him a ride to court. Heading to class, Jessica finds pictures of her calling her a drunk slut, which she removes before running from the room. An anxious Marcus watches her, then asks Courtney about if she'll talk, only for Courtney to brush off his statement that there's more than one truth. Before the testimony, Olivia Baker tells her friend that she trusts Jessica and her testimony, as Jessica talks about how it just takes one friend to help you. We see this with Tyler, as the guy he met in Porter's class, Cyrus, comes with a group of people to sit with him after some others bump him and knock his stuff over. Tyler takes an immediate interest in Mackenzie, who finds his photography interesting, as Jessica says we find friends who see through labels. Things head back to the court, where Tony has given both Clay and Alex a ride, and goes in as Jessica is questioned about the "Hot or Not" list. She tells Dennis this was a typical thing for girls to experience, pulling out the photos from earlier, despite the defense attorney's objections. Olivia begs Dennis to ask Jessica about tape 9, sure that she is the girl Bryce raped, but he notes that Bryce isn't on trial and it didn't happen at the school. The court continues with the defense lawyer pointing out that, despite Jessica wanting the school to prevent things like this, she didn't report either the photos or the "Hot or Not" list. The defense lawyer's performance and arguments are one aspect I've liked about season 2 so far, because they don't make her out to be stupid or evil. Because it's her job, she obviously has to spin things in the school's favor, but in what time she has had, she has made relevant arguments to show that the blame can't be placed entirely on the school, and she works to get the full truth out. Jessica explains how she, Alex, and Hannah all used to be friends, including a night where they all kissed "as friends," which led to her dating Alex. This takes us to a scene from season 1, in which they went to see a movie, which hurt Hannah, revealing that Jessica was uncomfortable with the situation. She understood how Hannah would feel, but Alex callously brushed it off and made Hannah seem like a jealous friend. The lawyer then asks repeatedly if it was Hannah's jealousy that ended their friendship, rather than the list, in a manner similar to her questioning of Courtney. As the grilling continues, Jessica beings to flash back to her rape, leading to tears as she can't bring herself to say the true reason they didn't return to being friends. Clay and Tony leave, and Olivia tries but fails to reach out to Jessica, before Jessica tells Alex that the only thing he can do to help her is to leave. Clay tries to call Skye, but finds she has been moved and won't return his calls, and struggles with his Hannah hallucination after learning she kissed Alex and Jessica. He breaks down and explains to her that he feels helpless because of how after everything he did, his recording of Bryce wasn't enough evidence and he got of free as Jessica can't get herself to tell everyone what happened. Hannah responds that this doesn't mean he should do nothing, as now more than ever he should work to make sure Bryce doesn't get away with it. At the courthouse, Dennis tells Olivia that the testimony was strong, but she notes that the jury heard that her daughter was a jealous slut that day. Barraged by reporters, Olivia rages that they reported the day prior that Hannah was an "exhibitionist with low self-esteem." After stating that no one had Hannah's back when she had everyone else's, Olivia can't respond when the reporter asks if she had Hannah's back. Things go to Bryce, who finally admits to Zach during a poor practice that he has been called to testify. It's become harder at this point to pin down Zach, as his secret about Bryce is keeping him saying that he isn't close to Alex and he is truly friends with Bryce. We then see that Mr. Porter seems to be applying for a new job elsewhere, wanting to find somewhere to make a difference. Things head back to Jessica, who is spacing out as her parents argue about why she didn't come to them after being harassed. Uncomfortable as her parents blame her, Jessica answers the doorbells, finding Clay, who still wants her to tell the truth. Jessica insists that there's not much she can do, as the police didn't believe her before and Clay can't be a witness since he wasn't there during the rape. Clay mentions Justin as a possible witness, and notices Jessica glance at a postcard when she says she doesn't know where Justin went. We then see Tyler and Cyrus making food and talking to Cyrus' father about their experiences at school, when Mackenzie arrives, revealing herself to be Cyrus' sister. The next scene takes us to Marcus' house, where he is clearly nervous about his court time to come, despite his father's encouragement. We go to Tony in one of his parole boxing trainings, where we see some romance bud between him and his parole officer. Tony then meets with Clay, who wants to find Justin, and agrees to head to homeless areas to find him. The duo finds someone wearing Justin's jacket, and Tony beats him until he tells them where Justin is. Justin, now a drug addict, is stuck on the side of the road with nothing, and despite initial defiance, agrees to go with them when Clay says Jessica misses him. Leaving them for a while, we see Mr. Porter again, now at Bryce's house where he wants to speak to Mrs. Walker. We go back to Clay, still trying to contact Skye, leading to a terse talk with Justin. Another flashback shows how Jessica and Hannah interacted after Jessica was raped, showing her sudden anger if Hannah tries to give her advice. As the episode comes to a close, Clay's parents show him a surprise as Tyler is seen learning to make bombs from Cyrus. Jessica, meanwhile, faces her feelings alone,as Marcus is the next threatened and Justin shows his new struggle. This episode does well at talking about the expectations women and young girls face in society, but also how we can sometimes label ourselves. Throughout the episode, Jessica is told by others how she should make herself look, and her reason for looking how she wants or does is ignored. Because of her mom, she straightens it for court, and later upon seeing her, Alex simply says he doesn't like it, as though she now has to change because of Alex's opinion. Even the way she handles her rape doesn't seem to be up to her, as Alex and Clay repeatedly try to make her speak out about what she went through. It can be difficult enough for a rape victim to tell a loved one what they went through, yet Clay and Alex think having her tell a whole court is the only solution. Though we rarely see Courtney in this episode, it is easy to see how afraid she is of being labeled now that she has come out. When she goes to school, she immediately assumes people will start pointing and laughing at her, only to find that everyone acts the same as before. To me, this seems another facet of how the show tries to say that there can be both external pressures and internal thoughts can cause self-esteem problems, rather than just one. In the previous season, the writers themselves said that because of how she was feeling, Hannah didn't do enough to tell others what was wrong. Because of our own fears we occasionally let the idea of people labeling us keep us from living. With Marcus up soon for a court date, it will be interesting to see what will happen. Marcus was one of the only people to not end last season at least being much more truthful about Hannah and feel bad about what happened. Here, we see that part of why he tries to be a perfect student and class president is because of his father. Along with his father's political career, he is told of how they are at a disadvantage because they are black. Despite this, it is clear that he is struggling with the truth, due to how nervous he is. While it can be clear how some court dates will go, it will be interesting to see what Marcus will do. |
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