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.
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