![13 Reasons Why – The Third Season [REVIEW]](https://crude-mirror.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cover-1.png)
Just joining our masochistic quest through 13 Reasons Why? Read our reviews of season 1 and season 2 here!
Well, here I am at season #3 of one of Netflix’s most controversial I dare say toxic series. As I said before I do not believe this series needed to continue as the main story effectively ended with season 2. However, I’m open to new material even if there’s no book to go off of if the subject matter is interesting.
Season 3 might just be the worst. Now as in “worst” it’s not in terms of the content – it’s not reliant on shock value as the second season was. Instead, it chooses to up the ante by betraying its own message for the sake of wasting everybody’s time by trying to redeem an unredeemable character, along with presenting the worst 3rd person protagonist ever introduced.
The Plot
Um, Spoilers?
(Duh?)
Season 3 focuses on 3 different time periods. The first takes place after the events of season 2 – with Clay’s friends struggling with what to do with Tyler’s since he’s almost become a school shooter – and the 2nd Set about 8 months after and an entirely new crisis unfolds.
The show’s antagonist, Bryce Walker, has been murdered and all our main characters are suspects. Despite being a suspect himself, Clay being the hero takes it upon himself along with a new character Ani to look at all the suspects and find the real culprit.
So, in replacement of tapes and testimonies, the “13 Reasons” this time are pieces of evidence like Tyler’s Gun or Clay’s bike locker. Sadly, bits of evidence are not as engaging as a batch of tapes. I wouldn’t even say they are MacGuffins as they’re mentioned in passing you completely forget. Again it feels the writers are desperately trying to tie the number 13 to some sort of theme, but here it seems like it wants to stick to the number 13 just for the sake of it (branding!).
There are only 6 characters that had real motivation, but once again this season feels it needs an excuse to have the runtime fit with its title. Sometimes to pad things out they name drop suspects that make no sense. There’s literally an episode that drops Justin’s drug-dealing stepdad as a suspect. Haven’t seen a suspect drop this random since CSI.
There’s also again a visual aesthetic with the timelines, giving a noir-style of storytelling, I guess. The first one after Tyler’s attempted school shooting has a brighter color; the period after Bryce’s murder has a more washed-out color palette and a distinct aspect ratio change, (similar to what they did with Wandavision); and the third follows Ani telling Alex’s cop dad the events that happen that are completely in black and white that gets more color as the timeline gets closer. Despite the jarring visuals at times I always give shows credit for having a unique style, especially when you need to make clear what timeline we are following (I’m looking at you, Witcher).
Pros
There are none.
The show tries to call out its previous logic like how is Zach telling off Clay for confronting Tyler to talk him out of shooting “that was stupid, trying to be a hero?” Zach called the cops like a good boy. Pointing out your own problems doesn’t fix them. It shows the filmmakers don’t care but act as they do.
“Redeeming” Bryce Walker
The big controversy of this season is the “ballsy” choice to turn the show’s villain Bryce, the character that this was clearly written to be unlikable, manipulative, sexual predator, With no redeeming qualities. Now this season pulls a Thanos and not only makes him the forefront of the show but tries to turn him into a sympathetic misunderstood character.
That’s right they’re going the “Wicked” route on a serial rapist. Guess what – they failed.
So in a weird way, Bryce is the most fascinating character in this series, though not for the reasons this show intended. I mentioned before that in the 1st season that there wasn’t much to Bryce but a 1-dimensional jock with no depth and motivation to his actions other than he just can. Season 2 further expanded on this character showing that he’s a great manipulator, charismatic, and always keeps his cool. He wasn’t just a cartoon bully, he’s actually very intelligent and knows how to get the right people on his side to protect him. These evil qualities made him a much more interesting villain than other high school bullies. However, as I said before, when I say interesting, I don’t mean likable or even complex.
Season 3’s Bryce however, goes for the sympathetic route; I wouldn’t say a complete 180 – more like 160 – but then doesn’t know where to go from there. I’d be fine with this if they committed to it, but despite their attempts to redeem Bryce they still have moments where he is still a piece of shit from breaking into his dad’s new house threatening a kid, to breaking Zach’s leg because he was flirting with his ex, Chloe. Now those were moments that felt like the Bryce we know. However the rest of the time he’s acting like a sincerely nice guy and we’re supposed to believe it. Every other scene he’s in Bryce is going “My Name is Earl” from apologizing to Hanna’s mother, and Jessica for his crimes to trying to bridge relations with his friend Justin. He even goes so far as to help Tyler and protect him from Monty.
Bryce’s conflicting nature is an interesting idea to explore, but much of the time It feels like their two different characters rolled into one. Making a villain complex doesn’t mean he has to be sympathetic.
Like every lazy villain redemption trope, the reason for Bryce’s change is always external, 1st Bryce is upset that his inattentive dad has left the family to start a new life. I’m fine with family division, if my son turns out like that I’d abandon him as well, but absent parents should never be just plot devices for change. The 2nd factor was Bryce’s transfer to a prep school that’s not to his liking as the tables have turned and now his new football team is bullying Bryce because of his background (The strange part is later we see one of them groping other girls so why the hell would they not want Bryce on their “team”?). However, the other reason for this change was his newfound affection for Ani (more on that later).
I feel bad because actor Justin Prentice does a fantastic job playing both roles exceptionally well and It was cool seeing him play a character that’s a parallel opposite of what he was previously. But that’s a keyword opposite. Aside from a handful of scenes to remind us he’s an asshole, the rest of the time Bryce throughout this season is portrayed as a stand-up guy that the show wants us to believe is real. A performance no matter how good should not overshadow bad writing.
There’s a difference between a villain going through a revelation and owning up to one’s mistakes, and retcon-ing an entire personality for the sake of drama. My problem here is that there was no real transition, we were never given a real reason why Bryce would want to change his ways, just family split and bad school and that’s it.
The only time his attempts to reach out felt believable was when he tried to reach out to his friend Justin because they had a long history together that you legitimacy believe in. Despite assaulting Justin’s girlfriend Jessica, he did genuinely hold their friends close and Bryce wanted to reconnect with the only brother that felt real to him. In no way does Justin forgive Bryce for his acts, even threatening him if he ever approaches him or his girlfriend again.
Later Bryce pays back Justin’s debt to his drug-dealing stepdad to back off, in the end, the two did come to a mutual understanding with few words said. If more of Bryce’s arc was focused on him and Justin I might have actually cared. It wouldn’t be a full redemption or reconciliation but a basic understanding between former friends.
Even that subtlety out of the window when Justin starts giving a whole sappy speech to Clay. I would be fine if Justin just wanders alone and breaks down alone and that’s it. But he goes so far as defending him when Clay asked about his feelings, saying “he’s a human being”, keep that in mind because this show wants this to be a catchphrase for excusing predators.
The sad thing is I think there was a really good storyline in there somewhere. I like the idea of seeing all Bryce’s actions coming back to haunt him, facing the realities of being a known sex offender sinking in. I just don’t think this is a character you should be going on apology tours like my Name is Earl. I know the Idea is that Bryce has lost all of his honor, but you’re supposed to give an idea that there was some honor there, to begin with, but you don’t get that because you’ve spent 2 seasons how despicable he is. If you watch Bryce from seasons 1 and 2 and compare them to season 3 they are completely different people.
Why It Doesn’t Work
You know-how in the recent Disney movies the villains have been lackluster? That’s because they have been done as twist-reveals instead of established antagonists. The reason people don’t like them is that they effectively create new characters we can’t connect with. Bryce is the exact opposite, he’s a twist-hero. He’s a character they’ve shown him do horrific acts to women and people who cross him and suddenly switch into a hero.
Like a twist villain, it’s hard to get invested in a character when you’ve shown clearly nonstop that he’s an unredeemable shit bag. You’ve spent 2 seasons graphically showing us the kind of person he is. He’s not a simple class bully, he was a serial rapist who ran an entire sex syndicate on the school grounds and bragged about his actions to his distraught mother without remorse. If you want a comparison of how incompatible this change is, imagine taking a truly evil character like Joffery and saying we must feel sorry for him like Zuko. Some villains work well with a redemption arc, others like Bryce Walker do not. Some things cannot be resolved with things like I’m sorry, “I went too far” and it’s troubling that this show is depicting Jessica and Clay as though they are in the wrong when they were absolutely right.
Characters like Zuko and Jamie Lannister worked because they do establish positive qualities at the beginning. Zuko wanted to go home to his family, and Jamie always defended his little brother, and we later discovered Jamie betrayed his oath to save a whole city from destruction at the cost of his image. Martin Scorsese films have plenty of movies where their protagonists have people commit atrocious acts, many of them don’t get redemption. That doesn’t stop us from feeling for them because these characters were consistent all the way through.
If you want to make Bryce complex, fine, I’m sick of black and white villains, but don’t flip the script and say deep down he’s a good person. And don’t you dare say “he’s a human being,”. Humans can do really messed up shit, this doesn’t excuse one’s actions. The way this show is framing it, people like Ted Bundy, Amon Gorth, and god forbid Harvey Wienstein can be redeemed because they are “Human beings and all their atrocious crimes are just shrugged aside. This was not 13RW’s intention, but it in the end comes across that way.
Who the Hell is Ani? Better yet – WHY the Hell is Ani?
With all those points said, you think uncharacteristically good guy Bryce would be the worst part of this season. Actually, no! That distinction goes to Ani – “the new girl”. Yes, that’s literally what she calls herself.
Ani is substitute Hannah for this season, only nowhere near as compelling.
Ani is basically our Hannah Baker substitute for this season. She’s only been at the school for a few months and has suddenly befriended everyone and knows all their secrets. The entire pre-Bryce murder timeline is narrated with her perspective and throughout the entire season, she narrates like she knows everyone’s lives intimately, like Monty being a closeted self-hating homosexual, despite he and Ani never crossing paths. You see, the key to having a POV story is that the narrator has to have actually been there. so How on earth does she know all these people so intimately and over the course of just a few months. Like she’s so omniscient about people’s lives you’d swear she’s a super-spy.
Knowing about everyone’s lives is one thing, narrating without shutting up is another. Ani’s narration never shuts up, even in scenes that are meant to be quiet. In every other line, Ani states the glaringly obvious, “yes, the keeper of these secrets is Clay Jensen”.
For a show that’s trying to pride itself on “strong female” characters, in a way Ani is 3 harmful stereotypes in one character. These are not words I say lightly, but to describe her character in the simplest of terms – Ani is a combination of the Mary Sue and Magical Ne*** tropes all in one, with a healthy helping of Stockholm Syndrome to tie it all together.
The latter is because she’s a seemingly divine person of color who’s meant to further the development of a white guy. A Mary Sue, in that Ani is completely perfect with no real flaws and has the power to know everyone’s lives. And Stockholm Syndrome in that she’s fallen for Bryce – whom she knows has already raped an untold number of girls. This is supposed to be our “badass girl character”, people.
As stated before there doesn’t seem to be any flaws I can see, and the ones she does have are kinda scary. In one scene when arguing with her mother, Ani makes this bizarre comeback, “Bryce wasn’t a liar”. If you’ve seen the previous season you know Bryce openly lied pathologically to so many different people. As a person who knows secrets, how can you not know that this is the one who knows everything?). Honestly, this wouldn’t be so bad if the show was rooting for her instead of making us feel terrified by her infatuation with Bryce.
In a sad way, Ani is like Rose in The Last Jedi – a character the creator is obsessed with and tries to shove her into every scene without establishing any qualities we like about her. Also sadly just like Kelly Marie Tran, the actress Grace Saif was forced to quit social media because of the negative backlash from fans. I have nothing against the actress, this was not her fault, it’s just pretentious writing. Bullying an actor for their performance is wrong and never should be encouraged, which makes one wonder just what kind of fans watch this series. It’s ironic that a show that has a firm stance for anti-bullying has inspired bullies towards some of its cast.
How This Could Have Worked
The sad thing is that all of this could have worked if they made these two small changes that would have at least given some sort of purpose.
The first is for Ani to be an undercover cop whose mission was to uncover rape culture inside the school That would explain why Ani would know all these people so well because it was her mission. For crying out loud she is literally being interviewed at the police station, this might as well have been a debriefing.
Secondly, Bryce being a good guy *could* have worked if Ani was used as an unreliable narrator. In fact, that was the direction I thought they were going for. She develops this attachment to Bryce and as a result, starts creating her own idea of what Bryce could be and not what he is. However, the other characters confirmed that his attempt to reach out was genuine. Bryce even makes his own tape for the gang to listen to.
And the Real Killer is……..
In the end, the real killer turns out to be Alex, the shy kid who shot himself in the head, but recovered and is back walking again partly because of the steroids Bryce gave him the money for. Alex was also the ex-boyfriend of Jessica, whom Bryce raped. After Zach severely injured Bryce in a fight and left him on the dock bleeding It was Alex who threw him into the freezing water with Jessica witnessing the whole thing. That’s right the crippled guy who is somewhat the baby of the group was the killer.
In the end, our “heroes” Ani, Clay, Jessica, and Zach frame the more unstable bully Monty, the same character who sodomized Tyler last season, and he is sent to jail both for murdering Bryce and assaulting Tyler. Later, off-screen, Monty would be between death in his jail cell that conveniently makes our characters go off scot-free without any suspicion.
So yeah now all our characters including Clay and Jessica arguably the moral center of the show, are now accessories to murder. But according to this show, this is the right thing to do because Alex is a fragile little boy and Monty is an evil psycho.
You know what? F*ck You, Netflix
The reason I came to this series is I wanna see for myself how terrible people can be and ask if it is possible to forego all that, perhaps, but not the way they’re showing it.
No matter how evil Monty is, framing him for murder is still wrong. No matter how much Bryce tries to reform himself in the end, you can’t say he’s a good person deep-down. No matter how artsy you try to be, you gotta know WTF you’re talking about. This series did not teach me anything new or profound. just that life sucks and not in the good get on with your life way cause it makes me despise the fact that there are so many supposedly good moral people willing to excuse terrible things.
While season 3 Is not as hard to watch compared to the others, in my opinion, it is the worst season because it betrays the message of where this series started. A show that for all its preaching, tries to take a stand against themes like toxic masculinity, and suicide. By reversing that, saying things aren’t what they seem, your message rings hollow.
There was another commentary this season thrown in for the sake of screaming political relevance, but I chose to keep it focused, though I probably will list their next review. What I despise more than the exploitation of serious issues, is parading itself as if it’s the cutting edge of social commentary. Constant interviews with the creator Brian Yorkey and the cast, they always talk about the “importance of their work” – like somehow they are fulfilling a moral duty. I get it, actors, you put your heart and soul into it, but you guys might need to hire new agents before reading the script.
I can’t tell you how much this show both infuriates me and fascinates me at the same time. I’ve seen reviews, video essays, and many better writers than I am taking down this season, but because of my obligation to one of my top lists I had to watch this in order to truly understand it. I understand that this series is supposed to ask questions and hey asking questions is good in life. But Far from making me optimistic in life, stuff like this makes me more cynical. Unfortunately, because the show is such a hit, (or Netflix is desperate) there is a 4th and thankfully finale season. But one must ask what more they can do with this. Hannah’s is out of the picture and both the show’s antagonists are dead so there’s no opposition to fight against.
Well, it’s up to this overly indulgent blogger to have a go one last time, if I have the stomach for it.
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