13 Reasons Why Season 3: Sympathy for the Devil

SPOILERS AHEAD FROM ALL SEASONS

Another year, another season of 13 Reasons Why but this time with a murder! I will admit, I didn't see billboards or that much advertisement on Facebook this time around and I actually appreciated that. When I saw the trailer finding out that Bryce Walker was murdered, I was actually excited to watch this season. You know how much I despised Bryce due to his 1-dimensional writing of the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity. Bryce was not a human in the first 2 seasons but a fill-in the spot for the "bad guy". My wife and I watch the entire third season in a 2-day span and I will say that this was the best season yet. Very few times did I want to rip my hair out by the obvious stupid choices the characters would make throughout the show, unlike the first two seasons. This season is a murder mystery of who killed Bryce rather than the first two seasons of pointing fingers of who cause Hannah's suicide. I am going to break down this post into 4 parts. I want to begin with the good parts of the show, the bad parts of the show, the political points, and finally discuss what the season is all about, Bryce Walker.

The Good

I believe season 3 redeemed the series for me and the main reason was less shock value and better writing. With season 1 having Hannah and Jessica rape scene, Hannah's suicide, and season 2 rape scene with Tyler and the potential school shooting, I was expecting some big shock value that would lead to news articles and angry parents crying out for the show's removal or cancellation. That never came in this season. Trust me there are plenty of sex scenes and violence to make anyone uncomfortable to watch this with their parents and "start the conversation" but instead of making that big shock moment, the show ends on a good note with many loose ends tied up, resolutions, and some issues setting up for season 4. I think how Alex's father and Ani both know that Alex murdered Bryce yet the cover-up on Monty was a brilliant way to end the season. Makes the audience question their morals if Alex was justified due to still loving Jessica.

I also appreciated the roster was cut down. Ryan, Marcus, Sheri, and Courtney all graduated and no longer in the season, with one scene of Courtney in a flashback. Other than Ryan, I could not stand the other characters that much in the last season as well as the feeling that they were filler characters. Mr. Porter comes back in one episode to appear as an antagonist for Clay but then you find out that he's actually trying to help Clay which I guess is a cool bro move. Mr. Porter is also counseling Bryce which I could see him struggling with as he was involved in the 13 reasons why Hannah killed herself. Mr. Porter has to put his personal issues aside to help Bryce overcome his own guilt and issues which shows that he is a good counselor. Ms. Baker comes back into the mix for one episode which I was not looking forward to at first. Ms. Baker is on the uphill of moving forward with the death of Hannah but we can still see that crazy rage that we had to deal with for the other seasons for only one scene between her and Bryce. She came and gone all in an episode and they closed her story.

The last good thing about this season was that it was no longer about Hannah. Call me a bad person but I am over the Hannah arc. Hannah is mentioned throughout the show but the main focus is now on all the other characters. I realized that I hated the first 2 seasons of the show because I would start to learn about a character just for us to be brought back to Hannah. The first 2 seasons had every one to be black and white characters with the exception of Justin. We knew who was bad and who was good but finally, season 3 asked which of the good characters murdered Bryce. We see the character develop past Hannah's death and they are actually enjoyable to watch for the most part.

The Bad

Once again we, the audience, are bound to infamous telling rather than showing in this season. All the characters in the show have to verbally express their feelings throughout the show rather than showing them. Take for instance Luke Skywalker looking at the twin suns while the music plays. He doesn't say anything because George Lucas knew that the audience would know that Luke wanted more in life rather than being a farmer. If the same scene was written by the writers of 13 Reasons Why, Luke would look out and say, "I want to be more than just a farmer". So many times in the show, the creators wanted the viewer to get the message they were trying to portray so bad that at one point I was expecting a freeze-frame and them just flashing their message on the screen for 10 seconds then continuing on with the show. Good media should follow the belief to show not tell, even though some shows can pull this off if done right. Take Mindhunters, where much of the show is interviews yet you are on the edge of your seat the entire time. 13 Reasons Why needs to trust their audience a little more which I can see them trying from time to time in the show. A prime example of this is the new character of Winston who has very few lines in the show but the viewer can understand what he is thinking throughout the show. Tony's issues with ICE is also portrayed nicely as he walks to an empty house without saying too much. The show is getting there but not there yet. The audience watches Bryce being murdered yet in the same episode we are told that Monty was murdered in jail. No big murder scene for the person who raped Tyler, assaulted Winston, and covered up numerous sexual assaults in the shed, just, "oh he died".

Another issue I had was the character breaks throughout the show. Let's take Bryce trying to find redemption. Throughout the series we see Bryce trying to right his wrongs by helping out characters throughout the show such as Alex, Justin, Monty, Tyler, Tony (sorta), and Jessica (also sorta), yet when he sees Clay, brags about sleeping with Ani to get inside Clay's head. Why are you such a bro with everyone but Clay? Well, Clay did pull a gun on him. Let's talk about the Hillcrest jock. We see him callout Bryce at the new school for Jessica's rape, yet in the next scene with that same jock, we see him grope Jessica at the homecoming game. Why are you literally doing what you condemned earlier in the show?

The last issue I had was with the character of Ani. Let me make this clear, Ani is just a bridge for us to show the good side of Bryce. I guarantee that the writers wanted to show Bryce to have some good qualities and I could see them all racking their heads trying to figure out how they could have this character arc so they literally created a new character just for her to get us across the way. I found it frustrating how quickly Ani just knows everything yet we know nothing about her. Ani comes across as this confident unapologetic person that cares for people yet at times hurts others and falls back on, "it's for the best." I loved her scenes with Bryce and completely hated her scenes with Clay. For Bryce, Ani's connection is through empathy and showing how two people from different worlds can come together. For Clay, Ani's connection is that they both like comic books. Ani drags Clay along throughout the whole show just for them to be together at the end like everything is good. We have two full seasons of character development and we are expecting to have Ani to be thrown into the mix knowing everything as we are supposed to know who she is in the show.

Political Statement

It's not 13 Reasons Why without some current events shoved down our throats am I right? Season 2's finale ended with Chloe being pregnant with Bryce's child. We all patiently waited to see how this would go about in season 3. Well, she just got an abortion. I am not sure what the writers were wanting to tell their audience. You have the scene with the pro-life people harassing Chloe as she is trying to get into the abortion clinic just for the audience to watch her get the abortion which is just as traumatic for her. So is abortion bad or good? Both these scenes are awful and Chloe goes through a lot going to the clinic and having the abortion. I felt that this whole episode was to discuss abortion and you could take the entire episode and nothing would change but Chloe's abortion and connection with Zach do lead to Bryce's downfall.

On the other hand, I think the immigration issue in America tied with Tony's family was done in a nice way. Tony walks into his family's house just to see everyone gone yet the stove is still on. This is a chilling scene when Tony realizes what happened. The show has him and his sister looking in the mirror to have the reflection of his family. This sets into motion Tony's confrontation with Bryce with him listening to the tapes. Tony also gets into some deep waters as the show ends with him trying to get his family back to America. This was done well in my opinion and I enjoyed that episode.

The last political statement is the reoccurring standing up against sexual abuse. This is done right in parts and wrong in others. The wrong part is the HO organization. The entire mentality of, "you are either with us or against us," made my eyes roll back so hard. The main leader wanting these big movements were damaging to everyone and they did not resolve anything. Luckily, the speech Jessica gives in the gym redeems this when others stand up as survivors of sexual abuse. This is the heartwarming moment where everyone is now aware of Tyler and Justin both being survivors showing that not only women are prone to sexual abuse. 

Bryce Walker

Have you ever watched a movie where you feel bad for the bad guy? Take Clockwork Orange for example. The main character is a rapist and a murderer, yet by the end of the movie, the audience feels empathy for what he went through. The fundamental question for this season was could Bryce Walker redeem himself for the evil things he did? When I first found out that Bryce was dead in the trailer, I was all for it. The rapist and main antagonist of the show is dead, hell ya! By the end of the season, I felt very different. Bryce Walker got away with so much in the first 2 seasons but this all catches up to him in season 3. You finally see Bryce listen to the tapes being told: "they are all your tapes" as well as seeing all the damage he has done, such as Chloe having an abortion, Ms. Baker's never forgiving him, and Tony losing his family. Bryce had this all coming to him. The audience sees him going through counseling and mending his relationship with his mother as well as have a "somewhat" healthy relationship with Ani. Bryce was trying to resolve his issues and move past Hannah's death as everyone else was, even if he did not deserve that. The show does sprinkle throughout the show that Bryce is still a bad person. The scene when Bryce and Alex vandalize his father's new house as well as making the young boy pee himself are prime examples of this. Bryce suppling Justin's drug addiction, breaking Zach's leg, and bragging that he is sleeping with Ani to Clay, which he knows has a crush on her also shows how bad of a person he really is. Ani does make a good point when Clay confronts her on being with Bryce. Ani asks Clay why Tyler gets a clean start with him almost shooting up a school yet Bryce cannot get the same treatment. I really thought about that one and wondered if Tyler should be held to the same accountability. Overall, I believe that the show wanted us to ask three questions.

Could Bryce Walker move on with his life after Hannah's death?

Did Bryce Walker deserve to die?

Should Bryce Walker's funeral be protested?

The show totes around the idea of "starting a conversation" and I believe these questions are the conversation. I felt conflicted feeling bad for Bryce dying and in such an awful way imaginable. I don't know if he deserved to die. With the funeral, Bryce is dead and I believe that the protest is only hurting the family who didn't harm anyone. I believe we all need to reconsider what is forgivable in our lives. I could see Bryce going on with his life, but I will admit that if I was in Ms. Baker's position, I may have thought differently.

Bonus Round: Clay's Mind

We haven't talked much about the main character of the whole show. Clay Jensen himself. I have a strange theory that scenes with Clay are altered to change to his perceptive due to his hatred for Bryce. Let's take ghost Bryce telling Clay that he was never going to leave him and that he would rape Hannah, Jessica, and Ani. This psychosis Clay made me wonder if all of Clay's scenes with Bryce are twisted to Clay's perception. When Bryce is bragging about sleeping with Ani to Clay, I felt that this was so out of character for Bryce's arc. This led to me wondering if Bryce really did say that or was it what Clay told himself to believe. If you ever rewatch this season take a look into that with his other scenes. Clay's negative view on people may not be real as Clay choices who are considered good or bad. 

Conclusion

Overall, I really did enjoy this season. The show redeemed itself but honestly, I believe this should be the end for the series. Hannah and Bryce are dead and I am not sure how much more the show can offer. What I appreciated was Hannah's death was the domino effect of Bryce's demise and I know the final season is going to tie in with Tyler's guns and possibly Winston trying to uncover who really murdered Bryce but I'm not sure if that can top this season. This season didn't feel like a chore to me and it did ask bigger questions on our morals. Let me know what you thought of this season! Once again, thank you for reading my post. I hope you all have a good day!