Another week has gone by and I’m trying to come up with 13 reasons why we should continue to watch this show. Plot lines continue to get stale as they don’t move forward. Dialogue is not sharp and concise. Overall, this season continues to disappoint.

This week we hear from Ryan. He has been mostly absent so far, but suddenly he appears and receives his own episode.

Let’s begin:

Ryan

Photo Source: Netflix

The theme of this episode; loneliness. While on the stand, the attorney’s bring up Hannah’s poems. He testifies that Hannah was hurting and lonely, hence the painful poetry. He goes on to say that nobody cared about them and that they were a cry for help. The defense pushes things further and introduced other poems that Ryan didn’t publish. Then, they change gears and push to find out who the poems are about, which we find out in a flashback scene that they are all about Justin. Ryan starts to lie about not knowing who the poems were about, but then he finally is cornered and forced to say the truth.

He attempts to make amends with Olivia and goes to her house after his testimony. She invites him in to answer some questions. She presses him for answers and he shrinks back and starts lying to her as well. When he leaves, he is feeling alone and desperate so he hops on the dating app Grinder, to find someone to help relieve him from his loneliness. He finds a guy but is stood up and see’s that his ex-boyfriend has already moved on with another man.

Clay

Clay’s pursuit of justice continues. He just received the second Polaroid and now he is trying to make sense of it while keeping Justin hidden in his room. His dad almost finds Justin taking a shower, but Clay barely avoids that disaster.

Photo Source: Netflix

He finds Alex in the bleachers listening to the tapes, and while talking to him he notices some guys chalking the baseball field. What grabs his attention is the machine they are using to chalk the field. He recognizes it and takes off to inspect the Polaroids and see’s it’s the same machine. He deduces that the Polaroid was taken on the school campus and he embarks on a new quest; to find the room. Sadly he doesn’t find it this episode.

Tyler and Cyrus

Photo Source: Netflix

Tyler and Cyrus continue to build a stronger friendship. This week they create matching t-shirts with “assholes” painted across the chest. News about Ryan’s testimony is reported and Tyler gets pissed because since he’s testified, nobody has told the truth about Hannah. While reading this information, Chad hears that they want to get back at Ryan for his deceits and Chad shows them Grinder (a dating app). They create a fake profile and the episode ends with Ryan waiting for his date (which will never come), and the boys in the background laughing at him.

One other noteworthy progression in Tyler’s story line was when he tells him that their neighbor saw Cyrus and him shooting guns on his property. He denies it at first but then tells his mom that they were Cyrus’s bb guns. Tyler’s mom doesn’t like guns, so that begs the question, where did the guns come from?

Minor Storylines for this episode

Porter continues to pursue justice. He starts the episode by finding his car window has been busted by a brick. Unsurprisingly, the brick has a message, “Know your place.” This doesn’t stop him from pushing forward. Learning that Justin is back in town, he makes a house call to find Justin. His mom says that she hasn’t seen him and the drug dealing boyfriend shows up and they get in a fight. In the final scene, Mr. Porter is taken away by the police.
Andy makes another appearance in this episode and has decided to sit by Olivia at the hearing. Olivia says that she is only doing it for the jury to see them together, but then later in the episode, she follows him to his new family (mother and daughter).
Alex continues to pursue his own truth. He continues to pour through the tapes that he was given the last episode. Some things still aren’t making sense to him. On top of that, he confesses to Zach that he is not able to get an erection. Kissing Jess didn’t do it, porn and even a live webcam girl isn’t able to get him up. He feels broken and alone.
Photo Source: Netflix
Jess continues to spiral. After freaking out last week when she kisses Alex, they decide to be friends, still unsure as to whether it was mutual or not. Chloe continues to put pressure on her to find a boy to go after, but Jess blows up at tells her to back off. Finally, after weeks of watching her struggle, she attends a group therapy session. When she enters, she recognizes her the girl that has been stalking her for the last couple of episodes. She isn’t alone.
Justin is still detoxing. Tony comes by to watch him. They head out for a little walk and Justin is seen by someone from the school. Word gets out quickly in the small community and soon everyone knows Justin is in town. Justin finds out that Jess doesn’t really want him and that Clay lied to him. Clay tries to appease him by pointing out that once Jess see’s him, then she will want him there since she is still holding onto the postcard that Justin sent her. Justin stays, but then in the middle of the night, he takes off and is missing.
Tony finally opens up about why he’s on parole. Last season we saw him beat up a guy with his brothers. Come to find out, the guy pressed charges and he is on his second strike and one more will send him away to serve a hard time, hence why he’s been so paranoid this season. He finishes up the episode having coffee with his trainer; looks like they are dating now.