13 Reasons Why- Season 2 Episode 9– The Missing Page

My name is Principal Gary Bolan, and after watching this episode, I asked Brandon, the normal writer for this page, if I could jump in and add my commentary.  Thankfully he agreed.

Mr. Porter.  He’s caused some issues and he only had one thing to do.  The lawyers briefed him on what to say.  I briefed him on what to say.  But could he do it?

I was happy to see that he took his testimony seriously.  Watching him at the school on a Sunday made me hopeful that he would be rehearsing his lines.  “I followed protocol.” “There was nothing else I could have done.”

The trial started off great.  He was answering the questions perfectly. Then the defense asks if he thinks Hannah was raped, and that bastard says yes.  Nowhere did she ever say she was raped, and he has the gumption to testify she was raped.  That opened up a whole new round of questioning.

So the defense attorney has her chance to fix things.  She’s sending him easy questions to answer- the same questions we rehearsed.  But when he is asked if there is anything more he could have done, he says, “Yes.”  I was floored by the idiocy of this man.  There is nothing more he could have done, but he believes that he should have done more.  The guidelines are very specific about what his role is and it is obvious that he followed them.

Mr. Porter struggles with being a hero.  He wants to save all the kids from bad things, but that’s not his job.  He completely screwed up the case and now we, the school, are starting to take some heat. And that’s how it ends.

Well, my main job here is to keep the kids safe and alive, and it’s getting more difficult as this trial continues moving forward.

Clay walked onto campus and immediately was greeted by Bryce Walker.  Thankfully as Bryce and Clay were talking my staff intercepted them and called Clay to my office.  Clay has been spiraling downwards and the fact that he missed class on Friday is a red flag.  Friday the tapes were released.  Friday is when the ribbon cutting fiasco took place.  Friday was a long day.

I find out that his parents are separated and his ex-girlfriend is in a rehab type center for some mental stuff.  I fear that he’s going to do something. I can see the anger in his eyes and I am afraid that he might do exactly what Hannah did. I had to do something so I put him in the “Alternative Strategies” class to help him learn to cope, something I regret now.

He shows up to class and starts to become buddies with Tyler and Cyrus. After class, Clay goes to the locker room and is beat up by four guys.  As he heads to his car, he is pissed off. Cyrus invites him to join him and Tyler to vandalize the brand new Walker Stadium. While spray-painting the walls, they watch some kids go into a secret shack, the “clubhouse.”  The vandalism is something I will have to deal with later.

Meanwhile, Alex, who is already on my watch list, is starting to play video games in hopes that it will jog his memory.  Why would he do this?  I have no idea.  Just leave it be and move forward.  These kids feel like confronting their past will help them out, but that is fear based and I need them to find greatness in the present and hope for their future.  Anyways, he makes progress by getting a job at the Baker Drug Store.

Bryce and Chloe are still working things out. She misses a family breakfast but after Bryce sits with her during lunch on Monday, it seems that everything is taken care of.

Justin goes back to his mom’s house, only to search for her boyfriend’s stash of money.  Once he finds it he takes it all and heads to the bus station to high tail it out of town.  That boy’s always been trouble so I glad to see him leave, but Clay Jensen texts him that he needs something.

Tony and his boyfriend are getting closer until Tony’s car is trashed.  Tony loses control and starts fighting with his boyfriend, looks like those anger management classes didn’t help out as much as we hoped.

Jess tries to start flirting with a boy and finds herself making out with a boy.  Her dad shows up and interrupts their make-out session, guess she’s not ready yet.

I’ve been in education for over two decades, and the last two years has been the most trying times of my career.  Why does all this happen now?  Why the lawsuit?  I work my butt off to ensure a safe and friendly learning environment.  Now, my reputation is tarnished by these false allegations.  I can only hope that this all goes away once the trial is over.