Shuvrajit Das Biswas
’13 Reasons Why’ Season 3 Episode 5 serves as a filler episode. As far as Bryce’s case is concerned, we see that the cops have found steroids in his car. Finally, they have a lead which requires some good old fashioned groundwork.
The episode of the Netflix series shows all the students who are caught up in the investigation, as the flashbacks continue to give us an insight into their minds. Aptly titled, ‘Nobody’s Clean’, the episode of ’13 Reasons Why’ makes a play on the word ‘clean’. There are those who use drugs and those who have secrets. Either way, Bryce’s case proves that no one is completely innocent.
13 Reasons Why Season 3 Episode 5 Recap:
Episode 5 of ’13 Reasons Why’ sees the police descend on Liberty High, searching for people who might have bought steroids from Bryce. Obviously, the football team is suspected at first but it turns out that Alex too was juicing to get back in shape after his failed suicide attempt left him in a bad way.
Meanwhile, we see Jessica take a stance, deciding against protesting at Bryce’s funeral to maintain the sanctity of the occasion. However, the group goes ahead without her and when she has to defend the actions to Principal Bolan, it is clear that she knows the approach taken by the members was not correct. Zach is shown lying to the cops about his relationship with Bryce, but then again, everyone seems to have their secrets on the show. Monty behaves suspiciously during the police search which grabs Ani and Clay’s attention. They tail him to his car where they find an ID in an envelope with a threatening message. While Clay and Ani keep following Monty, they catch the glimpse of his rough life at home.
A flashback soon clears up Monty and Alex’s story. We see how Monty went to a party with Bryce where the closeted homosexual hooked up with a boy from Hillcrest. Alex showed up to buy steroids from Bryce and while they were leaving, Monty beat up the boy he hooked up with since he felt resentment towards himself. Further plodding from Clay and Ani reveals more of Alex’s relationship with Bryce wherein he bought steroids from him and hung out with the disgraced jock. Bryce even took Alex to a sex worker. However, the relationship soon took a darker turn when Bryce recruited Alex to break into Bryce’s father’s house, supposedly, to mess up the interiors. When it turned out that it was the wrong house, and a little boy caught them breaking and entering, Bryce threatened the boy’s life. This knocked back Alex into his senses. He stopped hanging out with Bryce, although he kept buying steroids from him.
The rest of the episode sees Ani and Clay share some moments together as their relationship develops. Meanwhile, a flashback shows Bryce lashing out at Ani as she gets her first hint of the darkness inside him. Mrs. Walker warns Ani to stay away from Bryce. In the present timeline, we see Mrs. Walker tell Bryce’s grandfather about his death, which he does not take well. Meanwhile, Ani discovers Tony’s Mustang in Bryce’s garage, raising her suspicions about him.
13 Reasons Why Season 3 Episode 5 Review:
Episode 5 of ’13 Reasons Why’ merely takes us deeper into the mystery of Bryce’s death while giving us a backstory into Monty and Alex’s relationship with Bryce. While Monty’s cruelty has made him as hated as Bryce, we cannot help but notice how much his life at home and repressed sexuality has to do with his behavior.
Meanwhile, Alex and Monty might be linked to Bryce but they are somewhat cleared as well since they do not have any overt motive to have gotten rid of the person they were buying steroids from. Zach, on the other hand, lied about his relationship with Bryce which hints that he might be harboring a deeper secret. As we head to the next episode, the mystery only gets deeper.
