Bryce Walker Goes Missing

The town is rattled when news breaks of former Liberty High student Bryce Walker's disappearance. His mother, surprisingly worried, insists that something terrible has happened to her son.

While some students speculate that maybe Bryce (Justin Prentice) is off hiding, others start to look guilty as they search for alibis for the night Bryce went missing. Foul play is soon suspected, following more details a brawl on the football field the night of homecoming.

With many enemies around him, especially after standing trial for rape last season, it's fair to say, many would have liked to have seen Bryce disappear.

Shortly after, Bryce's dead body is found [6] in the ocean and the search for a murder suspect begins.

Tyler Down’s Ready to Turn Things Around

Season two brought a lot of depth to Tyler Down's character (Devin Druid). After surviving a sexual assault and an attempt to ignite a shooting on campus, Tyler's pals rally around him to help rehabilitate the troubled student.

We see them each take shifts to monitor Down, check in, and help him find healthy ways to channel his inner rage and pain. He even joins Jessica Davis's school club to give a voice to rape survivors. Tyler initially joins out of obligation, during Jessica's watch-guard shift, initiating as an ally for survivors. Eventually, he opens up about his own experience, sharing details of the day Monty attacked him [7] with a broomstick in the school bathroom.

We see Tyler struggle with paralyzing triggers, until he begins to confide in his new friends and own his story as a survivor. He eventually makes the decision to report Monty for sexual assault and make his story public, helping other fellow boys struggling with the same trauma.

Bryce’s Journey to Be “Better”

The more we investigate Bryce's murder, the more we discover a human side of Bryce. Once seen as a complete monster, we now start to learn more about his troubled relationships with his parents, the influence of his problematic grandfather, and the privilege that enabled him to get away with so much.

We see him visiting with Mr. Porter, his former school counselor. Together, they journal and face Bryce's traumatic past head on. We explore the developing relationships of Bryce and his mother, the peers of his new private school, and those of his fellow students at Liberty. We watch as he continues to fight through his violent outbursts and tame his inner demons, even defending and looking out for some of his former victims, such as Tyler.

In the end, we see him try to pay atonement for raping Jessica, Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), and the many other unnamed girls in his confession tape.

Clay Jensen Takes the Hot Seat

Always the social justice warrior, Clay (Dylan Minnette) tries to hunt down Bryce's murderer. Though he's conflicted between hating Bryce and wanting answers. His pursuit of the truth goes from discovery to self-dense.

Clay becomes the main subject of the investigation and is named a person of interest in the murder. Incriminating footage from the time he showed up on Bryce's doorstep with a gun surfaces, along with threatening text messages to Bryce wanting him dead and cell phone tower pings placing him at the scene of the crime. Clay is arrested and faces the trial ahead.

His new pal (and crush), Ani [8] (Grace Saif), tries to help him prove his innocence, but even struggles to believe him at times, herself. Clay is eventually freed, with the help of Ani and his friends, and Bryce's actual killer is discovered.

Jessica Wants to Reclaim Her Body

Jessica (Alisha Boe) becomes the new student body president and starts a group for survivors of sexual assault. She struggles, however, between having a loud voice amongst the crowd and inflicting real change on campus.

Her mission to dismantle "jock culture" becomes blurred in her own journey to reclaim her body. After many failed attempts in bed with her boyfriend, Alex, she begins to explore her own body with some advice from Ani. She later rediscovers her attraction to her ex-boyfriend Justin Foley.

Together, the two ignite a secret fling, before making their relationship public and up for judgement amongst her peers for sleeping with the boy who "allowed her to get raped."

In the end, she stands strong in front of the student body, finding a fine balance between social justice and a healthy catharsis.

Zach and Chloe Get Close

Oh, Chloe. We were left so confused by her actions last season, lying under oath to protect her attacker and then-boyfriend Bryce. This season, she finds a new confidant in Zach Dempsey (Ross Butler).

Zach acts as a shoulder for Chloe, even offering to father her unborn child, should she decide to keep the pregnancy. Bryce's mother encourages Chloe not to keep the baby, for fear that her son's offspring might end up worse than Bryce, himself.

Zach supports Chloe's decision to have an abortion and the two develop an even deeper bond. When Bryce gets word of their relationship, it makes his tension with Zach even worse. Especially after Zach was recently named as Bryce's replacement as captain of the football team.

Tony's Family Is Deported

Tony Padilla (Christian Navarro) is ecstatic to introduce his boyfriend, Caleb, to his family. His excitement is cut short when he soon discovers that his family has been detained by ICE and soon to be deported.

He struggles to keep his family business alive and raise enough money to pay for legal support to bring his family home. He even sells his beloved red Mustang to bring in extra funds. He soon discovers that Bryce's lawyers were the ones that tipped off ICE of his family's immigration status. Sounds like motive to hurt the Walkers . . .

Montgomery Explores His Sexuality

Monty de la Cruz (Timothy Granaderos) is quite the bad guy, which leads us to think there are clearly some unresolved issues he has yet to deal with. Presumably, many can be traced back to his rocky relationship with his dad, which we see again on full display this season.

One thing we didn't expect: Monty is actually gay [9]. We see him explore his sexuality with Winston, one of Bryce's wealthy classmates at Hillcrest. Together at a party, Monty has a little too much to drink and finds himself alone with Winston. The two are slow to ignite the spark, but once it's lit, there's no holding back their attraction to each other.

They meet up again the night of homecoming and spend one steamy long night together — solid alibi for the night Bryce went missing.

In the end, Monty ends up getting arrested for the sexual assault on Tyler, is killed in jail, and gets set up to take the fall for Bryce's murder. A pretty rough end to a very troubled character.

Justin Slips Back Into His Old Habits

Justin (Brandon Flynn) is officially welcomed into the Jensen household, and Clay's parents proceed with next steps to adopt him. Old habits die hard for Justin, though, as he quickly slips back to smoking heroin, dealing drugs on the side, and sparking an old flame with his ex, Jessica.

In the end, he helps Clay prove his innocence and his relationship with Jessica deepens when he shares stories with her of being sexually assaulted as a child.

Alex and Bryce Were Friends?

Another shocking plot twist: Alex Standall (Miles Heizer) and Bryce develop a friendship. Alex's insecurities around his body lead him to buying steroids, per recommendation from one of the guys on the football team. It all leads back to Bryce, who's dealing the steroids.

Alex starts buying from Bryce and his steroid habit turns dark when Bryce takes him down the road of cocaine and Miss Melody Scott (a prostitute). Struggling to make things work with Jessica, Melody helps Alex work out his sexual frustrations.

Spoiler alert: his friendship with Bryce doesn't end well [10].

New Girl, Ani, Has Quite a Few Secrets

Ani is the new girl [11] in town. She's moves into the Walker residence when her mother is hired to care for Mrs. Walker's sick father. She sees many things in that house. One of which is a different side of Bryce.

Her soft spot for Bryce quickly leads to a friends-with-benefits type of relationship. This revelation crushes Clay, who develops some feelings.

Eventually, Ani helps clear Clay's name with a new narrative of the night Bryce was killed, turning the heat to Montgomery de la Cruz.

In the finale, Ani shares words with Winston about pinning Bryce's death on Monty. Winston knows Monty couldn't have killed Bryce because they were together all night, but Ani insists that this is all for the best. Ani and Winston's relationship (or even their connection) is unclear, which leads us to believe we may be seeing more of these two in the series' fourth and final season [12].

The Night of Homecoming

All roads lead back to the night of homecoming. All suspects in Bryce's murder, on the night he was killed, together in one place. We know who has been accused (Clay) and who ultimately takes the fall (Monty), but the question still remains . . . who killed Bryce?

After Jessica uncorks chaos on the football field that night with a protest, things between Bryce and Zach escalate. Bryce accuses him of stealing his girlfriend and old spot as captain of the football team at Liberty.

Following the brawl, Bryce finds himself on the pier, awaiting a meeting he's called with Jessica. Surprisingly, Zach shows up to beat up Bryce for injuring his knee and ending his career in football. Jessica arrives for their meeting, with Alex in tow, to find Bryce bloody, beaten, and left for death on the floor.

Bryce, still alive, attempts to make amends with Jessica [13], but things go awry when he begins ranting about getting his hands on Zach once he sees him again. Alex has his own fit of rage out of frustration for his friends who are repeatedly hurt by Bryce. Alex pushes Bryce over the ledge and leaves him to drown in the water beneath them. And just like that, Bryce's life comes to an end.