On the night of the Liberty-Hillcrest Homecoming game in season three, Bryce asks Jess to meet him down by the pier after the game so he can formally apologise for what went down junior year. However, Zach beats Jess to the pier and smashes Bryce's knees in retaliation for hurting Zach during the football game. When Jess does finally meet Bryce at the pier (accompanied by Alex), they find Bryce badly hurt, and in an impulsive move, Alex decides to push Bryce into the water. Because of the state Zach left him in, Bryce is unable to pull himself out of the water and he ends up drowning.