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Clay was grasping for straws, behaving like a desperate man. And desperation is dangerous. I mean, look, it's high school. It's hard to know who's on your side. Even on a good day.
— Ani narrating


In High School, Even on a Good Day, It's Hard to Tell Who's on Your Side is the eighth episode of the third season of 13 Reasons Why. It is the thirty-fourth episode of the series overall.

This episode focuses on Kevin Porter and Nora Walker as the main suspects in Bryce Walker's murder.

Synopsis[]

Mr. Porter interviews students about Clay, who swears his innocence to Mrs. Walker. Learning that Mr. Porter counselled Bryce, Clay and Ani question his motives.

Plot[]

Clay finds out that Ani suspects him in Bryce's murder. Furious, Clay is eager to prove her wrong. He starts by going to Bryce's Mom to ask her to call off the investigation. Things don't go exactly as planned but Clay does take a letter, where Nora admits hating Bryce. Nora becomes his new suspect.

Mr. Porter, the former counselor, is brought into the school to help the police interview students about Clay’s possible involvement in Bryce’s murder. One by one, Mr. Porter calls in students to see if they will talk about Clay's instability. In reality, Mr. Porter does this to make Clay less suspicious as he expected the students to talk positively about Clay. Everyone defends Clay and his gun incident with Bryce saying that Clay really cares about people.

Ani recognizes Mr. Porter, even though he hasn't been the school counselor since Ani started at Liberty. Ani realizes he was Bryce’s private counselor, after both left Liberty. Mrs. Walker had called Mr. Porter to help Bryce.

Ani goes through Bryce’s stuff and thinks about their time together. Ani finds Bryce's journal, which Mr. Porter had him keep. She gives it to Clay who then gives it to Mr. Porter. Mr. Porter explains that Bryce really was trying to change, in part for a girl (Ani). Clay also finds out that the letter he found was actually written by Bryce himself during a therapy exercise with Mr. Porter. The exercise was for Bryce to write what he believed his Mom felt about him. Mr. Porter brings Nora in to join Bryce for a session together and Nora and Bryce confront each other about his feelings on their relationship. They heal through the therapy session.

Clay and Mr. Porter talk about Tyler and how he is different this year. This leads Clay to ask if Tyler wants to share what happened to him last year. Tyler finally tells Clay the truth about what Monty did to him. Clay and Tyler hug and cry together.

Clay vaguely confronts Monty about what Tyler told him. Monty is unfazed, seemingly not realizing what Clay is talking about. Monty tells him that Justin is not sober and that he keeps his drugs in a fake shaving cream can. Clay believes he is lying and goes home. Although curious, Clay looks through Justin's sports bag and finds the can, disappointed to learn that Justin has been lying to him for months but shocked that the drugs have Bryce's name on them.

Evidence[]

Nora Walker[]

  • Object: Nora's letter
  • Explanation: Clay visited Nora to try and clear his name of being on the suspect list in her head. Their conversation was interrupted by Nora's father making noises. Immediately after she left, Clay took the opportunity to search her desk and found a folder named "Bryce letters". Clay showed Ani a letter, in which Nora detailed her hate for Bryce in the letter, specifically that she would be better off without him.

Mr. Porter[]

  • Object: Bryce's therapy journal
  • Explanation:
    In-High-School-Even-on-a-Good-Day-It's-Hard-to-Tell-Who-Is-On-Your-Side-Evidence-Bryce's-Journal

    Opening intro shows a journal in an evidence bag as the eighth piece of evidence

    Mr. Porter came back to interview Clay's friends to help the cops build up a case against Clay. Ani recognised Mr. Porter as the therapist Bryce had. Ani found Bryce's therapy journal after searching in Bryce's room and gave the journal to Clay. Mr. Porter became Bryce's therapist after he left Liberty High as Nora hired him to sort out Bryce's problems. Ani told Clay that she witnessed Mr. Porter and Bryce get into a verbal fight at Bryce's house and after Bryce left, Mr. Porter told Mrs. Walker that things could get ugly and a few days later Bryce was dead.

Cast[]

Starring[]


Guest Starring[]


Trivia[]

  • This marks the last apperance of Kevin Porter.
  • This is the second time Justin and Alex got into a fight.
  • Clay is the second main character who broke up Justin and Alex's fight, the first being Zach.

Quotes[]

I was in the bathroom when I got back from my diversion program. Monty came in and he was mad about the field and he smashed my head on the mirror and on the sink. And then, he and Taylor and Kenneth, they held my head in the toilet. And Monty he got a mop, and he pulled my pants down, and he put it in me. And he pushed it in my hole, and in and out, until I was bleeding, and they left me on the floor.
— Tyler telling Clay about what happened to him.


He was always a bad kid. Always tracking mud on the white carpets. Or having temper tantrums in the middle of our dinner parties. Or wetting the bed when we were on vacation in some five-star hotel. Or throwing all his new toys in the garbage and telling the maid that he was running away. And now he's made a total mess of his life. His father doesn't want him. His classmates hate him. The rest of the world thinks he's a monster. But I'm his mother, so I'm supposed to put aside his terrible behavior and take him in even when no one else will. But the truth is, I've never loved him because he's never been anything but a burden and an embarrassment, and my life would be better off without him in it.
— Bryce's letter about how he thinks his Mom feels about him


Mr. Porter: "Do you think that Clay took that opportunity to attack Bryce?"
Justin: "No. He was beating the shit out of me. Clay tried to pull him off, to protect me."
Mr. Porter: "(...)Maybe we should be telling the truth about Clay, and how he brought you back to Evergreen against your will."
Justin: "No, he got me off the streets."
Mr. Porter: "He took revenge on Tyler, on Courtney."
Justin: "No, he tried to get people to own up to what they did."
Mr. Porter: "Including you?"
Justin: "Yeah. Including me."
Mr. Porter: "He acts out of emotion. He goes after people."
Justin: "He doesn't "go after people." He tries to do the right thing, always. You know that! I don't know what you're-He's a good person. And if he acts out of emotion, it's because he fucking cares! Which is more than most people in this fucking school. He saved my life."
―  Justin defending Clay
Bryce: "She's a really great girl. I just don't want to hurt her."
Mr. Porter: "You don't want to hurt her physically or emotionally? I don't know, I just don't want to do anything wrong with her. I want to be better for her."
Mr. Porter: "But you're still having these intrusive thoughts?"
Bryce: "We've had sex a few times. She wants to be on top, which is cool, but- It's, we're doing it, and, yeah, I just can't get these thoughts out of my mind about being on top of her, forcing her down or choking her. Which, I promise, I didn't want to do, I would never. I just I can't get these thoughts out of my mind. It's so fucked up."
Mr. Porter: " Bryce, I don't think that you should be dating right now. Or having any kind of sex. I don't think that you're ready."
Bryce: "But this girl, she's different. She makes me better."
Mr. Porter: "No, she can't do that. Only you can. We need to get you in a program. There are some emotional issues that you need to deal with, cognitive behavior therapy. And I can get you some referrals."
Bryce: "So, I'm fucked forever, right? I'm going to be a rapist for the rest of my life. I'll never get better."
Mr. Porter: "I don't believe that's true."
―  Bryce to Mr. Porter about how he feels about Ani


Multimedia[]

Soundtrack[]

Song Artist Album Scene
Theme Song: "Oh In This World Of Dread, Carry On" by Eskmo
"Dark Entries" Bauhaus Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape Clay finds Bryce's drug prescription in Justin's bag; end credits.

Original Music[]

Images[]

See also[]


References[]

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