Netflix's '13 Reasons Why' season 3: Who killed Bryce Walker? It looks like everyone had a reason to
The official full-length trailer for the highly anticipated season three of '13 Reasons Why' is finally here. All of two minutes and 22 seconds, the clip collates enough scenes from the upcoming installment to give us a fair idea of who to trust and who to doubt in the wake of the mysterious murder of Bryce Walker. While the show's fanbase couldn't be more thrilled about the death of such a vile and heinous character, the one question that plagues us is who murdered Bryce Walker?
Played by Justin Prentice, the student from Liberty High was the main contribution to the show's protagonist Hannah Baker's (Katherine Langford) suicide. After being bullied, harassed and raped by Bryce, Hannah kills herself and appears in flashbacks throughout seasons one and two. She also leaves behind a bunch of cassettes detailing why she took her life and dedicated each tape to everyone whose actions and betrayal led to her decision.
In season two, more mysteries unfold as Bryce's secret den is uncovered. This is where he and his group of friends would secretly take photos of women in compromising situations, even while having sex with them. As the secrets come tumbling out, Hannah's mother sues the school for negligence over the bullying, and Bryce is put on three months probation.
Season three, however, opens with the news that Bryce has been murdered, and honestly, everyone closely associated with him is a suspect. Top of the list is Clay (Dylan Minnette), who had been in love with Hannah since day one and wanted justice for her. Clay's love for Hannah was beyond obsession — he held on to her memories so tight that he couldn't look beyond the need to give her closure — ruining his own shot at peace and happiness. It's obvious Clay wouldn't be satisfied with Hannah's rapist getting away with just probation because nobody could hold her abuser accountable for his crimes.
Clay isn't the only one though. Justin (Brandon Flynn) and Jessica (Alisha Boe) are equally big suspects in Bryce's murder. Bryce, Justin's closest friend since childhood, would manipulate him to do a lot of things. Justin didn't come from the most stable of backgrounds and Bryce — with his resources — sort of took him under his wing as they grew up. Justin's gratitude grew to such unnecessarily toxic limits that when his then-girlfriend Jessica was drunk and passed out at a house party, Bryce pretended to be Justin and had sex with her — all Justin could do was stand outside and break down.
Jessica finds out about this at the end of season one through Hannah's tapes and is finally able to testify against Bryce at the end of season two, thus sending him away on probation. Justin meanwhile runs away from home and develops a heroin addiction. His spiral ends with a brutal fight with Bryce that snaps all their ties. The fact that Bryce had personally manipulated, harmed, threatened, and blackmailed every single one of them and gotten away with just probation could also have led them to team up and take revenge.
Also, at one point or the other, Clay, Justin, and Jessica were also close to Hannah — giving them enough incentive to avenge her death. This means Hannah's secret summer boyfriend, Zach (Ross Butler), could also have enough reason to murder Bryce. Let's also not forget what Bryce's friends did to Tyler (Devin Druid) in season two. Labeled as a creep for stalking and clicking pictures of Hannah, Tyler was sexually assaulted by the jocks in their school bathroom — something that spurred him towards the dangerous decision to shoot their school up during a dance. Luckily Clay was able to stop him right on time, but like the trailer points out — Tyler still has a gun, and Bryce dies from a gunshot wound.
'13 Reasons Why' season three premieres on August 23 on Netflix.