Let me start by saying this- the only reason worth watching this season is Tyler Down.

This is your warning that this review contains a lot of spoilers. So if you haven’t watched this season of 13 Reasons Why I don’t suggest you keep reading. But hey, if you’re like me and purposely seek out spoilers, then read on my friend.

Season 3 of 13 Reasons Why picks up months after the end of the second season. You know, that ending where Tyler (Devin Druid) almost shot up the school at Spring Fling but Clay (Dylan Minnette) convinced him to do otherwise. He saved everyone from a terrible tragedy that we are unfortunately familiar within today’s society. But that’s what Clay does- he saves people. At least, he tries to.

This season is centered around the murder of Bryce Walker, who is played by the brilliant Justin Prentice. Now, usually the death of a teenage boy is a tragedy, but many people are understandably relieved. I mean, this character is THEE bottom-most scum of the earth. An openly-known rapist among his high school peers. There was a lot of controversy over the first two seasons of this show due to its extremely graphic scenes and sensitive topics. I remember reading tweets about people boycotting the show and demanding for its cancelation. Although, once the murder of Bryce Walker was announced as the sole plot of season 3, some people had a slight change of heart. After you saw that smug look on his face at the end of the trial in season 2, the only thing that could possibly reel you in for another season was news that someone murdered the bastard.

Let me get back to Tyler. The transformation this kid has gone through from the beginning of the series to the end of this season will have you in a pool of tears. He has been the victim of violent bullying and sexual assault and it must have broken your heart to watch as it did mine. Clay and his friends devote this season to not only figuring out who murdered Bryce, but also watching over Tyler and taking responsibility for him day-by-day. It isn’t until episode 8 that Tyler confides in Clay what Monty (Timothy Granaderos) did to him in the bathroom that past year. A freaking gut-wrenching scene. Monty is also thee bottom-most scum of the earth but I have to give serious credit to an actor who can portray this type of character. Monty may be worse than Bryce because this season, we get to see flashbacks of Bryce trying to change and take accountability for his actions- a plotline I’m not sure I can get behind.

Bryce is not at Liberty High School anymore. After the trial last season, he transferred to a different school. The whole town knows about the allegations that he is a rapist so naturally, he is not accepted with open arms at this new school. He gets bullied by jocks (how ironic), his girlfriend dumps him, and his father abandons him and his mother. A caretaker and her daughter Ani (Grace Saif) move into the Walker home to tend to Bryce’s ill, racist grandfather. Ani and Bryce strike up a friendship and he soon realizes that he wants to be a better person and do right by everyone he has wronged. So great. Good for Bryce Walker for realizing what a screwed up individual he is and deciding to change. He threatens Monty and tells him to stay the hell away from Tyler, confesses to rape on tape and gives it to Jessica (Alisha Boe) and even makes the Dean’s List. Gold star! I just can’t fathom how quickly this all happened. I mean, we spent two seasons watching this dude do vile, unspeakable things to people. All of a sudden, a few acts of bullying and a nice, new girl transform him into this aspiring good guy in less than a year? Too much, too fast I think.

I will say the flashbacks I mentioned earlier made the season a bit confusing at times. It took me an episode or two to realize that the present-day had a darker, broodier picture and was widescreen. When we are taken back into the flashbacks, the picture becomes full screen and more bright. These transitions are accompanied by the narration of the new girl Ani who I can say with the utmost confidence that she is the WORST. Let me explain why I say this so passionately. Ani is a new character and it usually takes a viewer (well, me at least) a while to warm up to a new character thrown into a series. Not only that, but this new character is now narrating every episode this season and we realize that not everything she’s saying is true. So now we don’t trust her. AND THEN, this new, untrustworthy character starts sleeping with Bryce AFTER Clay warned her about his past. How wonderful. Now we have this new, untrustworthy, crazy girl that we can’t get rid of. Who invited her?!

Do y’all remember Ryan? Or Sheri? Or our beloved Jeff Atkins? Why must we be deprived of their presence and instead be given Ani to fill their shoes? I guess I do understand why Ani had to be introduced this season. You’ll see that she has a hand in how this season ends- how she sets someone up to get wrongly convicted for Bryce’s murder.

By the final episode, we are shown that Alex (Miles Heizer) is the one who killed Bryce. I felt dissatisfaction on my face y’all. I FELT it. The scene was underwhelming and happened so unexpectedly that I said “really?” out loud. Jessica and Alex go to meet Bryce on the pier to get the confession tape Bryce wanted to give to Jessica. They find him brutally beaten and unable to walk. As Alex and Jessica start to leave the pier with Bryce behind, Alex decides to go back and help Bryce up. Once he is holding him up, he looks in his eyes, tells him what a horrible person he is and throws him into the water to drown. They drive away. What.

This season is easier to stomach than the previous seasons, I’ll give it that. And like I said, Tyler Down’s journey is reason enough for watching this season. Well him and the dynamic duo that is Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn) and Clay Jensen. Justin is also another character with such amazing development. I went from hating on him hard in season 1 to tweeting that he is the best thing about this series in season 3. But before I go on a rant, I’m going to stop myself there.

13 Reasons Why season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.