13 Reasons Why – Tape 4, Side B

By starrymag | May 29, 2017

By: Nicole Dintelman

 

When you’re not singing in perfect harmony, are you out of sync with everyone else or have you just forgotten the lyrics to the song?

 

This installment of “13 Reasons Why” picks up right where Tape 4, Side A left off. Clay (Dylan Minnette) is in Mr. Porter’s (Derek Luke) office for totally losing it on the new foreign exchange students. If you remember Clay decided that he had everything handled. He gave the tapes back to Tony (Christian Navarro) and he’s no longer listening to them. However, that’s not working out so well for him. Clay and Courtney (Michele Selene Ang) are showing the new foreign exchange students around campus when Clay totally loses it when showing the students where Hannah’s (Katherine Langford) locker is located. Hopefully, the exchange students still want to attend Liberty High after meeting the welcome wagon.

 

In the last episode, we also learned why Zach (Ross Butler) made the tapes. Zach asked Hannah out after the Marcus (Steven Silver) debacle at Valentine’s day and Hannah turned him down. He wasn’t happy about being turned down so he started stealing things out of her compliment bag in their communications class. Hannah planted a trap and Zach took the bait. Hannah poured her heart out to him in a letter and per her memory, he crumpled the letter and tossed it in the hall. However, Zach showed Clay that he still had the letter. Clay decided to take matters into his own hands and key Zach’s car at the basketball game. A rebel Clay is not; he fessed up to what he did as soon as Zach and his mom came to his house the following day inquiring about the damages.

 

Let’s dive in and see what punishment Mr. Porter is going to deliver to Clay for his antics with the foreign exchange students as we recap Tape 4, Side B.

He looks tired. Right?

 

Totally unsure why Tony is taking Clay rock climbing at the beginning of this episode. Clay doesn’t really seem like the rock climbing type. Maybe this is another one of Clay’s visions. Back in Mr. Porter’s office, he’s trying to get to the bottom of why Clay is acting like a madman and Clay tells him he’s just tired. Yeah, we’re not thinking he’s buying that Clay. What else ya got? Try abducted by aliens, he might believe that over tired. Mr. Porter tells Clay that it seems like he’s angry and Clay asks Mr. Porter if he’s angry. Mr. Porter says he is and starts to explain, but Clay just asks if he’s going to punish him or what. Mr. Porter wants to talk, but Clay doesn’t want to talk – he just wants to go to class.

 

Clay actually decides not to go to class, but to leave school. When he walks out the door, Tony is waiting for him. Tony tells him to get in the car and come with him. Clay is reluctant at first, but then he sees Mr. Porter and gets in the car. Alex (Miles Heizer), Courtney, Jessica (Alisha Boe), Justin (Brandon Flynn) and Zach are all discussing Clay and his freak outs. They’re afraid that Clay is going to finish cracking and the tapes are going to get released. Marcus comes in and tells them that he talked to Tony and Tony told him that he would take care of it. As in take care of Clay? Justin says that Tony isn’t going to do anything because Tony doesn’t help them. Way to be a pessimist, Justin. Justin wants to take care of Clay himself and make it look like a suicide. Alex is having stomach cramps from stress and Zach is blaming himself for Hannah’s death.

Career fairs are supposed to help students.

 

At the career fair, Hannah learned from one of the colleges that financial aid and scholarships typically go to students at the top of their class. Discouraged, she moves on to the next table where she meets Robert Wells (Tom Maden). Robert is the librarian at the local library. He asks Hannah if she’s an electronic reader and she tells him no, she’s more of a page turner and a write in the margin kind of girl. Hannah asks him what else the library has to offer and Robert gives her a flyer for a poetry group. He tells her that she looks like a writer. Writers have a look? Good to know. Hannah says that she writes, but not for anyone to ever read. Robert says that the group has confidentiality and no one will ever know if she comes. Hannah keeps the flyer, but tells Robert that she probably will not ever see him there.

 

Clay asks Tony if he’s kidnapping him and Tony replies: “You mean like you did Courtney.” Nice burn Tony. Clay was clearly trying to make a point and obviously did the day he took Courtney to the cemetery because that is all anyone can talk about since. Jessica comes back to check on Alex and tells him that all the drama with the tapes is what has his stomach all upset. Justin comes to fetch her because God forbid she be alone with anyone for five minutes and wants to know what they’re talking about. Being the smart-ass that he is, Alex tells Justin that Jessica says that he smells bad and he agrees. Alex then asks Justin what was he talking about when he said he wanted to end Clay because it wasn’t at all funny. Justin says that he is just trying to protect them from Hannah’s lies. Alex tells him they’re not lies. Alex knows because she told the truth about him.

Everyone wants to fit in.

 

Trying to fit in in high school isn’t an easy thing to do and when you’ve had a year like Hannah has had it’s even more difficult. She’s decided to give the poetry group a chance. Once there though, she’s regretting her decision. The class-goers are much older than she is and she feels very out of place. That is until she saw Ryan Shaver (Tommy Dorfman), the editor of the school publication. Hannah tells him that she won’t be attending any more meetings if he is going to be there. Ouch! Yes, poetry groups are what you think. Everyone listening to others reading their poems. Very therapeutic.

 

Tony takes Clay to a large hill made of rock. Okay, so this is why Clay was climbing a rock at the beginning of the episode. Clay asks Tony what this has to do with Hannah and Tony tells Clay he has to climb to the top to find out. Hannah is telling her mom about the poetry group and that she’s not going to go back because it was corny. Mrs. Baker (Kate Walsh) tells Hannah to give it another shot. She tells Hannah she’s expressed the desire to be a writer and she should always dream big. Ryan interrupts their conversation because he brought Hannah a new journal for her thoughts. He tells Hannah it’s a peace offering for publishing the list in the school magazine. Ryan asks Hannah to come back to the poetry group and Hannah tells him maybe and thanks him for the journal.

Yet another sign.

 

Mr. Porter asks Hannah how long she’s been thinking about her future. Her grades have started slipping and he tells her that she really needs to get them up. Hannah tells him that she’s thinking about NYU or Columbia and Mr. Porter tells her that those are very competitive schools. He says that maybe she should think smaller, like a state school. Whoa. We thought a guidance counselor is supposed to help guide students, not crush their dreams. Why didn’t Mr. Porter help Hannah come up with a plan to get her grades up and get her ready for her PSAT? Hannah’s grades were good at the beginning of the year and started to slip throughout the year, that is an indication that she was struggling with something, yet her guidance counselor did not try to find out what.

 

When asked by Mrs. Jensen (Amy Hargreaves) if he met with Hannah, Mr. Porter told her that Hannah had unrealistic goals. If you remember Lanie is representing the school board on the lawsuit that the Bakers have brought against the school. In an effort to change the subject, Mr. Porter asks Lanie if she knows where her son is and she says that she assumes he’s in class. Mr. Porter informs her that he’s not. He tells her that he’s skipping school with Tony. Nice one Mr. Porter! Trying to get yourself out of trouble so you throw your high school student under the bus. Tony is still trying to convince to climb the giant rock and Clay is still telling Tony that he doesn’t see why he needs to. Tony tells Clay that it’s perfectly safe and he’s been climbing with his brothers for years.

Are you a man or not?

 

Clay’s answer to this question is most definitely not! Hey, at least he’s honest! He’s bound and determined he’s not going to climb that rock. Ryan is a man, or at least his poetry suggests he is. It’s erotica on paper. So much so Hannah tells him she wants to write like him. Ryan comes over to Hannah’s to help her with her poetry. He tells her it has to be incredibly embarrassing, truthful and brutally honest. Clay and Tony are halfway up the rock when Clay’s phone rings. Clay tells Tony that it’s his mom’s ring, but Tony is too busy scolding Clay for bringing his phone in the first place.

 

Lanie goes home trying to find Clay and is a wreck when Mr. Jensen gets home. He tries to get her to relax, but it’s not working. Tony makes it to the top and throws a rope down to Clay and pulls him the rest of the way up. Clay is pretty excited that he made it all the way to the top and he and Tony celebrate with yelling out a few “F-bombs.” Clay is definitely feeling like a man now. Hannah has written a poem to share in poetry group and it’s about being naked and skin. Hannah is good at baring her soul, but has she chosen the wrong forum to do it? Ryan has already proven that he can’t be trusted once. Oh and if we’ve forgotten to mention: Ryan Shaver, welcome to your tape.

Tony has secrets too.

 

Tony asks Clay if he’s ever seen a real crime scene. Clay tells him just on TV and asks him if he has. Tony tells him that he has and Clay asks him what it was like and how old he ways. Tony tells him it was quiet and he was seventeen years old. Tony was at Hannah’s suicide crime scene. Just as we predicted, Ryan wants Hannah to publish her poem. Hannah tells him no absolutely not. Ryan published it anyway and once again Hannah was betrayed and devastated. Hannah’s English teacher even decided to read it aloud in class. As if she wasn’t already embarrassed enough, Jessica recognizes Hannah’s handwriting and told everyone it was her poem.

 

Tony sees Hannah drop the tapes off at his house. He doesn’t answer the door because he doesn’t feel like dealing with her drama. Tony tells Clay he liked Hannah, but she always had so much going on that on that and he just didn’t want to deal so he let her go. He tells Clay he went out and got the box Hannah left about thirty minutes later and found the tapes. Tony said he tried calling the Baker’s house, but there was no answer so he drives to their house – breaking every possible speed limit. Sadly, he was too late. Hannah is already in a body bag. Tony says they grabbed the body bag and threw Hannah in the ambulance without another thought. This is why Tony is taking care of Hannah the way that he is. Maybe if he’d answered the door when she came over she’d still be here.

Fool her once, shame on you. Fool her twice, she shouldn’t have trusted you again in the first place.

 

Hannah confronts Ryan and he sticks up for the decision he made to publish her poem. He doesn’t feel like he did anything wrong. Ryan tells Hannah that her work is great and people need to hear it, but Hannah tells him that’s not his decision to make. There was a path up the rock hill the entire time. Tony totally made Clay climb that thing when he didn’t have to. Poor Clay. Clay tells Tony that he thought the reason that he was taking this whole thing about the tapes so seriously was because he’s in love with Hannah. Tony tells Clay that he’s gay. Clay had absolutely no idea and until now neither did we! Of course, we had an idea but we didn’t know for sure.

 

In the previous episode Clay was giving the tapes back to Tony and now he’s asking for them back. Tony knew that Clay was going to ask for them back so he has them in the car ready for him. The Baker’s go out to dinner and see a couple with a little girl and Mrs. Baker still talks about Hannah like she’s still alive. She talks to the other mother about Hannah applying for colleges. Mrs. Baker says she just didn’t want to be the mother of a dead girl for one night. Clay still has the edition of the school magazine that Hannah’s poem is printed in and he takes it to her mom at the drugstore. Mrs. Baker recognizes her daughter’s handwriting immediately and begins to cry. It’s like a message has been sent to her at a time when she needs it the most.

 

Join us next time when we recap Tape 5, Side A.

 

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts or feelings of suicide please contact The National Suicide Prevention Line 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255.