Tape 2, Side A
The episode starts with Justin, still staying in Bryce's pool house. He enters the main house, looking around in the quiet and comes across a family portrait. He starts to cry, knowing his own home life is nothing like this. His mother is in a squalid apartment with her live-in drug addict boyfriend, Seth. His sole comfort is Jessica, who at that moment turns up to talk him through everything that is happening.
Olivia Baker is in contact with the school and tries to talk to Principal Bolan about her findings. However, due to the lawsuit between them, he can't do or say anything more than that he is sorry for her loss. She cries in the bathroom before noticing rude and nasty comments written on the girls' bathroom walls. She takes pictures of all the messages and leaves. Whilst on her way out, she sees Courtney making a memorial for Hannah. Olivia states that if Courtney was really Hannah's friend, she would know she hated roses.
Mr. Porter continues to try and gather information. He seems like he's uncertain about what happened to Hannah because all they ever spoke about was which colleges she'd like to attend. He meets with Courtney and Marcus to try and gain any new leads and see how the student body is dealing with the aftermath.
Later on, Clay confronts Alex before finishing the tape. He finds Alex ripping down suicide prevention posters in the school hallways. Alex won't tell Clay anything about his relationship with Jessica. Another student picks bits of paper out of the bin whilst Tyler Down (Devin Druid), the school photographer, walks in on their conversation.
Another flashback. Clay asks Hannah if she'd like watch an eclipse that night which she agrees to. After cleaning up at the Claremont cinema, they see Alex leaving alone. They head up to the roof and despite them both obviously liking each other, neither of them act on it. The next day, Alex's infamous Hot List, is passed around the class. Clay reads it as Hannah watches him from the other side of the room. The list has descriptions and 'awards' to particular girls in the school. Hannah 'wins' Best Ass. Jessica 'wins' Worst Ass. We see Clay later in the day noticing various things from the list in his female classmates. He is supposed to be tutoring one of the friendlier jocks, Jeff. Jeff picks up on Clay's perspective changing and says that girls would never do that to guys in the school.
Alex has decided he wants to talk to Clay about what really happened. He asks to meet at Monet's after school. Clay arrives early and ends up talking to his classmate and the barista, Skye. Alex arrives and they begin talking. He explains that the jocks of the school began taking notice of him and being friendlier because Jessica was attracted to him. They all considered Jessica to be really attractive. As he began hanging out with the guys more, he felt that he needed to act more like them to be accepted, meaning he began putting pressure on Jessica. When she refused to have sex with him, Alex lashed out by making the Hot List. As he continues to tell Clay what happened, Alex says he regrets it as he had not only broken his relationship up but also a friendship between the two girls. His voice begins getting louder. They're interrupted when Olivia Baker and Tony arrive.
Clay follows Hannah's instructions on the tape to a liquor store in town. Hannah tells us that during her visit, Bryce Walker groped her ass in broad daylight as she paid at the till. Knowing this to be the result of the Hot List, Hannah tells the recipient of the tape (Alex) that he has made it 'open season' on her for all the boys. Bryce bumps into Clay in present day at this liquor store. Bryce doesn't let Clay leave until he's brought a large bottle of alcohol. When Clay tries to ditch it outside, he's caught by Bryce. Along with Justin, Zach and Alex, who are all drunkenly loitering outside, he's forced by the group to down the bottle in a competition against Alex. Clay wins but is caught by Tony, who's clearly disgusted with it. Tony leaves and Clay gives chase on his bike. Clay is frustrated with how little Tony is willing to share but sees him beat someone up. Clay doesn't give it too much thought and gets home. Drunk, he vomits at the dinner table in front of his parents.
Later in the evening, Alex is hanging at Bryce's pool house with the guys. He isn't finding any joy in their activities so heads outside. He lets himself fall in the pool and float for a while.
This episode provides examples of:
- Cry into Chest: Justin into Jessica's.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Clay fails to understand why Hannah's upset over the 'Hot or Not' List.
- Hannah: Once again, you and the point are complete strangers.
- The Reveal: Alex is the subject of the tape because he put Hannah and Jessica on the 'Hot or Not' List which led to Hannah and Jessica falling out.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When Alex and Clay are forced to drink a lot of alcohol in a contest in front of the jocks, Clay manages to cycle home drunk. When he gets home, he sits at the dinner table with his parents before vomiting everywhere.
