Tape 5, Side A
Hannah cuts her hair into a short bob..but no one seems to notice.
Present day. Clay has listened to a tape and heads to the school. Clay is angry. Jessica is smoking and drinking during school hours, clearly slipping down a slope. Clay attempts to talk to her about what really happened at her party, explained on the tape. She keeps brushing him off, telling him she was hooking up with Justin. Clay tells her that he doesn't believe her but she just explains that if anything had happened, she would have remembered.
Meanwhile, Andy Baker brings Hannah's poem into the school to Mr. Porter. He accuses Mr. Porter of not doing enough to find out who wrote the poem since it's clear they were in a lot of pain. When Olivia finds out, she is furious with her husband as the poem is their only evidence they have that the school knew of the open bullying culture.
Flashback. Jessica is having a back-to-school party to mark the start of the year. Clay is trying to convince Hannah to go after Jeff eventually got him to agree. Hannah is unsure of whether to go or not but she obviously likes the fact Clay wants her to.
When she asks permission from her mother, Olivia just tells her she can if she wants to or she doesn't have to. Not the direction Hannah needed.
Present day. Marcus goes after Clay asking him if he's playing a game. Clay is furious at the idea he thinks it's all a game with the tapes. Marcus decides that he needs to stop Clay as he's worried the tapes will become public at some point. He plants pot in Clay's bag and when he's discovered, Clay is suspended from school for three days.
Justin has a second tape. We finally hear what happened at Jessica's party however there are three different stories.
During the party, Justin and Jessica are all over each other and she is getting more and more drunk as the night goes on. Hannah tries to warn Jessica about Justin, since he was the one who took the up-skirt photo of her but Jessica brushes her off. Hannah takes refuge from the noise and people in Jessica's quiet bedroom. Justin and Jessica have headed upstairs to hook up so Hannah quickly hides in the closet. Jessica, who is very drunk now, passes out on the bed. Justin is annoyed but just leaves her in the room.
In the hallway, Bryce is making is way to the bedroom. He meets Justin who tries to stop him. Bryce is insistant that he wants to go in, claiming that whatever is yours, is mine to Justin. He pushes Justin out of the way, locking the door behind him. Here, Bryce proceeds to rape Jessica as she lays passed out on the bed. Justin is outside, horrified and crying. Hannah is in the closet, trying to stay quiet and crying. Jessica realises what's happening as she comes round and tries to fight Bryce off. However, he continues and neither Hannah nor Justin stopped it.
Hannah bluntly tells Justin on his tape that Jessica had two chances that night but they both let her down.
Present day. Clay finally tells his mother part of the truth. He tells her that him and Hannah Baker were friends and that he misses her terribly.
Clay tries to get Justin to tell the truth to Jessica. He asks him why he's protecting Bryce. But Justin replies that he's actually protecting Jessica. He's clearly traumatised and ashamed that he didn't stop his girlfriend's rape but also doesn't want to admit to her what happened because it will break her.
Later on, Clay confronts Tony and asks him why he has kept quiet about its contents. Tony says that he is doing it to protect Hannah so it's not Bryce's word against a dead girl's. Clay goes for Tony and kicks his bike, breaking it. Tony helps fix the bike whilst Clay proceeds to start the next tape.
This episode shows examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: Justin tries harder to stop Bryce from going into Jessica's bedroom whereas in the book, his resistance is barely there.
- Important Haircut: Hannah cuts her long hair into a short bob during the summer break, determined for a fresh start.
- The Reveal: Justin has a second tape dedicated to him but Hannah also includes herself as the tape subject because they both let Jessica's rape at the hands of Bryce happen.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When Bryce is done assaulting an unconscious Jessica, Hannah crawls out of the cupboard she was hiding in and vomits into the bin.
