Summary
13 Reasons Why Season 3, Episode 5, “Nobody’s Clean” is all about finding a motive, but it feels mostly like a desperate filler episode.
This recap of 13 Reasons Why Season 3, Episode 5, “Nobody’s Clean” contains significant spoilers. You can read the recap of the previous episode by clicking these words.
Out of all the episode so far, Episode 5, “Nobody’s Clean” is a filler chapter. It was thematic, linking it to Clay and Ani trying to find a motive. It’s profoundly strange that while a homicide investigation is underway, Clay and Ani have assumed to be the daily investigators. It’s almost like the show forgot they are students, and others would be instantly defensive towards them.
After steroids are found in Bryce’s car, their investigation ramps up. A lot of the team were using steroids, but Justin catching Alex dumping the drugs in the trash was perhaps a surprise. Alex wanted to get bigger and hits Clay with, “wouldn’t you have done anything to get Hannah to love you?” Damn, I nearly forgot about her.
But Alex claims he never bought from Bryce, and at the same time, Ani and Clay, our self-proclaimed investigators, find a bloody baton in Monty’s car. It feels like everyone is a suspect at a lousy murder mystery party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFZLxuBDBdc
Monty catches Ani and Clay spying on him — to be fair, their spying techniques are woeful. The scenario spurs a flashback to when Monty was receiving a blow from a man at the party, and then in public, he assaults him. Bryce pays the victim off. Ani and Clay do not believe this is a motive, because Bryce did not know Monty was gay. They also learn from Alex’s bank transactions (they grabbed his phone at the gym) that he bought a prostitute.
It turns out Bryce and Alex were quite close at one point; Bryce ordered the prostitute for Alex, and he continued to use her services. One night, Bryce takes it too far with his ordeals, and Alex decides to cut ties with him.
13 Reasons Why Season 3, Episode 5, “Nobody’s Clean” ends in a flashback where Bryce offers Ani cocaine — she refuses, but he gets frustrated with the conversation about his father and smashes a glass in front of her; his mother caught him and sent him to his room. In the present day, Nora Walker tells the grandfather that Bryce is dead, but he will not accept it. Ani finds a car in Walker’s garage and says, “what the hell!”. Maybe I missed something, but I’m sure the next chapter will provide answers.
The whole point of this chapter was to find out who killed Bryce based on a secret, but it felt like it was wedged in to discuss the themes of drugs, and the failings of masculinity.
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Missing Tape Recordings
- Justin still has Tyler’s gun.
- Alex and Bryce broke into Bryce’s dad’s house and trashed it. It was the wrong house.
- Clay concludes that everyone had a reason to kill Bryce.
- In a flashback, Alex gets annoyed with Jessica, asking why he was not good enough.
- The Principal questions Jessica’s incoming protest.
You can read the recap of the sixth episode by clicking these words.
