Summary
13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” felt slightly choppy and overwritten but it shows how the secret is slowly coming out.
This recap of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” contains significant spoilers.
How does 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” open?
Episode 5 opens up with Clay going for an aggressive jog — he narrates how he feels removed from reality; his parents are concerned with his behaviour and they want to do drug tests on Justin and Clay. Clay’s drug test comes back positive and he accuses Justin of swapping them. Both of them are grounded. Justin and Clay wonder how the parents know where they are all the time. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” sees Clay running out of friends to trust. Justin meets his former coach and tells him he’s not doing good. He explains how Clay wasn’t clean and accused him of switching the tests and thinks the Jensens believe Clay. Meanwhile, it seems that all the parents are finding out the whereabouts of the students really easily. Something is afoot.
“Parents” meeting
The group of friends get together and wonder how their parents are tracking them. Tony tells Clay it doesn’t seem like the behaviour of his parents. Justin gets home at midnight and Clay tells him they are being watched. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” continues this thriller-type genre again. Clay asks the nerds at school to find a new location for the party and to keep it under wraps via VPN. Meanwhile, Winston introduces himself to Estella and tells her about a memorial at the party for Monty. Winston is clearly plotting.
Therapy and partying.
Clay is adamant that he did not take drugs. The therapist tells Clay that he sees a kid paying a high price for the secrets he keeps. Winston tells Jessica at a drinking game that her life would be less complicated if he was still alive — these words cut through Jessica; they were harsh. Clay narrates that he doesn’t take drugs but then in the next scene, he’s smoking a bong. Justin tells Clay that he lied to his parents — Clay tells him that his parents are not his: “They never trusted you, that’s why they drug tested you”. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” sees Clay losing control. The paranoia and illusions continue; as Jessica and the party do a toast to Monty, Jessica sees visions of Monty and she walks off.
Tony’s fight
The man Tony is fighting is clearly not welterweight. His opposition tries winding him up beforehand. Tony struggles to fight the opposition, and his boyfriend tells his coach to tell Tony to use the uppercut. Tony is knocked down and his coach tells him to go for the head. Tony gets up and uppercuts his opponent and wins the fight. This felt incredibly unrealistic but for entertainment purposes, it worked.
He’s pulled
Clay tells Zach that he has f*cked up and that he shouldn’t have kept the thing about Winston from everyone. Zach states that being a hero is a waste of time. Clay starts singing as Zach plays the piano. While Clay sings, a girl checks him out. Zach gives him some word of advice and lets him know what to whisper to her and if he manages to sleep with her, Clay can drive his Audi. Clay approaches the girl and she already knows who he is — her father is Sheriff Diaz and she’s called Valerie. They head to a room to have sex. Valerie asks Clay if this is his first time and when he asks if it will be a problem, Valerie says she will drive. It’s over in seconds and Clay naively asks if she finished. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” sees Clay letting loose, high and drunk, and not suffering from anxiety for once.
Drunk
Jessica speaks to a drunk Justin at the party — he tells her and Clay and everyone hates him. She denies that and asks Justin if it’s okay for him to drink. Justin reveals that his mother is back in his old neighbourhood — “I’m going to try not to die”. Jessica feels like everyone knows their secret at this party. Diego catches them getting slightly intimate and takes Jessica away from Justin. While hooking up, Jessica asks Diego if he’s friends with Winston and says that he shouldn’t trust him. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” shows the characters self-jeopardising their own secrets.
Estella
At the party, Winston tells Estella that he and her brother were romantic and questions if she ever wonders what really happened. Valerie’s boyfriend approaches Clay and has ago at him for getting with his girlfriend. Clay fights the man and punches him repeatedly and asks who else wants to fight. Winston tells Diego the reason why Monty did not have an alibi and tells him that Jessica is playing him. Diego is now another character who will have suspicions.
How does 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” end?
Clay drink drives with Zach celebrating that he lost his virginity. Meanwhile, Tony and Justin follow Tyler and see he is with the man that sold him the guns. Episode 5 ends in dramatic circumstances; Clay starts speeding in Zach’s car and it flips over. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 5, “House Party” felt slightly choppy and overwritten but it shows how the secret is slowly coming out.
Additional points
- Tyler offers to be Tony’s cutman for his fight.
- At the party, Zach kisses Chloe and she tells him she has a boyfriend and that he’s great.
- After the fight, Sheriff Diaz asks Tony to swing by to talk about his future.
