Summary
13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” provides the most important message of the final season so far, highlighting the trauma of school shootings.
This recap of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” contains significant spoilers.
How does 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” open?
Episode 6 begins with Clay trying to help Zach but he can’t help him from the car accident. The scene flits to the school and the students are doing a demonstration on dummies who are suffering from gun wounds — “How to stop the bleed exercise”. Clay asks his therapist why the school is doing these demos when they should prevent guns instead and asks if some people are beyond help.
The car crash
Zach confronts Clay about the car crash and Clay says he doesn’t remember; Zach calls Clay a nightmare and wants him to stay out of life. Clay narrates, stating he needs his life to change. What’s more incredible about this story is how both characters are not severely injured from the car flipping over. Dean Foundry asks Clay where he was between midnight and 7 am and who destroyed the school cameras. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” sees Clay’s life spiral out of control and it is reaching boiling point. Afterward, Jessica congratulates him for his successful college application; the application where he wrote: “I covered up a murder”.
Code red
And then episode 6 takes a dark turn and it’s good to see 13 Reasons Why take on a difficult subject for America.
The school is in lockdown and all students are asked to shelter immediately — code red means active shooter. Tony sees that Tyler is gone and thinks it is him. Everyone starts hiding and barricading the rooms they are in. Clay locks himself in a room and he’s worried that Tyler is doing the shooting — Monty shows up in Clay’s head and tells him his life may end today: “Are you feeling what terror actually is?”. Clay admits he is scared. The students cannot tell if it’s a drill or not. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” provides the most important message of the final season so far, highlighting the trauma of school shootings.
Tormented
Bryce and Monty continue to torment Clay’s mind and he’s adamant that it isn’t Tyler. Bryce asks Clay if he’s a martyr or a hero. Someone keeps trying to enter Clay’s room and he has a panic attack.
Tyler is in the clear
Estella finds Tyler hidden in the bathroom which removes the rumor that he’s the shooter. She tells him it is just a drill or at least that’s what she thinks it is. Estella asks Tyler why would someone do this; Tyler says because they think it will get rid of the pain but it doesn’t — “You can never unclench that fist”. Tyler tells Estella that his friends made him feel better and she apologizes to him for what Monty did to him. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” revisits the pain for Tyler in this thematic chapter.
“It’s a real shooting”
Suddenly, gunshots are heard and everyone starts freaking out. Alex starts having a panic attack and Charlie calms him down. 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” sees the reality of the school’s situation sink in. Diego wants to fight the shooter but the coach tells him to sit down — Diego turns his attention to Justin and asks if he is just going to let Jessica die. The football team realizes that Justin has disappeared. Later on, Justin finds Jessica.
At this point, gunshots can be heard and every gunshot feels devastating and nerve-racking.
Meanwhile, Winston is locked up in a room with Zach — he offers Zach drugs to take the pain away. Winston tells Zach that Alex is the first boy he’s truly loved. Zach tells Winston that he beat up Bryce the night he died and if he dies in the shooting, he wants Winston to say sorry to Bryce’s mother for him.
Saving
Monty and Bryce ask Clay why he isn’t saving Tyler and ask him to debate who is worth saving. The gunshots get closer to Clay and he starts sobbing — “No-one should die”. Bryce tells Clay that he couldn’t save anyone. Clay admits he couldn’t save anyone and he’s sorry for what he did. Clay’s mental health is deteriorating minute by minute. Tony gives Dean Foundry the evidence that Tyler had the guns. Alex suddenly freaks out thinking his father is in the corridors; Charlie tells him it’s his mind and it’s his TBI.
Hero
Clay gets up and says he is going to go out and try and save people and if its the day he dies then so be it. He sees the shooter and puts his hand up, telling him to not shoot. When the shooter takes off his balaclava, it’s him. Clay is seeing things again and Boland grabs him and reveals this is a drill, the bullets were rubber — “If this wasn’t a drill, you’d be dead”.
How do 13 Reasons Why season 4, episode 6, “Thursday” end?
Justin admits to Jessica that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her and they kiss and then the lockdown is announced over. Charlie then kisses Alex. The question is, what will the police do now that Tony has handed over evidence of the guns? And, what will Winston do now he knows that Zach knows who Bryce’s killer is.
In a dramatic and tense ending, Clay shouts at headmaster Boland for making them feel afraid — “Please let us live!”. Clay grabs one of the guns off the police officers — “Are we safe now!?”. One of the officers knocks out Clay and he’s wheeled out of the school. It’s admittable that this drill was harsh and it must be questioned if a school would do this in real life, where real rubber bullets are used to scare the students into crippling anxiety? The one criticism is whether this is realistic and I’m sure the comments below will reveal otherwise.
