Through the four seasons of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, a bunch of high school kids went through some serious ups and downs. The controversial series has dealt with hard-hitting topics that have elicited both outcry and praise from viewers, alike.
Starting off with the suicide of high school student Hannah Baker, who left behind a series of cassette tapes addressed to each person she said contributed to pushing her over the edge, the first and subsequent seasons also touched on topics like rape, school shootings, bullying, and mental health.
Some characters disappeared from later seasons, but of the ones who remained, here are those who had the best and worst character arcs. Note: spoilers ahead for season four.
10 Clay Jensen: Worst
While things seemed to end on a hopeful note for Clay, his character descended into downright madness in season four. Suffering from serious anxiety and depression, along with paranoia about the situation surrounding Bryce's death and still grieving for Hannah, he reached a breaking point.
He went from the quiet, nerdy kid who did well in school and loved robots to someone who believed he could save everyone, to an unhinged activist who would black out and do things he didn't remember. From pulling guns on cops to screaming expletives at the principal and even being locked in the room of a mental hospital, the character deserved better.
9 Alex: Best
Alex came to the school and became instant friends with Hannah and Jessica. And while typical high school drama was at play, he took too many things to heart and become suicidal, attempting to take his own life.
While he is the one ultimately responsible for Bryce's death, the character was redeemed in a touching way. He came to terms with his sexuality, which he didn't quite understand up until this point, and began to see that he was deserving of life and forgiveness. In the end, he realized he wanted to live to the fullest.
8 Zack: Worst
Zack was the resident good guy, the tall handsome jock with a heart of gold who wasn't like the other guys on the football team. He was respectful of women and head over heels for Hannah, as per a secret summer romance that was revealed after season one.
But his decline in season four took a great character and turned him into a bumbling mess. Unable to play football any more due to his knee injury and filled with guilt for beating Bryce up, he turned to drinking, hiring escorts, vandalism, and almost flunking out of school. It looked like he was about to turn things around, but his entire character arc through season four was an unfortunate one.
7 Jessica: Best
After shifting from resident popular mean girl to the vulnerable young woman who was raped, and whose boyfriend at the time let it happen, Jessica turned her trauma into an experience that would help others and give women a voice.
She became school president, spoke up for issues that mattered, and became a leader everyone trusted. Sure, she was harsh and scary at times. But she earned the right to be that way. And while she was still hurting, she found a way to cope that could also prove to others that she was a true survivor.
6 Monty: Worst
Monty was killed in prison in season three and had the murder of Bryce pinned on him post-mortem, helping the friends seemingly get out of a difficult situation. And while Monty appeared in visions in season four, his character never really got the kind of redemption he could have.
A closeted gay jock with an abusive father, Monty finally came out to his father in the end, who spat in his face. Monty never got to live his truth, and his last lover Winston came to terms with the fact that even if Monty lived, he likely would never have done so.
5 Tyler: Best
The quiet, weird kid who no one ever talked to, Tyler had a fascination with guns and was secretly hoarding them. After being brutally sexually assaulted in an episode that shocked viewers due to its graphic display of the assault, he lost all hope and decided to show up at a school dance with guns and ammo to get revenge.
Thankfully, a group of loving classmates stopped him and took it upon themselves to try and help him, show him love, and treat him the way he deserved to be treated. As the fourth season showed, he had truly become a changed person, for the better.
4 Tony: Worst
There was so much growth potential for Tony, but he remained a pretty one-dimensional character. A gay Hispanic man who seemed more like an adult than a high schooler, he was initially tasked with delivering the tapes for Hannah, who trusted him more than anyone else to fulfill her wishes.
He befriended everyone, was always there as the "muscle," and was eventually recognized as a skilled boxer and given a scholarship. But he never got reunited with his family, who were deported because of Bryce. And while he finally sold the shop, it just seemed like there was so much more that should have been in store for the character.
3 Justin: Best
While many viewers were in uproar over Justin's shocking death in the final season, angered that the series painted HIV/AIDS as a death sentence at a time like now when it most surely isn’t, his arc up to his illness was among the best.
A pompous high school heartthrob and jock, it was revealed that he had been living a tough life with a drug addict mother. He lost his way after refusing to stay with Bryce and was prostituting himself to men while homeless and doing drugs. But once Clay's parents officially signed for guardianship and sent him to rehab, he seemed to finally have the family life he deserved and a future in college. He really changed for the better and while viewers wanted to see him fully redeemed and recovered, the illness was necessary to show that it isn't always a happy ending.
2 Ani: Worst
Ani joined in season three as a new narrator and her two-season arc seemed almost pointless. Sure, she was integral in figuring out what really happened to Bryce and then helping the group cover it up, there wasn't much to her. And the whole storyline of her secret rendezvous with Bryce and friendship with him was just weird.
She was sort of like the angel on everybody's shoulders, talking them through issues and being there when they needed her. She seemingly took over this role once Clay no longer could. But her own personal story stayed pretty stagnant.
1 Bryce: Best
Prefacing this with the fact that Bryce was not the best character, but rather his arc was one of the most interesting. A downright jerk, he was the jock who was arrogant and boastful about his family's wealth. He took what he wanted when he wanted it, and did horrendous things to people, mainly women, the worst of which was rape.
And while the visions of him that appeared in season four were all of the old, arrogant Bryce, in season three, viewers got to see the side of him that was hurting, whose parents were never around, and who was remorseful for what he did, lonely, and traumatized. Through his time, he made up with his mother and looked within himself even if it really was too late to completely change as a person - his dark side was still there. Still, no one felt sorry for him, nor should they have. But his arc showed plenty of depth, even if none of his complex layers justified what he did.
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