Episodes 01

“Winter Break”

Clay has been having nightmares and hallucinations involving Monty ever since Monty was framed for Bryce’s murder. The police questions Tyler after finding his bag of guns and tracing it back to him. Tyler tells Clay he lied to the police about the bag being stolen from him. Ani is planning to move to Oakland with her mother, unbeknownst to Clay. The group throws Justin a welcome-home party when he returns home from drug rehabilitation. Tyler starts behaving oddly after being questioned, worrying the rest of the group. After the party, Jessica tries to have sex with Justin, but he breaks up with her in order to focus on his sobriety. Ani’s mother allows her to move in with Jessica so she can finish her senior year at Liberty High. Jessica burns the tape Bryce made for her. Winston transfers to Liberty, determined to investigate Bryce’s death. Clay starts a fight at school with some of the jocks when they pressure Monty’s sister Estela into wearing his jersey. While hanging out on a rooftop, Alex kisses Zach.

Episodes 02

“College Tour”

While filling out college applications, Clay starts losing sleep and track of time due to anxiety over Monty. At school, Clay and his friends find graffiti stating that Monty was framed; Ani believes Winston is responsible, while Clay thinks it is one of them. In the school’s dark room, Tyler confesses to Winston that Monty raped him. Clay and Justin go on a college tour together, with Clay’s father as their guide. Zach skips the tour in favor of going to a college party, and Clay follows him; at the party, Clay is goaded by a vision of Bryce to rape an unconscious girl, but Clay is spotted standing in her bedroom by her boyfriend. After missing a meeting with the dean, Clay and Justin talk about their plans for college. Alex begins hanging out with Winston and soon realizes he has feelings for him, eventually going to Tony to find answers about his sexuality. Ani talks to Estela, who says she is not trying to defend Monty but wonders why he would kill Bryce. When Clay comes home from a therapy session, he has a panic attack when the sheriff is talking to his parents about the school’s security measures. In his anxiety, Clay writes on his application that he covered up Bryce’s murder.

Episodes 03

“Valentine’s Day”

Clay’s anxiety worsens when he sees how the school has tightened security. Throughout the day, Clay keeps receiving calls from Monty’s number; when answered, a distorted voice torments him. The calls distract Clay from Ani’s hints that she wants to go to the forthcoming “Love Is Love” dance with him. Alex rejects Jessica’s offer to go to the dance with him, and the two talk about how Bryce’s murder affected them. Alex asks Winston to the dance and the two kiss while Jessica asks out Charlie. A concerned Tony learns Tyler has been missing shifts at work and discovers him meeting Deputy Standall. Justin attends a support group at the encouragement of his coach. The caller tormenting Clay tells him that he will get Monty’s phone if he shows up at the dance. At the dance, Clay dances with Ani before being called to go to the locker room. Once there, Clay is chased onto the field, hallucinates Monty bleeding out, and sees Bryce calling him a monster. When Clay recovers his senses, he realizes he was subjected to a cruel prank by the football team, led by Diego. Diego returns to the dance where he hooks up with Jessica, but the dance is stopped when Clay enters the gym with a knife.

Episodes 04

“Senior Camping Trip”

The knife incident and prank at the “Love Is Love” dance cause both Clay and Diego to be suspended for two weeks. Despite this, they are allowed to attend a senior camping trip, since Mrs. Jensen is a chaperone. Clay’s friends receive an email from Clay’s account threatening to expose them unless they come clean on the trip; Clay denies sending the mail, and they conclude that his account was hacked. Alex pairs up with Winston, and realizes Winston could provide an alibi for Monty. The next day, the students go out on a treasure hunt in pairs, aided by clue sheets. On the hunt, Clay is paired with Justin, from whom he gets separated; Clay is then abducted by the football team, who place him in a hole, where he talks with a vision of Monty. Tyler and Alex leave the hunt and talk about how Winston was using them to discover the truth about Monty. Alex joins Zach on a boat on the lake but falls overboard before being saved by Zach. As Jessica is tormented by nightmarish visions of Bryce, Diego confesses to being behind the prank but thinks something else is going on when Beecher goes missing; his suspicions are confirmed when Clay disappears from the hole and Beecher is found bound and gagged. The students discuss who could be behind the emails while Clay makes his way back to camp with all the treasure bags.

Episodes 05

“House Party”

Clay and Justin are both grounded by their parents when one of them fails a drug test. Justin meets his coach and talks about his fears about breaking his sobriety; at home he expresses concern over Clay’s behavior and anxiety. Despite what has happened between them, Jessica has been seeing Diego, and Jessica’s father invites him for diner. The group meet at Monet’s to talk about how their parents always seem to know their plans. The students plan on having a party behind their parents’ backs. Jessica and Estela are told by Winston that the football team is holding a memorial for Monty. That night, a student sneaks into Liberty and destroys the security cameras. At the party, Charlie and Alex hook up. Justin catches Clay smoking marijuana, and they get into an argument regarding their parents before Justin angrily leaves. During the football team’s memorial for Monty, Jessica flees after seeing a vision of him. Clay hangs out with Zach, and ends up involved with a girl named Valerie, to whom he loses his virginity. Zach speaks to Chloë and discovers she has a new boyfriend. Winston and Diego are revealed to be working together to uncover the truth about Monty’s death. Tony and Justin catch Tyler handing a package to an arms dealer.

Episodes 06

“Thursday”

Principal Bolan announces Code Red, a non-drill school shooter lockdown. Alex, Tony, and Charlie wonder where Tyler is and find pictures of guns in his backpack. Estela hides in the girls’ bathroom, where she finds Tyler hiding in one of the stalls. The football team, along with Justin, hide in the locker room, Clay hides in an empty classroom, Jessica hides in a storage unit, and Zach and Winston hide near the dark room. Clay is tormented by visions of Bryce and Monty. Zach and Winston do drugs, and Justin leaves to look for Jessica after an argument with Diego. Tony decides to tell Dean Foundry about the pictures, Estella and Tyler talk about Monty, and Zach reveals to Winston he beat up Bryce. After hearing gunshots, and fearing he will die not helping, Clay leaves the room, only to be told by Principal Bolan that the lockdown was merely a drill. While frantically arguing that the drill was unnecessary, Clay steals a police officer’s gun, is knocked out and taken to a mental hospital.

Episodes 07

“College Interview”

In a college interview, Tyler tells the interviewee that he is afraid of guns, yet finds them beautiful. Winston convinces Estella that Jessica is lying about Bryce’s death, and Jessica is worried that the school thinks that she was the one to suggest the securities cameras, metal detectors, and the drill to Principal Bolan. Tyler confronts Tony about turning his pictures in to Dean Foundry, and Diego tells Zach that Winston told him his secret about Bryce. Clay escapes from the mental hospital to meet with Ani, who admits to rewriting his essay for the college admission to land him the interview at Brown University. Tony discovers the police are investigating Tyler’s pictures, and Ani tells Jessica she is moving out to stay at Tony’s. The next day, Justin is informed that his mother has died. Jessica, Alex, Ani, Justin, and Clay have their college interviews, and Mrs. Walker tells Ani she wants to pay for her college tuition. At night, Diego beats up Zach, and Tony and Clay find Tyler buying a gun. They attempt to stop him, but the police arrive.

Episodes 08

“Acceptance/Rejection”

Sheriff Diaz reveals to Clay and Tony that Tyler had been helping the police as an informant in order to catch illegal gun dealers. Jessica is rejected by three schools, including Columbia, while Alex and Justin receive acceptance letters from Berkeley and Occidental College, respectively. Clay has not heard back from Brown yet. At school, Jessica reveals she initially had been helping Principal Bolan, further convincing Estella she is lying about what happened to Monty. Tony is offered a full-ride scholarship to University of Nevada, which he initially rejects. After seeing Jessica kiss Diego, Justin breaks up with her. Clay discovers that his parents have been going to meetings at his school, where all the parents are instructed to track their children via smartphones. The next day, Diego accuses Justin of killing Bryce, causing a fight between them, ending in Diego being arrested by a racist police officer who believes he started the fight. This causes the entire school to participate in a walkout against SROs, resulting in a brawl between students and police officers, and in Clay destroying Principal Bolan’s car. Dr. Ellman believes Clay has been experiencing dissociation, and Clay tells him he is ready to confess all his secrets.

Episodes 09

“Prom”

Dean Foundry threatens to cancel prom and begins an investigation to find who was responsible for inciting the walkout. The group decides to tell their parents part of the truth and ask for prom to be reinstated, in order to stop the investigation. Clay confesses to his parents he vandalized the school, destroyed the security cameras, and set fire to Principal Bolan’s car, while Justin confesses he has relapsed. Charlie comes out as bisexual to his father, and Alex introduces Charlie as his boyfriend to his family. Jessica claims responsibility for the walkout. Ani goes to prom with Jessica, Tyler goes with Estela, Alex with his very first boyfriend Charlie, and Tony goes with his boyfriend Caleb. Alex and Charlie are both announced as prom kings, and Jessica ultimately chooses Justin over Diego. Winston imagines dancing with Monty, which gives him closure. While dancing with Jessica, Justin suddenly faints.

Episodes 10

“Graduation”

Justin acquires undiagnosed HIV as a result of his prior drug use and unprotected sex work. Hiding his initial illnesses, he later develops AIDS and suffers through meningitis and pneumonia, ultimately dying. As a result, Clay suffers a severe breakdown and attempts suicide by cop but is dissuaded by Sheriff Diaz. A month later, Clay is chosen to give the graduation speech while Tony is encouraged by his father and Caleb to go to college. Alex confesses to Winston the truth about Bryce’s murder, but Winston decides not to turn Alex in because, although he loved Monty, he also loves Alex. Diaz tells Deputy Standall that Bryce’s case is permanently closed while implying that he suspects the truth. After graduation, Clay imagines Justin and Bryce together, as Justin encourages Clay to find peace with Hannah’s memory right before Clay meets Heidi, an incoming Brown freshman, and they plan to go out for coffee. Afterwards, the surviving tape recipients bury Hannah’s tapes while Jessica states that Bryce, despite his cruelty, played a part in uniting them. Clay finds Justin’s college admissions essay, wherein Justin considered Clay his brother and a positive influence in his life. Clay decides to continue therapy and leaves with Tony on a road trip.