The Official Television Thread

[Rev. Rye]

So, I've recently finished the new season of 13 Reasons Why, and I figured I may as well talk about one of the most controversial elements: Bryce's attempted redemption. So, after two seasons of being an utter prick and a serial rapist, he decides to make amends. I've said before that I believe that rehabilitation should always be an option. Indeed, it's a big part of why A Clockwork Orange is my favourite film of all time. Not simply because of the ultraviolence of Act I, but the way Kubrick grabs us by the shirt collar and makes us confront the way we treat crime and punishment in Act III, how we can treat wrongdoers so poorly that we may as well be telling them "just keep doing what you're doing so we can keep punishing you." And even the victims can have their own senses of justice warped by their own experiences.

So, back to Bryce. In Season 1, as monstrous as his actions turned out to be, you could easily make the argument that he legitimately didn't understand the full moral weight of his actions, and that he legitimately believed that Jessica could have given consent in her state, and that Hannah did. It's a chillingly accurate portrayal of how I understand many sex offenders think (particularly the kind of pedophiles who don't see much moral difference between picking up a young adult at a singles bar and picking up a small child at a playground). It might be something of an uphill battle for someone like this to see the error of their ways, but at least there's a legitimate room for change. But then, as his crimes came out into the open, the writers just abandoned that possibility entirely and just made him a pure and simple sociopath. And the this happened (just to be on the safe side, I'm putting this scene in hide tags. I think bulges in and of themselves aren't against the rules, but especially given the context, I'll just hide it):

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Yes, he knows full well what he did is rape, and he's still turned on by it. Redemption is a hell of a tall order for someone like this, and if you think it's impossible, I can't say I blame you. Christ, when I saw that the third season revolved around his murder, I actually cheered.

So, back to ACO, Alex's hooliganism (specifically in the movie, where a rape of two ten-year-olds was changed to a consensual three-way with two girls of comparable age to him) was certainly comparable to Bryce, and yet, post-Ludovico, we feel legitimately sorry for him. Why? We know how he got from Point A to Point C. We see him getting injected with a serum that makes him ill, we see him start to associate the bad acts with the serum's effects, and by the time it's over, we see he's become a socially acceptable shell of a man: he can't commit violence (not even in self-defense), he can't even have sex consensually, and he can't even listen to Beethoven anymore. If we didn't see the treatment, the whole third act would have just fallen apart, because all of a sudden, he goes from a hooligan to a fragile weakling.

And how does 13 Reasons Why handle Bryce's change from unrepentant rapist to penitent soul? They don't, really. In the time it takes for Season 2 to end and Season 3's flashbacks to start, he's just deciding he wants to make amends. And we don't see why he wants to change. Hell, you could have just gone back to his trial, shown him reacting to Jessica's testimony, and suddenly figuring out "Jesus Fuck, I just did this to my best friend's girl. What the fuck is wrong with me?" We don't really see that. He just keeps showing up to Jessica to try and apologise and it all just seems hollow. The closest thing to a proper catalyst is his asking Tony to listen to the tapes, but that happens in Episode 9, and unless they've really made this season particularly non-linear, it's like he took rather late into his redemption process to actually grapple with his action. And he still does shit like breaking Zach's knee, and then cursing out Alex and Jessica just before they kill them, so how much he's able to do it is unclear.








And so, we're just left with a botched and hollow attempt at a redemption arc for someone who probably couldn't even be redeemed. The difference is as clear as night and day.

On a slightly different note, one other film I'd like to recommend for anyone interested in how to at least try and do this plot right is The Woodsman. It's about a child molester who's returned to his hometown after spending 12 years in prison. They focus entirely on the third act, and all the baggage in his situation comes from exposition and not two whole seasons of him being a monster. And the one time he actually does anything truly bad (except for one moment where he comes close to reoffending, but sees the error of his ways and sends her home), he's beating the shit out of another predator with fewer scruples than him, a crime that even his Javert decides not to hold against him. An eerie parallel with how the murder mystery is resolved in 13 Reasons Why.