After getting disappointed at Season 2, I believed this was one of those shows that should not continue beyond its first season. Nonetheless, I give it another try to find a storyline full of questionable choices.
(contains spoilers)
Ani, the new girl
With the new school year, a new student comes to Liberty High: Ani (Grace Saif). Ani comes from a different country, doesn’t know anyone, and suddenly becomes the new narrator of the story.
It seemed interesting in the beginning. We would have an outsider's perspective on what was happening. The problem is that Ani does not behave exactly as an outsider.
She is a strong, independent, confident young woman who knows how to move around, mingling amongst her new colleagues. The problem is, the new girl, whom no one really knows, is suddenly ‘besties’ with everyone. How reasonable is that?
Have the authors ever been “the new girl”?
Something interesting to explore was her cultural background. However, it was only superficially addressed; through the lies, she seems to feel obligated to tell her mom.
Bryce’s Murder
We start this season with a missing person's case: Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice) disappeared. We quickly find out he was murdered. This case is the main story of the season, and let me tell you - it was unnecessary.
The audience hates him. No one cares!
Besides that (and this is the worst part), once again, this show tells us that plenty of times, you can commit a crime of any kind and have zero consequences for it. Is this the message we want to pass to our teenagers?
We will be back to this topic later. For now, let’s look at the positive side of this new focus in the story.
No matter what I think about Bryce’s redemption attempt, this deeper perspective of the character was a good addition to the show. The idea that bad people are not evil all the time, that they also have family, friends, and feelings themselves, is, as controversial as it may be, an essential notion that most of us tend to forget.
Message of Empowerment
Jessica (Alisha Boe) is no longer the sad, fragile girl we met in season 2. She is now a strong character, trying to lead other teenage girls sexually abused to step forward. Unfortunately, not always in the best way possible, but that is part of being a teenager anyway. Some scenes irritated me, though.
I liked, however, her speech in the gym scene, when all the victims stand up and say, “I am a survivor.” It was a powerful scene, clearly inspired by the # MeToo movement.
Approaching difficult topics
This was, in my opinion, from the very beginning, the best part of the show. We must talk about what’s ugly, scary, or uncomfortable, instead of pretending it’s not there.
The show talks about all the “uglies” present in our society: suicide, sexual assault, abuse, gun violence, abortion, etc. Not always with the best approach, I must admit, but it’s probably a good way to start talking about these things.
One of the things that surprised me the most was seeing mentioned male sexual abuse or rape. It was painfully difficult to watch Tyler’s (Devin Druid) scene in season 2, and I thought of it as senseless violence with no other purpose than to shock. I changed my mind this season.
I still hate the scene, I don’t want to watch it again but brings to light a very delicate topic that is for some reason a bigger tabu than sexual assault in general.
Moral dilemma
The end of the story is as annoying as disgusting. We found out who killed Bryce. However, nothing happens.
“Let the dead bury the dead,” says Ani to the Sheriff (Mark Pellegrino), who is sweeping the trash under the carpet. Am I the only one thinking about corruption here? Would the Sheriff accept the suggestion if Alex (Miles Heizer) were someone else’s son?
I have a simple question: what values were they trying to pass here?
“He was a human being!” screams Winston (Deaken Bluman) at Ani, referring to Monty (Timothy Granaderos), at the end of the show. Should we forget this?
The show had one more season, and you can read its review here.
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