My Opinion On 13RW Season 3:
I don't necessarily believe that they were trying to redeem Bryce. Like Everyone else there were times I started to feel for Bryce. I didn't realize till the end that this was a clever munipulation.
You have to remember that Ani from the very first word spoken in episode 1 is talking to Deputy Standall. Her entire narration is just to distract us. She is telling a story that is meant to lead the police into believing Monty is the Killer.
You periodically catch her lies. The things she says that don't match what you are seeing. Not sure if there is any before this but the first time I cought a lie in the narration was when she had said Her and Clay hadn't kissed but they had in his car. Her Lies became more evident in the last 2 episodes. I think the narration had a big part in humanizing Bryce mainly because Monty needed to look like the bigger bad guy.
Ms. Walker and Bryce him self warned us repeatedly that Bryce is not a good person. Ms. Walker Warned Ani that a few times and When Ani's Mom had sid her son was "a good boy" Mr. Walker corrected her.
Bryce said it to Ani after they had sex telling her "I'm Fucked up, you shouldn't be here." Bryce told Mr. Porter that he still had urges (implied rape) . He Told Mr. Porter that he been having sex with this girl (Ani). He goes on to talk about wanting to be rough and also states he wants to choke her.
The biggest indication was in Bryce's confession tape that he had recorded the night before he dies (maybe 2 nights) He tell Jess "I'd like to say I'm not that same person that raped you, But what I've come to realize is that I'll always be him."
When Bryce is confronted about the things he did his face and demeanor was like a wounded puppy but When threatened it shifted to a cocky arrogant you can't touch me attitude. He knew what role to play to either intimidate the other person or drop their defenses. The last time you saw that shift was at the docks. His pain caused him to drop his facade. He screamed out threats and started to turn on Jess causing Alex to end him.
Bryce wasn't used to being shunned and not having friends that he could easily manipulate. So I believe his poor me I'm trying to change act was a way to regain control get back some of the power he lost.
Bryce is a Narcissist. A narcissist will go to any length to get so called friends or loved ones back. it’s easy to mistake their trickery for genuine remorse and the desire to fix what went wrong when it’s really calculated to appeal to your sentimentality and timed to catch you at a weak moment – often when you’re feeling vulnerable or reflective. It is a scheme meant to toy with your emotions in an effort to get you to soften up and reconcile. It’s called Hoovering or The Hoover Maneuver.
Hoovering is a technique that’s employed by manipulative and narcissistic con artists to suck their victims back into a relationship with them by exhibiting improved or desirable behavior. It’s named after the Hoover vacuum cleaner because the hoovering narcissist not only desires to suck you back into the relationship, but will ultimately treat you like dirt.
This is what I believe Bryce was doing throgh this season. His Mother, Ms. Baker and Clay could see it. There at the end Most every ones finally did.
So by the end I didn't see any redeeming qualities in Bryce Not after I saw the shift moments before he was pushed in the water. I will be re watching the entire season again soon to see if I pcik up anything new that I may have mussed the first time.
Well Thanks for reading my 2 cents ramblings 😉