Table of Contents
Introduction: A Critic’s Gambit – Why Predicting an Ending is a Fool’s Errand
In the intricate architecture of long-form television, a series finale represents the ultimate structural test.
The pressure to deliver a satisfying conclusion often leads creators to employ narrative misdirection, guiding the audience’s attention toward one outcome while building toward another entirely.
Analyzing these endings requires a specific framework, one that moves beyond simple prediction to understand a story’s foundational logic.
A useful paradigm is that of a Jenga tower.
In this model, a show’s intricate web of plot and character arcs forms a complex, teetering structure.
The death of a minor character is like removing a block from the top—the tower may wobble, but it remains standing.
The death of a keystone character, however, is the deliberate removal of a critical, load-bearing block from the base.
This action does not merely cause a random toppling; it triggers a controlled collapse, allowing every other piece in the structure to settle into its final, intended place.
The fourth and final season of 13 Reasons Why serves as a powerful case study of this Jenga Tower principle.
The season is a masterclass in narrative misdirection, meticulously constructing a scenario where the audience is led to believe the central, unstable block at the very top—protagonist Clay Jensen—is destined to fall.
Yet, the true narrative climax and resolution are triggered by the calculated removal of the series’ foundational keystone: Justin Foley.
This analysis will deconstruct how the show built this illusion, explore why Justin’s death was structurally necessary to conclude the series, and demonstrate how that single, tragic event precipitated the resolution of every other character’s story arc.
Section 1: The Wobbling Tower – The Masterful Misdirection of Clay Jensen’s Collapse
The final season of 13 Reasons Why opens with a flash-forward to a funeral, immediately establishing that a major character will die and framing the entire season as a whodunit.1
From that moment, the narrative relentlessly directs the audience’s suspicion toward Clay Jensen.
The evidence presented is overwhelming, painting a portrait of a young man spiraling toward a seemingly inevitable tragic end.
This decline is documented through a severe and escalating mental health crisis.
Clay is tormented by paranoia and vivid hallucinations, haunted by visions of a vengeful Monty de la Cruz, whom the group framed for Bryce Walker’s murder, and a taunting, ghostly Bryce.3
His mental anguish manifests in dissociative episodes where he loses time and commits acts of vandalism—such as spray-painting “Monty was framed” on school walls and setting Principal Bolan’s car ablaze—with no subsequent memory of his actions.4
These events are compounded by an anonymous tormentor who uses Monty’s old phone number to manipulate Clay, pushing him toward public breakdowns and further isolating him from his friends.4
The apex of this engineered misdirection occurs during a school lockdown drill.
Trapped in the throes of a psychotic episode, Clay hallucinates an alternate version of himself with an assault rifle before grabbing a real police officer’s gun in a moment of rage and confusion.
He is tackled and subsequently hospitalized, an event that appears to be the point of no return for the character.4
However, this extensive focus on Clay’s breakdown serves a deeper narrative purpose than a simple bait-and-switch.
The core conflict of the season is the shared secret of Bryce’s murder, a secret that threatens to unravel and destroy the entire group.1
Instead of diluting this psychological weight across multiple characters, the writers consolidate the group’s collective, internalized trauma and project it onto a single figure.
Clay becomes the physical embodiment of the guilt, fear, and paranoia that every character feels.
By positioning him as an unreliable narrator who is literally losing his mind, the show creates a pervasive atmosphere of tension and makes him the most logical candidate for the season’s tragedy.1
This strategy not only makes Justin’s eventual death a genuine shock but also establishes a crucial thematic dichotomy: Clay’s journey is about surviving a
mental death and learning to live with his ghosts, while Justin’s is about succumbing to the inescapable physical consequences of his past.
Section 2: The Keystone Block – The Inevitable, Heartbreaking Fall of Justin Foley
While the narrative focused on Clay’s psychological implosion, the true structural keystone of the series was Justin Foley.
His death was not a random tragedy but the culmination of one of the show’s most complex and complete character arcs, making his loss the most emotionally resonant and structurally significant event possible for the finale.
From Antagonist to Anchor – Charting Justin’s Four-Season Redemption
Justin Foley was introduced in Season 1 as a stereotypical jock and a key figure in the toxic culture at Liberty High.
He was Hannah Baker’s first betrayal and an accomplice who enabled the actions of his friend, Bryce Walker.6
Over the subsequent seasons, however, his character underwent a profound transformation.
His arc traced a painful descent into homelessness and heroin addiction, followed by a slow, arduous path toward recovery after being adopted by the Jensen family.
This journey saw him evolve from Clay’s antagonist into his brother, grappling with accountability and becoming the undeniable emotional heart of the series.1
By Season 4, he begins in rehab, determined to build a future for himself, which renders his ultimate fate all the more devastating.2
The Final Act – A Step-by-Step Chronicle of the Collapse
Justin’s final storyline is a chronicle of his past catching up with him.
After his estranged mother dies of a drug overdose, he spirals and relapses, turning back to heroin to cope with his grief and the mounting pressures of his secrets.2
The tragic climax occurs at the senior prom.
In a moment that should have been a triumph—reuniting on the dance floor with Jessica Davis after declaring his love—he suddenly collapses.2
At the hospital, the characters and the audience learn the devastating truth.
The collapse was not simply due to his relapse.
During his time living on the streets, where he engaged in intravenous drug use and sex work to survive, Justin contracted HIV.
Because he was too ashamed of his past to get tested, even when the Jensens provided for full physicals, the virus went untreated and progressed to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).2
His immune system fatally compromised, he developed severe pneumonia and meningitis, leaving no possibility of recovery.3
His final scenes are a series of gut-wrenching goodbyes, culminating in his death with Clay, Lainie, and Matt Jensen by his side.
His final words to Clay—”Will you hold my hand, bro?”—perfectly encapsulate his journey from enemy to family.6
The “Full Circle” Justification and its Inherent Flaws
Showrunner Brian Yorkey, along with actors Dylan Minnette (Clay) and Brandon Flynn (Justin), defended the decision by stating they felt it would bring the show “full circle”.7
From a narrative standpoint, the logic is sound.
The series began with the death of Hannah Baker, a tragedy rooted in secrets, shame, and a failure to seek help.7
It ends with the death of Justin Foley, a tragedy also rooted in the shame of his past, which prevented him from taking a simple HIV test that could have saved his life.8
This thematic parallel, however, exposes a core tension that has defined 13 Reasons Why since its inception: the conflict between its identity as a heightened, dark teen tragedy and its perceived role as a public service announcement.
The storyline drew significant criticism from viewers and health advocates who argued that the depiction of HIV/AIDS as an automatic and rapid death sentence was medically inaccurate and potentially harmful, reinforcing outdated stigmas.7
In the end, the needs of the tragedy—a powerful, emotionally shattering finale—prevailed over the responsibilities of delivering a medically nuanced public health message.
The “full circle” justification serves as both a defense of artistic intent and an inadvertent admission of this prioritization.
Section 3: The Controlled Collapse – How One Death Resolved Every Arc
The removal of the Justin Foley “Jenga block” did not cause the narrative to topple into chaos.
Instead, it initiated a controlled collapse, where his death served as the catalyst for catharsis and resolution for every other major character.
His immense suffering acted as a final, tragic event that allowed the remaining storylines to settle into a state of stability, effectively ending the cycle of trauma and revenge that had propelled the show.
The following table illustrates this ripple effect, demonstrating the direct cause-and-effect relationship between Justin’s death and the final fates of the other characters.
| Character | Core Conflict (Pre-Death) | Resolution (Post-Death) | Key Snippet Evidence |
| Clay Jensen | Overwhelmed by paranoia, guilt, and dissociative episodes; unable to process his trauma or see a future. | Finds catharsis in his grief; delivers a hopeful graduation speech; accepts his “ghosts” are internal; and is able to move forward. | 4 |
| Jessica Davis | Torn between her love for Justin, her activism, and her trauma; struggles to define her purpose. | Fully commits to her activism as the new leader of HO; finds peace with Justin’s memory and her future at Berkeley. | 8 |
| Alex Standall | Wracked with guilt over killing Bryce and fear of being discovered; exploring his sexuality tentatively. | Is absolved when Winston drops the investigation; finds happiness and acceptance in his relationship with Charlie, becoming prom king. | 8 |
| Zach Dempsey | In a self-destructive spiral of alcohol, violence, and nihilism after losing his football future and assaulting Bryce. | Justin’s funeral prompts him to seek a new path; he decides to pursue music in college, choosing creation over destruction. | 3 |
| Winston & Diego | United in a quest for “justice” for Monty, threatening to expose the entire group’s secrets. | Justin’s death acts as a sobering event; they realize there has been enough pain and abandon their quest for vengeance, allowing the secret to be kept. | 8 |
This controlled collapse reveals Justin’s ultimate function in the narrative: he is the moral sacrificial lamb.
The central unresolved issue of the final two seasons is that the protagonists, including the actual murderer Alex, got away with killing Bryce Walker and orchestrating a cover-up.1
A conventional ending would demand legal justice, but this would result in a bleak conclusion for the show’s heroes.
Justin’s death provides a powerful emotional event that short-circuits this demand for accountability.
As seen with Winston, Diego, and even Sheriff Diaz, the sheer scale of the tragedy of Justin’s passing makes the continued pursuit of justice for Bryce seem cruel and unnecessary.8
They conclude that the group has “suffered enough.” This creates the show’s most profound moral paradox: a series that began with the message that accountability is paramount concludes with its protagonists finding peace precisely through a lack of it, a peace paid for by the death of the one character who was trying the hardest to be better.
Justin did not just die; he died
for their secrets.
Conclusion: A Flawed Finale, A Resonant, Unforgettable Message
In the final analysis, the death of Justin Foley was a calculated and structurally necessary move to bring 13 Reasons Why to a close.
It was the only character death that could simultaneously deliver a devastating emotional impact while also neatly resolving the tangled plot threads of every other character.
The Jenga tower did not fall by accident; its keystone was deliberately removed to allow the structure to settle.
This does not absolve the finale of its significant and valid criticisms.
The morally ambiguous ending, in which serious crimes go unpunished, feels unsettling and fundamentally contradicts the ethos of Season 1.13
Furthermore, the medically questionable and potentially harmful depiction of AIDS remains a serious flaw in a show that purports to tackle sensitive issues with care.7
Despite these deep flaws, the decision to kill Justin Foley was, from a purely narrative standpoint, a coherent and powerful choice that operated within the dark, often cynical logic the show had established for itself.
It cemented the series’ ultimate, uncomfortable message: that trauma leaves indelible and often unfair scars, that consequences are rarely proportionate, and that sometimes, the most profound tragedies are the ones that allow everyone else to finally move on.
It is a deeply unsettling legacy, delivered via a flawed and controversial finale, but it is the one 13 Reasons Why chose to leave behind.
Works cited
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- 13 Reasons Why: Season 4 – Review – X-Geeks, accessed August 6, 2025, https://xgeeks.co.uk/2020/06/09/13-reasons-why-season-4-review/
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- ’13 Reasons Why’s Brandon Flynn on Justin’s tragic ending: ‘I’ll never ever ever forget Justin Foley’ – Entertainment Weekly, accessed August 6, 2025, https://ew.com/tv/13-reasons-why-brandon-flynn-justin-death/
- 13 Reasons Why – Wikipedia, accessed August 6, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_Reasons_Why
- 13 Reasons Why Season 4 Ending & Justin’s Death Explained, accessed August 6, 2025, https://screenrant.com/13-reasons-why-season-4-ending-justin-death/
- Here’s how everyone’s stories ended on ’13 Reasons Why’, accessed August 6, 2025, https://ew.com/tv/13-reasons-why-ending/
- www.vulture.com, accessed August 6, 2025, https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/13-reasons-why-season-4-finale-who-dies.html#:~:text=In%20an%20interview%20with%20EW,bring%20the%20show%20full%20circle.
- 13 Reasons Why: Plot Holes and Ending Explained | OSSA Movies – YouTube, accessed August 6, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7bBwzG6LE
- 13 Reasons Why Season 4 Ending & Final Episode Explained – YouTube, accessed August 6, 2025, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SfakjgIxQL0
- Season 4 Ending : r/13ReasonsWhy – Reddit, accessed August 6, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/13ReasonsWhy/comments/120z8x9/season_4_ending/
- [Spoilers] Season 4 is one of the most ridiculous 10 hours of television I have ever watched, and I watched The I-Land. : r/13ReasonsWhy – Reddit, accessed August 6, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/13ReasonsWhy/comments/gxvzpu/spoilers_season_4_is_one_of_the_most_ridiculous/
