Did the characters of 13 Reasons Why do the right thing? At the end of the show's season 3, it's revealed that Jessica (Alisha Boe) and Alex (Miles Heizer) are responsible for the death of Bryce (Justin Prentice), the rapist whose murder was the latest mystery of the series. In order to protect Jessica, Alex, and all the other suspects at Liberty High, the gang decides to pin the crime on Monty, a.k.a. Montgomery (Timothy Granaderos).
"Screw them!" Granaderos jokes to Refinery29 of the characters who blamed Monty. "I mean it's obviously morally not the correct thing to do, but for the sake of the show, it creates a very intense storyline for [13 Reasons Why] season 4. It sees some relationships flourish from that in season 4, and others [struggle.]"
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With Bryce and Monty dead, Granaderos isn't sure if there will be "physical villain" to replace them for the fourth season.
"I think it might be more of an internal battle for a lot of the characters [next season]," Granaderos explains. "They’re dealing with the aftermath of all of these traumatic events and just trying to get their life on track before they graduate high school and start their actual lives."
Though Granaderos knows Monty isn't redeemed from his awful actions — like sexually assaulting Tyler (Devin Druid) during a harrowing scene at the end of season 2 — he admits there was hope for Monty.
"It’s easy to judge Monty based on his actions, but if you peel back layers you see there’s a lot more to this kid," says the actor. "From Monty’s perspective it was always his goal to get out of his house. He didn’t know how he was going to but there was always this idea he was going to leave this all behind. It’s a tragic ending to such an immature story."
Winston (Deaken Bluman), Monty's season 3 hookup, might have facilitated a change of character...had Monty lived.
"Winston was a very important person in Monty’s life. He was the only person who told Monty he could be whatever he wanted to be. Monty’s response was ‘No, I can’t’ which is so sad," he says. "If their relationship went on, Monty’s vulnerability could have opened up, and he could have discovered himself and seen things a little differently."
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Winston could also be the person who reveals the truth: That Monty isn't Bryce's killer, because the night of Bryce's death, Monty was sleeping with Winston. Still, there's no changing the past, and if Granaderos appears in season 4, it won't be in the same way.
"I think it would be fun to play that [kind of] role," Granaderos teases when asked if he would want to come back as a figment of Clay's imagination a la Hannah (Katherine Langford) and more recently Bryce.
If season 4 is all about an internal battle for the characters, a ghostly Monty could help externalize that. Boy, would that be creepy.