Imagine how disorienting it must be to be a new kid at Liberty High. She can't consult a handy 13 Reasons Why recap to understand why everything is constantly so...tense in that high school.
Most new kids would take one look at this tangled web of relationships held together by toxic secrets, and head straight to the drama club (or a new school). Not Ani Achola (Grace Saif), a British newcomer. She befriends the group, psychoanalyzing core members like Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) and Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe) to their faces.
Essentially, Ani pays attention. So when the police look into the circumstances surrounding the death of Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice), Ani walks them through the clique's recent activity. "I'll tell you everything. Settle in, this could take a while," Ani says at the end of season 3's first episode, appropriately titled "Yeah, I'm the New Girl."
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Ani is used to being the new kid. She and her mother move around frequently – Liberty is the fifth high school she's attended. But why this town? And why this house? Unfortunately, Ani's mother is Bryce Walker's grandfather's new nurse and caretaker. Yep, Ani is living with Bryce. Turn on the "bad news" neon sign.
All Ani's mom wants is for her to study and go to college. You know. Avoid le drama. "Keep out of these people's mess. Promise me," she pleads.
Does Ani listen to her mother? No, of course not, this is a teen show. She goes full Americans and spies on Brenda Walker's (Nora Strong) furtive conversations with detectives, analyzes Clay's shady reactions, and literally interviews students to put together the events of Homecoming. Ani becomes a full-time pot-stirrer. So inevitably, like all of the characters on the show, she now has to keep track of an increasingly unmanageable plate of lies.
Ani's intentions in talking to the police are hazy. Is she a pal to Clay & Co? Is she a traitor? Does she just want to avoid criminal charges? In early episodes, Ani is an observer, telling other people's stories to the police. But as season three unfurls, Ani will become a part of the story, too.
Only one thing is for certain: Best not to send your kid to Liberty High.