Brian was one of those people who was like, "We can't kill off the character who's continually trying to be better."

We both sat there somberly for a second and then we just delved into the storyline and what they had devised and what I could bring to the table. Clay got to have a particularly poignant moment with the memory of his adopted brother after discovering Justin's college admissions essay was written about how Clay was the positive influence in his life. The writers and researchers and experts that we bring on board, we all collaborated and it evolved into this sort of packet of information. They both switch off trying to protect each other, trying to save each other, be there for each other, and it was such a pivotal relationship for Clay to experience that brotherly love. By entering your details, you are agreeing to Radio Times privacy policy. I get that Justin's beloved but also, his storyline is so full of ups and downs that you're really rooting for him. Going back to what I said for Clay, Justin was a mirror for me in a lot of ways, in a lot of things that I needed to heal and recover from personally. “I’ve been able to process college and high school in one character and addiction and loss and all that stuff.

The rest of the finale episode saw the Liberty High seniors attending Justin's funeral and graduating high school without him. Thanks! Sign up to get alerts on Netflix and on demand services and receive TV and entertainment email newsletters from our award-winning editorial team.

Walking away from this show, what did Justin teach you?

EW has the exclusive post-mortem with actor Brandon Flynn to talk about Justin's ending and why he felt it was right.

Justin Foley died at the end of 13 Reasons Why season 4 - Brandon Flynn reflects on his character's death.

It does have much more of this strong, visceral impact when it is this character.

Frailty was a really big physical element that I wanted to hit, feeling really tiny in this already small bed.

This whole season, Justin was trying to be so strong for people. What made you feel like that was the right choice? And I didn't know the ending so I had nothing to play!

You can also check out the best Netflix series and best Netflix movies to keep you entertained or visit to our TV guide for more to watch. It never seemed to fail that I would get to set, dealing with something personal, and it would be the scene that I needed to do to get out or process something within myself. I was able to process it through Justin.

The one thing everyone seemed to agree on, though, was that Justin was a bright spot in the final season, and his death was absolutely heartbreaking for everyone watching.

The brief flash-forward showed a minister delivering a eulogy for a Liberty High senior, without revealing the identity of the deceased. There's an Instagram page actually called The AIDS Memorial that I found and I kept pulling from all the stories. © Copyright 2020 Meredith Corporation. The final season began with a time jump to a funeral taking place around the time of graduation, six months ahead of where the season's story would kick off. When I found out was timed perfectly because I got the opportunity to play Justin in his rehabilitation without knowing where the story was going. Warning: This post contains spoilers from the final season of 13 Reasons Why.

Essentially you're getting bombarded with all this information of how dangerous this virus is. With Justin ultimately dying from AIDS, what went into your research process for those scenes? 13 Reasons Why's Brandon Flynn on Justin's tragic ending: 'I'll never ever ever forget Justin Foley' this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.

He's Clay's equal in many ways.

And I didn’t know the ending so I had nothing to play!”. Sign up to be the first to know when we launch the new website! As is usual with the franchise, one big name dies throughout the course … I was able to process it through Justin,” he said. You can't have a season of 13 Reasons Why without a mystery, and in its final season, the mystery revolved around a death. TBH, it was difficult to watch the finale through the tears, and viewers took to Twitter to express all their emotions over Justin's death.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: At what point did you find out that Justin would be the one to die? Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. 30 essential albums from the last 30 years. After the season 4 premiere set the stage for a funeral, the question became: Which character doesn't make it out alive?
Our best wishes for a productive day. The ethos of this last season is about healing, that we are going to watch the survivors go out into the world and to college and attempt to heal from all the damage. Offers may be subject to change without notice. I think once we move past that first stage of anger in grief, we get to the understanding of life and it sometimes not being fair. We read that first script and we saw that there was the funeral. You mentioned asking Brian if it'd be Justin, and I know Dylan [Minnette] mentioned you both thought Justin should be the one to die. Based on Jay Asher's 2007 novel of the same name, 13 Reasons Why debuted on Netflix in 2017. debuted on Netflix in 2017. Through Justin's death, I think Clay got to understand a little bit of what he needs to do in order to heal. After one last dance with Jessica, Justin collapsed at prom and a doctor revealed to Clay and his parents that Justin had contracted HIV which had advanced to AIDS during his time without a home. Seasons 1-4 of 13 Reasons Why are available to watch on Netflix. Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from the series finale of 13 Reasons Why. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. The most prominent responses to the finale pointed out how emotional Clay reading Justin's essay way, while fans also asserted that Justin deserved a better ending after struggling to improve himself throughout the show's run.

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In the end, the answer was Justin Foley, the character we first met as a jock who broke Hannah Baker's heart. Although Justin seemed to be doing well at the beginning of Season 4, fresh out of rehab with his focus squarely on his sobriety and his future, he relapsed after finding out his mom had died.