13 Reasons Why’s Devin Druid deserves an Emmy for Season 3

Could we please just hand out the 2020 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor right now? 13 Reasons Why’s Devin Druid deserves it for Season 3.

While the 2019 Emmy Awards are just around the corner, eyes are on some of the top performances of the summer that need to be talking points for the 2020 Emmys. One of those is Devin Druid’s performance in 13 Reasons Why Season 3. Just hand him the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor right now.

Honestly, I’d love for it to be the Best Lead Actor, but sadly, he’s not the lead. Dylan Minnette is, and nothing against him but Druid is the one that is stealing absolutely every single scene he’s been in. He’s capturing so many emotions that I can’t take my eyes off the screen whenever he’s on there.

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Since the Season 2 finale, all I’ve wondered is how the show is going to take on the topic of male rape and the PTSD that would have come from that attack in the bathroom. I was worried that the show might brush it under the carpet, using it as a plot device to turn Monty into the next villain. But that’s certainly not been the case.

Instead, we’ve got a storyline that shows his downward spiral. He shared his reasons for wanting to shoot up the school—putting a very human face to the sad situations happening in schools around the country. But I’m not going to get into the gun debate right now. Druid’s Tyler has been through so many emotions. He’s been suicidal, angry, hurt, and it finally looks like he could get through the other side.

Now I’ll say that I’m only onto Episode 9 of 13 Reasons Why Season 3. I have no idea who killed Bryce, and quite frankly, I don’t care. Ani is the worst, and I couldn’t be less bothered about the murder mystery. I’m more impressed with every shred of emotion Druid is showing. He’s acting everyone out of the water (although there is certainly some competition from Christian Navarro with Tony’s heartbreaking deportation storyline).

Druid doesn’t have to say a word and we know what he’s feeling as Tyler. Just having Monty in the same room is difficult for Tyler. He’s shrinking into himself visibly, scared to be around his attacker. And why wouldn’t he be? When he has gained the guts to stand up to Monty, he’s been left with mixed emotions. He’s built up the courage, only to end up losing it because of one or two things Monty has said.

When it comes to the Hands Off group, you can see his need to tell his story but his preference to remain quiet. He’s an “ally” to the group, but really, he’s one of the survivors. And he deserves a voice, but look at the way he curls into himself when the annoying, overly vocal Casey, who is more interested in creating a scene than actually supporting sexual assault victims.

The one moment that made it extremely clear that Druid deserves an Emmy for this season is when he decides to talk about what happened to him. I won’t even say who he talks to for those who want to avoid spoilers. But he opens up and it’s so intensely emotional that my heart ached for him. He conveyed this strength behind what he viewed as fear and weakness because opening up about it to someone he trusted and viewed as a friend was the strongest thing he could have done.

Within one scene that lasted no more than five minutes (I didn’t time it because I was too engrossed in it), we had a multitude of emotions. It wasn’t just the words, but the body language. The way he refused to look the person he was confiding to in the eye. And then there was the release as every single emotion was let out, hugging onto this one person for dear life because it was finally out; someone knew, and you could see it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Out of everything I’ve seen so far for the nominations next year, this is the performance that stands out. It’s going to take a hell of a lot for anything to top this. But sadly, I have a feeling that 13 Reasons Why is too controversial for Devin Druid to be nominated and that’s going to be a travesty.

What have you thought of Devin Druid’s performance on 13 Reasons Why Season 3? Is it Emmy worthy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

13 Reasons Why Season 3 is now available to watch in full on Netflix.