The Survivor Wants to Die at the End

Alano berates himself for the way he handled the confrontation with Paz. He believes that his presence in Paz’s life made everything worse.

Paz remains sequestered indoors to avoid the cameras outside. On the pretext of calling his psychiatrist, he goes to his room to inflict more self-harm.

Alano receives a visit from Rio, who confesses his reasons for rejecting Alano’s love years earlier. He was afraid of losing another person he cared about, like he lost his brother. He now wants to pursue a romance with Alano, but the latter rejects him. Alano’s feelings for Rio have been supplanted by his love for Paz. Stung by this rejection, Rio leaves. Now, Alano feels as if he’s lost Ariana, Rio, and Paz.

Paz’s day gets worse when he receives the news that his Make-a-Moment audition was rejected, and a sub-par actor was cast in the role he wanted for Golden Heart. Paz is now so depressed that he plans to return to the Hollywood Sign and try to die by suicide there again.

Later, Alano learns of all the negative media attention focused on Paz and fears that this will push him to die by suicide. He tells his parents that he wants to make sure Paz is alright. Joaquin discourages contact, but Naya understands.

Paz prepares to leave the house to go back to the Hollywood Sign and jump to his death. Much to his surprise, he finds Alano standing at his door, holding the star throw rug that he bought for Paz. The two boys hug, with the media outside capturing the entire scene. Paz feels as though he is holding onto Alano for his life.

Paz invites Alano in, with Dane following, to search the house again. Once given the all-clear, the boys retreat to Paz’s room to talk through their feelings. Alano has been reading up on the new therapy for borderline personalities that Paz’s therapist suggested. It’s called dialectical behavior therapy, and Alano describes the steps and countermeasures that a borderline personality can take to control their emotions.

Paz books an appointment with his therapist, and then the boys delve into their past secrets. Paz talks about his self-harming behavior, while Alano describes his past relationship and recent breakup with Rio. Now feeling a little stronger, Paz says that he is finally ready to watch Grim Missed Calls. This is the documentary that misrepresented his actions and branded him a killer at the age of nine. Paz decides, “I’m done trying to win back love from the rest of the world. I only wanna be loved by someone who sees me for who I am, scars and all, and never looks away” (530).

Alano calls his parents to inform them that he will be staying overnight at Paz’s house. Predictably, his father is furious, while his mother is concerned but supportive.

The boys spend the next few hours watching Paz’s murder trial documentary. The program is skewed to make him appear as a cold-blooded killer. However, both Paz and Alano were in the courtroom, so they know the actual facts that the public will never see.

The experience is emotionally devastating for Paz, but Alano helps him avoid spiraling into despair.

From the other room, Gloria can hear her son weeping. She reproaches herself for all her past bad choices. She should have left Frankie and run away with her son. Now, she fights the urge to intrude on Paz’s grief, trusting that Alano is the person whom Paz needs most right now.

Joaquin has had a bad day. His business is under threat, and his son is absent. Unable to resist the temptation, he goes back to drinking again.

Alano has gotten Paz to calm down, but he is still worried about the latter’s mental state. Paz is convinced that he’s fated to die by suicide on the 10th anniversary of his father’s death on July 31st. Alano is determined to protect him.

Paz awakens the next day to find Alano still with him. The latter decides to stay in town until after the 31st. Alano will accompany Paz to his next therapy session. Paz realizes he needs to accept help if he wants to heal.

The boys watch a live broadcast of Carson Dunst’s rally in New York. Somehow, the news that Alano canceled his Death-Cast account has been leaked, and Dunst is using it to his political advantage. His guest speaker is none other than Death-Cast’s former head herald, Andrea Donahue.

Andrea stirs up the crowd by talking about the way that Joaquin suppresses information and abuses his power. She is working to get Dunst elected not only to get revenge against Joaquin, but also to ensure a presidential pardon in case she is convicted of any crime in her work with Death-Cast.

Alano is shocked by Andrea’s disclosures. He thinks someone still at the company might be feeding her information. His calls and texts to his parents go unanswered, which only accelerates his concern.

Joaquin has just heard Andrea’s speech and is livid. He also becomes increasingly paranoid about who might be leaking information about Death-Cast. He suspects Ariana, Rio, Paz, and even Alano.

Alano’s anxiety accelerates, as he fears the consequences of past actions.

Paz does what he can to soothe Alano—a reversal of their typical roles. He tries to find something amusing for the two boys to do over the weekend and suggests going to an outdoor movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Alano is expecting Dane to arrive with his dog, Bucky, but Paz opens the door to find Dane, Bucky, Naya, and Joaquin on his doorstep.

Alano is disturbed to see his parents, but they have only come to say goodbye before flying back to New York for the gala they planned to honor the Last Friend founder. Gloria invites everyone to stay for dinner, and the visitors agree.