Class was not in session, but court certainly was in last night's outstanding hour of How To Get Away With Murder.
The second episode of the season was written by Erika Green Swafford and directed by Rob Hardy. It was a pretty solid first outing for them in the series as the twists and turns certainly didn't disappoint.
As was regularly seen last season, the first scene of the hour was a flash forward to the shocking scene that takes place 2 months from now. Building on last week's flash forward which revealed Wes to be running into the woods from the estate owned by the deceased Helena Hapstall. In last night's hour, we see Wes reach his destination, which happened to be where Laurel and Michaela were taking cover, but minus Connor. With the trio panicking about the whereabouts of the latter, we cut to the room where Annalise lies, bleeding out, with none other than Connor muttering the following to Annalise.
This is your fault. It's always your fault.
More to come later.
Present day sees the continuity of the case which kicked off last week. Having been arrested for allegedly murdering Helena Hapstall, Caleb Hapstall and sister Catherine were bailed out of tough interrogations by the police by Annalise. Having consistently claimed that they spent all night at home, Annalise called on the "puppy", Wes, to pry the truth from Catherine in a touch of genuine class from the prodigy. It turned out Caleb had indeed left the house that night to go for a run.
With Caleb looking more guilty than ever, a fired up Bonnie took charge of the Keating Five, and with the help of Oliver, found out that DNA allegedly present at the crime scene hadn't turned up in a prior test. That was the silver bullet which secured the couple's freedom - for now.
While Annalise worked her usual magic from the defendant's desk in this case, the much more serious case at hand got some serious airtime last night, and involved Annalise sitting in the witness box endeavouring to prove her innocence in relation to the murder of her husband. Last week saw the introduction of Eve Rothlow, played superbly by Famke Janssen.
The two former lovers took their relationship to new heights last night despite each having a vendetta of sorts for each other. Despite this, the pair took a highly calculated risk with the questions Eve asked Annalise, leading the judge to conclude that the hearing had strayed away from the intended topic of Nate Lahey's involvement in the murder, largely thanks to the agenda prosecutor Emily Sinclair had, in that she was trying to pin the crime on Annalise. The prosecution's case was therefore thrown out.
The fact the judge managed to see through this wasn't an outcome I was expecting. We've seen many surprising, spectacular and controversial decisions made by judges in the short history of the series, but this was surprisingly sensible and definitive. What it didn't do, however, is rule out a second attempt by prosecutor Sinclair, and she has the added motivation of Asher gloating at her in the parking building in the hour's dying moments.
Perhaps the highlight of this hour for me was how the creative team left ample time for some critical bits of dialog and character interactions that will shape the season going forward. Chief among those would have to be the possible unveiling of "Eggs 911", the person who Rebecca texted from Michaela's phone in last season's finale. His introduction was unorthodox, however, as he stopped Michaela, then accompanied by Connor, in the courthouse. The attraction, though rebuffed by Michaela at the time, turned out to be mutual as her and "Eggs" met for a game of pool. The introduction of Eggs is something I'm super excited about, and I can't wait to see how this pans out.
Connor and Oliver weren't on good terms all evening thanks to the former revealing to his four friends that Oliver had tested positive for HIV. While that isn't bad on its own, the problem snowballed significantly thanks to Asher making a right hash of their first meeting at the Keating office. With Oliver assisting the team's investigations for the Hapstall case, it looks like he's sticking around somewhat, which is good news on the whole.
Laurel and Frank had a truly surprising time in this episode. Though the pair have had chemistry since day one, Laurel waltzed into Frank's apartment in the evening with nothing but sex on her mind. But Frank showed why he is my new favorite character since Rebecca was murdered because he lets nothing manipulate him, and moves through life with 100% logic, and 0% emotion.
His colleague, Bonnie, had an interesting night too. Annalise made it very clear where she stood among the others with this stunning line:
The only reason why I haven't fired you is because Frank can't be in two places at once. You screw up again and you're gonna be the next dead body in this house.
This is a huge moment for Bonnie, and for Annalise also. Both are clearly capable of killing, but it's their place in the hierarchy which most likely keeps them alive. A calculated Frank also pressed Bonnie about Rebecca's murder, going so far as to thank her for using a plastic bag which minimized the mess. But the best was still to come as Bonnie and Annalise faced off later in the hour. An intoxicated Annalise refused to show any forgiveness to Bonnie for killing Rebecca despite Bonnie continually insisting that she did it to protect her boss.
You say you want me to be like you, but you don't. Not really. You want me like this, so I don't forget what I owe you.
Bonnie is staunchly loyal in this moment, but in all honesty, she's backed right into a corner and her life is on the line. We were once again thrown a hint at Bonnie's past, but what actually went on then that caused Annalise and Bonnie to be brought together is a story yet to be told.
Aside from his role in the flash forwards, Wes had a very quiet night by his standards. But his moment came in the final minutes - when this series is always best - when he discovered a photograph of his deceased girlfriend at a bar with Lila Stangard, alongside the mystery man known as Eggs. This opens the game right up as not only is Eggs connected to Rebecca - he is also connected to Lila.
Also in those final moments, Eve departed Annalise's house, but Nate, having staked out the address from a distance, saw the farewell kiss.
Then came the final scene of the hour, and, of course, it was a flash forward. It seems to be set a minute or two after the flash forward which opened the hour, and shows Laurel, Michaela, Wes and Connor in a state of despair over Annalise who was lying on the floor bleeding out. Connor refuses to part with Annalise despite the insistence of the others and it appears the other three had gone back to retrieve him after he failed to exit the house with Wes. All four eventually exit, and run past the bloody body of arch-rival Emily Sinclair.
This was an awesome ending, and one I didn't expect. This must have been one hell of an incident that went down at the Hapstall property. We have a murder to go along with an attempted murder. The trajectory for the season is set, and I cannot wait to see what happens.
Thanks for reading my review of the second episode of How To Get Away With Murder! As always, I'm bound to have missed a bunch of stuff, and left the odd thing out so please share your own thoughts and theories in the comments below. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to who killed Emily Sinclair and wounded Annalise? Share them below too.
See you all again next week!
