The promo and sneak peeks promised plenty of fireworks in the episode that airs the same week as Guy Fawkes is celebrated. With just two episodes of How To Get Away With Murder still to come in 2016, "Call It Mother's Intuition", written by Erika Harrison and directed by Mike Smith, unveiled a massive revelation in the flash forwards while sending waves through the relationships the characters have with each other in present day events.
Last night's episode was a few shades darker overall than we've seen this season. This stemmed from the weekly case, which pitted an old woman against her three children. Analogous to the relationship Annalise has with her students, Edith Duvall claimed her children wanted her dead and were therefore responsible for poisoning her with antifreeze to help the process along. The hate between both parties was more pronounced than in any case I can recall seeing in the series, and that alone made it more entertaining than the usual serving of procedural formatting.
Though the three siblings readily admitted to wanting their mother dead, neither admitted guilt. It was up to Annalise's law students to get to the bottom of things, but the eventual outcome wasn't hard to predict, and this let things down slightly. Having access to her children's cellphones provided Duvall with information she wouldn't have otherwise known, and with Laurel handpicked by Annalise to take on Duvall in the depositions hearing, the truth came to light, confirming Edith Duvall was poisoning herself in an attempt to further ruin the lives of her children.
Whoever brings me a good suspect gets an automatic A on my mid-term.
Laurel was the recipient of said "A", and is going to need it with the impending drama she's facing. This was another reasonably predictable element of this episode, but it was good to see some referencing to the infamous trophy that directed the actions of the students in the series' first season.
Though the romance between the characters was on show for more of the episode than I hoped, fortunately some storytelling occurred with regard to the season-long arc. Finding himself being questioned by NYPD detectives with his lawyer present, Wes lied about what happened on the night his father was gunned down by Frank. His story that he laid eyes on Wallace Mahoney's son, James, in the vicinity of the crime scene was quickly debunked, throwing Annalise and his fellow students into turmoil.
I said come at me!
Though the blame would normally be channeled directly at the person responsible, Annalise suddenly found herself on the receiving end with all of her students being given a one on one opportunity to let their feelings be known. The cast did brilliantly in this scene, and the directing and cinematography were both top notch too. Michaela was furious at Annalise for using her as bait for Caleb in last season's long-running case, Asher felt bullied, Connor again repeated his disgust at not telling the truth about what happened to Sam Keating at the earliest opportunity, and Laurel was tired of feeling controlled and used.
Wes opted not to say anything, mentioning later that he had already made his feelings known. More ominously, while relaying the content of his chance meeting with Nate, he said he felt Annalise was the one needing protection from himself, not vice versa.
While all this sounded good on paper, and would have felt good for the students, Annalise absorbs everything even though her front suggests it simply bounces off. The rants she was subjected to contained first-hand, pure, uncensored feelings and emotions that only enhances her ability to manipulate the students. This use case was exploited almost immediately when Annalise picked Laurel to take a run at Edith Duvall in the deposition. Though it had a free "A" at the end of it, Annalise made it known that she was using Laurel as a puppet - which is exactly what she disliked. This is clever writing and use of the characters by the creative team here, and it looks set to continue.
In Oliver's case, long story short, he's back together with Connor. Just as he and new boyfriend Thomas were about to have sex for the first time, Connor admitted he was HIV positive, which dampened the mood completely, drawing that chapter to a close. He went to see Connor - who is still living at Michaela's place - where the pair kissed and made up on Michaela's bed. After becoming official last week, no bedroom action was had between Michaela and Asher because of that.
However it was always going to be Wes and Laurel who would draw my interest after also becoming official last week. The couple were seen in bed multiple times and the conversation between them was bordering on cute, warm and fuzzy. Though both have very recent exes, they were at ease in each other's company.
I wanna wake up and realise none of this was real.
It's real for me.
Wes even mentioned how he had wanted to be with Laurel since the first day of class, but had held back because he believed Laurel was out of his league.
I loved Charlie Weber's performance as Frank in this episode. The more I see Frank in this season, the more I think the character is better in small doses. We saw him on his knees pleading with Bonnie to reconcile what they had in Coalport, and to be allowed back into Annalise's circle. Bonnie wasn't having any of it and sent him on his way. After his remarkable deed in last week's episode, Frank's loyalties look set to swing big time, but not just yet. He appeared in Laurel's apartment and overheard her saying "I love you" to Wes. The ensuing conversation will have to wait until next week.
I was surprised to see Annalise get some alone time to attend her AA meetings. Once again she met Soraya Hargrove there, and she listened as Hargrove described how her alcohol abuse had cost her her marriage and custody of her children. Outside of the meeting, the pair met again. These meetings have been far more hostile in the past, but Annalise showed some sign of compassion for her boss, recommending an attorney to her should she want to pursue custody of her children. If the creative team keep showing Annalise at the AA meetings it would be a handy vehicle for her further development. I'm relishing the day when she speaks to the meeting herself, and what truths or lies she tells to explain her situation.
The only thing left to recap is the highly revealing flash forwards. In the first sequence, Annalise was spoken to by two detectives who revealed they were charging her with first degree murder and arson. An anonymous source provided that information. Closing the episode, we return to Laurel's bedside. Keeping vigil was Meggy when Laurel suddenly wakes up and panics thanks to the breathing tube down her throat. She scribbles down "Wes" on a piece of paper, indicating she doesn't know of his wellbeing. We then see Wes in front of the same detectives seen speaking to Annalise earlier. He is handed a deal for immunity. Instead of signing it, he plays his hand perfectly, sending it back and asking for even more detail in writing. Someone has taught him well.
That leaves Connor, Nate and Frank as the only remaining characters who may be under the sheet. While we didn't see how Wes came to be at the police station and seated in front of those detectives, I think it's likely he wasn't with Laurel in the hours leading up to the fire which claims Annalise's house and puts Laurel in hospital. He cares too much about her to jeopardize her welfare. Wes is a lone wolf in my book, but the flash forwards in this episode brought us no closer to learning what actually happened. It does confirm Laurel is in a better state than what was originally believed, and that Wes is not under the sheet. I must say I'm very relieved about both, though there's not a lot else to be thrilled about as this flash forwards format is not proving ideal like I've stated previously.
A couple of final points. One, I was pleased to see less of Simon this week. Two, I anticipate Connor will move back in with Oliver, freeing up Michaela's place for her and Asher to continue to grow or flop. Three, Bonnie seems utterly clueless as to how much damage Frank could do to everyone. Her emotions are severely hindering her judgement and ability to think of the bigger picture, whereas Frank's judgement is often enhanced by things like this. Four, speaking of Frank, his skills and experience make him the person you'd back the most to escape a house fire. Just some food for thought there.
In all, the darkness this episode of How To Get Away With Murder contained was its greatest asset, and the opportunity provided by Annalise for her students to unload their emotions on her comes a close second. How she uses the new insights she's gleaned from that process will be great to watch. Wes and Laurel are great together, and Oliver reuniting with Connor came as no surprise, which was akin to a few other aspects of this episode.
As always, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this review. The comments section is below for you to sound off on your thoughts and theories, so head down there and make your voices heard. All the information you need to know about next week's episode is here.
