Each week, I look forward to Thursday night with more anticipation and excitement than the week prior.
That's what ABC's How To Get Away With Murder does to you. It just keeps on delivering an incredible hour of television. It's hard to think straight for days afterwards, and last night's episode was no exception.
The episode, titled "He Deserved To Die" was written by Warren Hsu Leonard and directed by Eric Stoltz. It's my favorite episode of this fantastic opening season thus far because it was oozing with my favorite character, Rebecca Sutter.
In an interesting shift, last night's episode was strictly serialized, with a case of the week absent from proceedings, which naturally allowed for Rebecca's screen time. The episode accomplished the task of deepening the main story arc with the court battles focusing on whether Lila Stangard's body should be exhumed for a second autopsy, while providing fans with the juiciest set of flash forwards we've seen to date.
Said flash forwards, portrayed the moments after Sam Keating was killed. We saw Rebecca covered in blood, standing like a statue, akin to what she used to defend herself. Wes was the man of the hour, arriving on the scene shortly after, and masterminding the plan to clean up the crime scene.
In present tense, the courtroom was front and center as Annalise Keating went toe to toe with the prosecution and co-defendants, with neither of the trio emerging overly victorious. The judge was, however, swayed enough to order Lila Stangard's body be re-examined, with the findings exonerating Rebecca to a certain degree, while forcing the direction of Annalise's focus to swing back toward her husband when it was revealed that Stangard was six weeks pregnant.
Rebecca and Wes also sealed the deal in one of this year's most fascinating and daring scenes, on par in my book with the acclaimed final moments of the series' fourth episode. I couldn't describe in words how much I loved Rebecca and Wes's bed scene being crossed with the second autopsy. This was masterful directing that brought two completely different, polar opposites in the form of new life and post death into perfect harmony. The macro photography used was outstanding, and the backing track, titled Vagaries of Fashion by Fujiya and Miyagi fit the moment in an eerily beautiful way.
Yet among Rebecca's appearances, the flash forwards and court scenes, the creative team still managed to find time to bring Laurel and Frank closer together, and find another fling or two for the openly gay Connor. We saw a boys night out, a girls night in, Michaela get a pre-nup dumped on her desk, and Nate provide further information to Annalise before confronting Rebecca in a convenience store with an offer that seems too good to be true.
Wes gave away a few more of his secrets, revealing he was born in Haiti and that his mother killed herself when he was 12. A passing joke by Annalise to her husband Sam told us the couple are childless but not without trying, with the word 'miscarriages' (note the plural) mentioned. Interestingly, it was also Sam who gave Annalise one of her big ideas, but the closeness they grew towards looks to have been decimated with the Stangard autopsy results.
But despite all this, it's the character development we saw in Rebecca that really made this episode for me. Rebecca really opened up, shedding her shy, vulnerable persona while making use of her keen eye and ear, and succeeding in getting under the skin of everyone with her articulate and decisive comments, bar Wes. Katie Findlay far outshone her fellow cast last night too.
Thanks for reading! What were your thoughts on last night's episode? Did you enjoy Rebecca as much as I did? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below! Don't forget to follow How To Get Away With Murder's record-breaking ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/howtogetawaywithmurder.
Jimmy.
