The place to be at 10|9c Thursday night is definitely on a couch with a firm edge, watching ABC.
How To Get Away With Murder ticked past the halfway point last night with the eighth episode of its 15 episode freshman season with another riveting hour of television.
"He Has a Wife" was written by Doug Stockstill and directed by Debbie Allen, and the most notable part of the hour was the lack of flash forwards, with the opposite, flashbacks, used instead. The episode brought us tantalizingly close to the answers the fans have been waiting for, and within hours - possibly minutes - of finding out #WhoKilledSam.
The episode opened with one such flashback. An sexually insecure Lila Stangard is chilling out on the roof, beside the very water tank her body was later discovered in. Accompanying her is Rebecca, and as they snort drugs, Lila reveals she is seeing a married man, named "Mr Darcy" .
Back in present time, the fallout from the revelation seen last week that Lila was 6 weeks pregnant upon her death played out, with a cornered, and visibly remorseful Sam pleading to his wife that he had no knowledge of Lila's pregnancy.
The usual court case returned in this episode after a week's leave of absence. It was Annalise's task to prove the innocence of a drugged woman, Gretchen Thomas, who, while under the influence, was alleged to have killed her. The Keating 5 were assigned a family member to prepare for the trial, but in an interesting twist, Michaela fell back on her previous medical study to force the truth when it was revealed Gretchen Thomas's husband killed the nanny and used his wife's drugged state to pin the crime on her. What connected the dots was the husband and son sharing an STD inherited from the nanny. In short, a sexual affair led to a murder, and the husband goes to jail. Hello parallels with Annalise and Sam's situation!
The case was wrapped up pretty smartly in this episode, which left plenty of time for more development for all the characters. Michaela was confronted by her soon to be mother-in-law over her pre-nup agreement. She also shot over to Asher's house to nab the prized trophy - something Annalise later revealed she didn't care about any longer. We also saw Frank and Laurel get frisky again, only for the budding duo to find themselves at the feet of the former's girlfriend, Sasha.
That wasn't all. In a fascinating display of playing the long game, Annalise told Wes about Lila Stangard's pregnancy, but precluded him from telling Rebecca. Wes didn't follow those instructions, instead opting to tell Rebecca anyway. Rebecca then passed that intel onto her new ally, Nate, who sent Rebecca to get a DNA sample from the Keating house. She wasn't successful though.
But the biggest game changer of the night were the actions of Bonnie. In flashbacks we saw her force Lila Stangard off the front steps of the Keating household. Lila was intending to reveal her affair to Annalise but Bonnie rebuffed her attempt. In present time, Bonnie revealed this interaction to Sam, which, in doing so, made it clear that Sam had lied to Annalise when he denied knowledge of Lila's pregnancy. Bizarrely, Bonnie and Sam made out on the porch, then Bonnie told Annalise everything, only to be fired. I definitely did not see this coming.
The final moments of the episode were dedicated to positioning every character in anticipation of Sam's murder. We saw how the trophy disappeared from Asher's house, by way of Michaela, with Asher remaining there for now. Rebecca ditched Wes when he found out she had formed an alliance with Nate. Connor turned up at Wes' apartment as she left, with an emotionally wrecked Laurel following shortly after. Connor's car was placed with the trio, as the Keatings were placed at their home, with Annalise demanding the District Attorney collect DNA samples from all the men in her life, including from her teachers.
Those whose whereabouts are unaccounted for include Nate, Rebecca, Frank, Michaela, and Bonnie. In my mind, it's one of those 5 #WhoKilledSam. ABC's number one show has set in motion one of television's most precisely constructed conspiracies, and it looks all set to be revealed next Thursday. But one final question remains. What will the cliffhanger be?
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to share your theories on who you think killed Sam, and what you think the cliffhanger will be. You can also keep track of How To Get Away With Murder's ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/howtogetawaywithmurder. Check out next week's episode promo here.
Jimmy.
