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.
Great review! Another crazy episode of HTGAWM. Can't wait to see #WhoKilledSam in next week's fall finale. Everything is in motion, tension is mounting so bring it on! Too bad we have to wait another week to see it.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who thinks that maybe Annalise killed Sam...?
ReplyDeleteCheers Daniel, yeah really looking forward to next week. The show still needs something to sustain itself beyond that so looking forward to seeing what's going to keep viewers interested into 2015
ReplyDeleteShe has motive, but I for one don't think she could overpower Sam. Time will tell!
ReplyDeleteIt will likely be the fall-out.
ReplyDeleteExcellent summary. I have HTGAWM on my DVR, and will watch last night's episode at least a dozen more times before next week's mid-season finale--in order to see if my prediction on Who murdered Sam changes. Right now, I'm clearly pointing the finger at Annalise. It's the most shocking possibility ("The Star of the Show did it?") as well as sets up the Cliffhanger: how does she defend herself? Was it self-defense? Did she plan to kill Sam months before--because she knew he was having the affair with Lila AND Bonnie? Was her selection of the Keating 5 her way of assembling a "Defense Team" for herself...and this is "How to Get Away with Murder"?
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I think HTGAWM is a great "ride" that challenges the mind (logic) while entertaining with some of the boldest sex ever on Broadcast television. The entire second half of the season will be spent on Annalise's defense--and her "getting away with murder."
Yep, this is the BEST (and most talked-about) show on Broadcast television right now.
Anneliese couldn't overpower him but Michaela or Rebecca could? They're both tiny! Anneliese could have killed him just as easily as one of them could have. My money's on Bonnie though. She had the most to gain with Sam out of the way.
ReplyDeleteI'd initially thought that, but at this point I think she'd be too predictable a suspect. Lord knows she's got PLENTY of reasons to kill him, of course, I easily understand why people think it'd be her.
ReplyDeleteBut I think she's way too calculating to go that route-I think if she wanted to take Sam down, she'd do it through some shifty legal means. I suspect one of our intrepid band of law students is the actual culprit. Either that, or Bonnie's involved somehow.
I won't rule out Annalise entirely, though-she can kill you with a glare alone, so I can see her being pretty handy with a murder weapon in the right circumstances, too. You could very well be right next week :). All I know is, I have to work the night that episode airs, and so when I get home, I'm not coming on any TV-related websites until after I see the episode myself :p. I want to be completely surprised.
My issue with that is two fold: 1) Are you really going to have the star of the show do that (and, if so, how do you top that for future seasons)? Seriously, no follow-up murder would ever have that kind of impact; 2) I'm still bugged by Annalise throwing such anger and moral righteousness at Tom, when she was hooking up with Nate during the same time period in THEIR HOUSE. (That seems completely off. Plus remember how desperate she was to keep things going with Nate?) It's odd and, if she did murder Sam, makes her far less sympathetic as a 'victim.' Therefore based on those two things - definitely NOT Annalise.
ReplyDeleteStill think that Bonnie or Annalise did it. Or maybe Nate or Wes. But definitely not Rebecca. That would be way too obvious.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, enjoyed the Michaela subplot and especially Bonnie's. I'm going to need more of her backstory ASAP.
I agree with you in thinking that Annalise killed Sam. I think Bonnie killed Lila.
ReplyDeleteOn the West Coast I have to wait 3 more hrs to find out. Hopefully, I won't have to eat crow tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteLooks like we are both eating crow for breakfast!
ReplyDelete