The fifth week of the new television season brought with it a markedly different episode of How To Get Away With Murder last night on ABC. Almost everything in the long term storylines came to a halt, with some fascinating flashbacks used to detail the recent years of Frank, who has been on the run since the season premiere after he gunned down Wallace Mahoney. Viola Davis delivered a season best performance in "It's About Frank", which was written by J.C. Lee and directed by Jann Turner.
This episode couldn't have come at a better time. Since Frank went on the run we've seen precious little of him. He returned to prominence last week when he killed Bonnie's paedophile father, though what prompted him to do that remains unclear. Bonnie met Frank early in this episode, moments after she exited the funeral parlour where she saw her father's body. Her hatred was real - she shed no tears and wasted no time or money in ordering his cremation and refusing to accept his ashes. She thanked Frank for doing what he did within seconds of meeting him.
Run away with me.
What came next between the pair was rather strange. Bonnie and Frank both comforted each other and even slept together during their time in Frank's motel room. They would both have been well aware of Laurel's yearning to reunite with him, but she wasn't even mentioned in their conversations. Something seemed off between them right the way through, but I can't put my finger on it. Furthermore, all of this was happening behind Annalise's back, and it looks like she will have something to say on the matter next week. Despite discussing running away together and escaping the mess that was their lives at present, Frank eventually bailed again, with his whereabouts unknown.
With last week's episode largely centered around the adults, I expected to see the students return to center stage this week somewhat, but I was largely wrong. Interestingly, the majority of the scenes we did see of the students featured everyone, rather than the focus being pointed at a particular couple or individual. New addition Simon Drake made his presence felt most prominently, but his practical joke consisting of a photocopied behind didn't go down well with his classmates, and revenge was well and truly in order. With Annalise barred from their class, the group still had a case to focus on, but it only acted as a vehicle for some no-holds-barred banter between them all. Study for upcoming exams was also used as an excuse for group gatherings in this episode.
With the students occupied and Bonnie in Coalport with Frank, Annalise had her soon to be destroyed home to herself. She went to an AA meeting as part of the conditions for her reinstatement, but just as I alluded to last week, Annalise and alcohol don't part ways with ease. That evening she relapsed and ended up very drunk, which brought to the surface some curious past memories. These were played out beautifully in flashbacks, with Tom Verica reprising his role as Sam Keating.
You have good in you.
These flashbacks tied in with the nightmares Frank experienced while he was with Bonnie. The episode's overall purpose was to tell a bit of Frank's story, and this was done very well throughout. We learned Frank had a tough upbringing, and injured his father in an act of premeditated brutality at age 13. This makes his close ties with Bonnie much more understandable, in that the pair both had fathers they despised and wanted dead. Sam Keating met with Frank initially 11 years ago, and persuaded Annalise to take his case on in order to have him released from prison. That release clearly happened, but sadly none of that was depicted.
Alongside that, flashbacks showing only Annalise and Sam were also featured. In summary they told the story of Annalise's struggle to get pregnant and carry a baby to term, and the resulting conflict they experienced. One of Annalise's theories as to why her husband was so keen to help Frank was that he wanted to act as a father figure to someone. Right the way through it seemed as though Sam was the one who wanted to have children, but Annalise, partially through intent as well as through her genuine medical issues, was largely content with not having children. The flashbacks intersected her most successful pregnancy, which was ended by a car crash within a reasonably short timeframe of Frank being released.
I would have liked to see some more detail here, particularly concerning how Annalise won the case to get Frank out, and even how they ended up employing him. I suspect Frank's release was subject to him working for Annalise, but that's only guessing at this point. Hopefully those pieces of the puzzle will be added in time.
Viola Davis excelled when she played a very drunk Annalise. It was Wes who turned up on her doorstep and found her in an almost incoherent state. He helped clean her up and put her to bed, which, when watching it, felt so wrong. A student shouldn't have to be doing that sort of stuff for a boss, let alone a teacher.
After noticing her superior, Soraya Hargrove, at the AA meeting she attended, Annalise, after being put in her place last week, unloaded last night, threatening a $50 million suit if the university didn't allow her to teach again. For a woman who last week admitted publicly she had a problem with alcohol, this was a risky and arrogant move. It's absolutely the kind of move she would make in court when defending her clients, but pulling it for her own benefit can only lead to burned bridges and a further damaged reputation. Hargrove's best intentions and genuine care for Annalise's wellbeing stood no chance in convincing Annalise otherwise.
You spineless, tiny-balled, whiny excuse of a man.
Though I mentioned earlier that the students were again deprived of proper screen time and storyline development, there were several gold moments that played out in spectacular fashion. After pulling his practical joke, Simon had his precious laptop stolen by Michaela who stood up to his accusations in amazing style. In the time Michaela had the laptop, Oliver managed to find a file containing the very flyer that had been plastered around the university. Simon got a taste of what it's like when Annalise turns up at your home unannounced, putting him right in his place. He will be awfully brave to put a foot wrong again. Annalise is also basing her threat to sue the university on Simon and her other students not revealing the identity of who was placing the posters around the university. I don't think that's sustainable, and that further adds to the stupidity of her threatening to sue. It's not a long term fix in my opinion, but time will surely tell.
Aside from his time spent keeping a drunk Annalise out of trouble, Wes met with girlfriend Meggy's father for the first time. The trio shared dinner together with Meggy constantly interjecting at every question because it was too personal. Later, Wes met with Laurel to confide in her that he felt he had to break up with Meggy because he couldn't continue lying to her. This was a sad moment because Meggy is something and someone that is at least normal and not damaged or loaded with baggage. Simultaneously, the chemistry between Laurel and Wes right then and there was as strong as it's ever been. You could almost see Laurel's spirits lift when she realized she is effectively next in line, and that Wes trusts her enough to tell her all of that. Really good stuff.
So who is the next character that escapes the sheet? The flash forwards offered a lot less than last week's big reveal, but Michaela is the latest character to be safe. At the hospital, Oliver tried to call Connor, but he didn't pick up. Instead, Michaela did after wrestling the phone from her mother. Meanwhile Bonnie was on the phone to someone else. The episode's final camera angle faced a television in the hospital, where a headline read "Unidentified Male Dead In House Fire".
So, the girls are all safe, but Wes, Asher, Connor, Nate and Frank are in jeopardy. I didn't expect the creative team to narrow it down by gender, but at this point it's still very difficult to produce any plausible theories as to what's happened that night. This is turning into a bit of a flaw in the way this story is being unfolded. Trying to reveal who is alive one character at a time severely limits the opportunity to expand on things because the remainder of the characters have to be kept under wraps.
All we've really seen is Annalise arrive at her house and get shipped off to jail, Oliver and Bonnie arrive on the scene and then the hospital, and Laurel arrive at the ER in grave way while also being pregnant. In the first two seasons, with no characters being hidden from view the flash forwards were much better, and enabled genuine opportunities for building theories and putting pieces together. There simply aren't enough pieces to attempt to put together in the flash forwards this season, and it's beginning to take a toll. Hopefully the creative team save face a bit in the next couple of weeks because they should be able to afford revealing two characters as safe per week until the mid-winter finale, but I'm not holding my breath because I expect to see the majority revealed as safe in the year's final episode.
In all, the highlight for me in this episode was the flashbacks. Learning about Frank's story was timely and well executed. Viola Davis was brilliant, and there was enough there from the students, particularly Laurel, Wes and Simon to keep things interesting. The way the flash forwards are being carried out is becoming burdensome, and this has to change in order for the show to lift for its midseason finale.
Thanks as always for reading. Head down below to the comments to discuss the episode and share your thoughts and theories. Click here to find out all you need to know about next week's episode, including its pretty decent promo.
