After last week's good but not great midseason premiere, ABC's How To Get Away With Murder stepped things up massively in last night's installment. So much about this episode was all round superb, and I'd go so far as to say "Not Everything's About Annalise", written by Abby Ajayi and directed by Nicole Rubio, is the best episode of the season thus far.
The somber mood that was created in last week's episode gave way to a dark, heavy, high-stakes undertone that was present right through the hour. The reduced pace, minimalist score, and spaced dialog all combined perfectly to achieve this. Excellent flashbacks were also used to add to the story and overall feel of the episode.
Amazingly, the flashback we saw in segments during the episode was just one conversation, probably a couple of minutes in length, but it's one of the most important conversations in the series' short history. Alfred Enoch and Charlie Weber were sublime here, and it was fantastic watching Wes go head to head with Frank with rock solid, unflinching determination. Just like every other character in this episode, Wes played his cards to perfection, and despite knowing he could have been killed on the spot, he stood his ground and eventually came out on top. Superb stuff all round.
As much as I enjoyed that, I enjoyed Laurel's interactions with everyone even more. Each cast member had a significantly better night when compared to the week prior, but Karla Souza's performance was particularly impressive given she was stationed in a hospital ward for the duration. She saw off every regular character in a position to contact her, and even beautifully deflected and answered around questions put to her by the detectives investigating Wes's death. Like I said in last week's review, Laurel is number one right now, because she is the sole witness to Wes's demise. Despite being bedridden, she put all the pieces together to decipher everyone's playbook. Even innocent Meggy was no match in what was her most ruthless exchange. It was a last-ditch effort from Bonnie which finally got her talking, albeit with a story which implicated Frank, but that wasn't enough (thankfully) to free Annalise.
We're not friends, Meggy.
Speaking of the series' main character, she was so much better in this episode. All I really wanted was to see her demeanor and personality reinstated, and it was. She snapped at Bonnie, had a crack at the cops with some legal jargon, and even looked as though she was going to fight in the showers. Why she cut her hair escapes me, but I'm confident it's not because she was fed up with having long hair. It will no doubt be to play or influence someone down the track.
I trusted you to get me out on bail. Look how that went.
In addition to a stressed out Bonnie linking Annalise to the other characters, Soraya Hargrove also returned in surprising circumstances. The first we saw of Michaela, Asher and Connor was in Hargrove's office, where she offered her university's support and condolences for the loss of their friend, Wes. Michaela took her turn in the spotlight to comprehensively destroy Hargrove's logic and motives for the meeting, which eventually compelled her to go and visit Annalise in prison. Hargrove's appearance added a lot more to the episode than I originally expected, so great call by the creative team there.
In among all this, Connor, Asher and Michaela still saw decent screen time and growth. Also tagged in was Oliver, whose importance to the overall story continues to grow. His peers were disgusted to learn from Connor that Oliver knew about Sam, which led to a dramatic dressing down for Oliver at the hands of none other than Michaela once more. It's a baptism by fire, but I think it's safe to say Oliver is now a part of the club. Splitting the four into couples for a decent portion of the episode was a brilliant move, with Oliver gaining a lot more sympathy for Connor and his roller coaster of emotions. In the other camp, Matthew McGorry's genius accent loosened Michaela's screws - and shoulders - just when it was needed.
Sam deserved it.
It pays not to discount Bonnie, Nate and Frank, however. In the episode's dying moments Bonnie and Frank were seen in the flashback talking about Wes. This will no doubt be further explored in the coming weeks. Frank bluffed his way into a confession which Bonnie had to work hard to corroborate, but even though the flashback and his confession revealed Frank's history with Annalise and added weight to the theory that he did kill Wes, it also detracted from it, which was what Nate was considerably more concerned about than the detectives and A.D.A. Atwood. It's surprising how Nate is now the only uncorrupt cop in the room, with everyone else put on a railroad toward securing convictions on Annalise and Frank. It was made clear thanks to Oliver's hacking skills that the A.D.A. sees a bigger picture, and intends to press on with investigations surrounding the disappearances of Sam Keating, Rebecca Sutter, Lila Stangard, the Hapstalls and more. It's an early sign that there is much more to come, and the series is building toward something much bigger than we've seen so far.
In the end, the crux of the matter is Laurel's evidence saw Frank and Annalise charged. Bonnie will likely now have to go to trial. Michaela's dressing down of Hargrove and Oliver could come back to haunt her. Connor and Asher are no better or worse off, but Nate now finds himself running against the direction of play. His next moves will be ones to keep an eye on.
Again, this was a superb episode all round, and the best so far this season. Next week's promo has me convinced that the game is changing again - watch it here. As always, thanks for reading! Don't forget to share your thoughts, theories and points of discussion in the comments below. See you all back here next week.
