The fourth episode of the final season of How To Get Away With Murder was very heavily focused on relationships, right down to the weekly case. While some of it fell flat, the hour overall was more watchable than I anticipated based on its press release. "I Hate the World" was written by Matthew Cruz and directed by Scott Printz.The hour began quite differently to the other episodes we've seen, with the flash forward taking place right after the recap. While this was a nice change, the flash forward itself wasn't particularly revealing, with the only new relevant information being that Michaela could hear Connor in distress through the wall between the interview rooms, and a picture of the bloodied fire iron was on the desk she was seated at. Disappointingly, there wasn't a flash forward at the end of the episode, but its ending was fairly decent anyway. More on that shortly.
In present day, the weekly case was probably the most enjoyable so far this season. A disabled man, Carl, was going after the company behind a dating app, alleging it discriminated against him. While that in itself was eye-rolling, and Carl turned out to be an asshole anyway, the case did provoke a few interesting discussions throughout, and the app was used by three of the characters to bring about the next steps in their storylines this season. I enjoyed the dynamic Tegan and Annalise brought in their interactions with the plaintiff and each other, though the other lawyer, Robert, hitting on and eventually managing to score a date with Annalise was a little bit cringey.
In addition to Annalise checking out the dating app, and finding Robert on it, Oliver also jumped on it and found a partner for what eventually led to three-sim involving said partner, himself and Connor. The writers obviously couldn't come up with anything better for them to do, aside from a very minor assisting role on the Caplan & Gold case, and like Annalise's date with Robert, the three-sim was rather cringey and forced, and given Connor's rather concerned body language during it all, it's sure to cause a rift between him and Oliver going forward.
Why does no one want me?The action didn't stop there, but the only one missing out on it was Asher, who had a moment where he questioned why no one wanted to be with him. I think in a roundabout way, Annalise's departing thoughts to the disabled guy, Carl, about loving himself first and foremost also ring somewhat true for Asher. He did score a decent cliffhanger in this episode, though, with his sister, Chloe, eventually catfishing him on the dating app and showing up at his door. I wonder why she's suddenly decided to show up? She says she just wants to talk. Maybe it's to try and get him to reconcile with his mother, who cut him out of her life in season 3.
I've been reasonably vocal about my lack of interest in Michaela's quest to reconnect with her father, but I have to say this episode went some way towards making me backtrack on those statements. Michaela took Gabriel with her as she went to attend a keynote her father, Solomon Vick, was delivering. Vick turns out to be a smooth talking, highly successful businessman who has strong feelings about gender equality and who is putting hundreds of millions of dollars where his mouth is.
In the middle of the keynote, Michaela interjected and interrogated Solomon on his thoughts and actions surrounding inappropriate relationships with clients. Gabriel contributed precious little to this hour, but what he did say made a lot of sense, especially when he tried to convince Michaela to go and talk to her father instead of playing secret agent and trying to get a DNA sample. When Michaela and Solomon finally sat down, things went remarkably well, with Solomon saying he had waited for this day for a long time. To be continued next week, no doubt.
While Michaela was off doing her thing, Gabriel remained behind, listening to more and more of the taped therapy sessions between Annalise and Sam. We heard Annalise mention her relationship with Eve, and also the moment she revealed she had feelings for Sam. There's clearly more to the story here because of what we've seen of the relationship between Eve and Annalise in past seasons and how they're on very good terms for the most part. Part of me wonders whether there might have been some polyamory go on between Eve, Annalise and Sam, given the three-sim Connor and Oliver partook in. Also mentioned in the tapes was an uncle and abuse.
Thankfully, moving the overarching plot forward came at the hands of Nate and Bonnie, primarily. We found out that Nate had kept the files Todd Denver had on Annalise and the Keating 5, after claiming he had destroyed them. Those files were the leverage he could have used to give the FBI agents what they wanted, but he wisely held back and opted to go after Tegan again.
That's where Bonnie came in. She started her first day at C&G in this episode, and was quite happy for Tegan to order her around. However she got hold of Tegan's divorce papers and supplied them to Nate, who in turn used the financial information they contained to try to point the FBI in the direction of her connection with the Castillos, and the shares she had in a company called Barrington Holdings, which, interestingly, was owned by Laurel Castillo, not Jorge Castillo, though Tegan claims the shares were given to her by Jorge, not Laurel.
Bonnie's decision to tell Tegan that she didn't think her divorce settlement was a good deal was a ballsy move. She clearly did so to win Tegan's trust and prove she was a capable lawyer, but also to query where the stock came from in order to ascertain whether she was still in the Castillo's pocket. Tegan's answer was quite interesting.
It's blood money from the Castillos. Jorge gifted me that stock years ago back when I worked at C&G in Mexico, and I regret what I did to get it.There's little doubt we'll find out at some point what Tegan did that resulted in such a sizable stock gift, but the fact that she's willing to hand over half a million dollars to soon to be ex, Cora, must mean it's substantial. My early guess is she partook in an assassination. Regardless, if Tegan is telling the truth, Nate could be leading the FBI on a wild goose chase if nothing sinister can be dug up in Tegan's past. That could well lead to the FBI putting their foot down and demanding more from Nate, which would put him between a rock and a hard place.
Before wrapping things up there's two final points worth mentioning. The first took place right at the start of the hour, in which Annalise used a burner phone to call a bank. After stating her passcode, she authorised a $50,000 transfer to an unknown account, leaving over $200,000 remaining. Why she did this is anyone's guess, but my money is on it having something to do with Laurel. Perhaps she's being blackmailed, and the only thing keeping Laurel alive is mystery transfers like these.
Conversely, at the end of the episode, a bloodied and unconscious Frank was dropped at Bonnie's doorstep after he was presumably captured and tortured by Xavier Castillo following his sleuthing last week. Hopefully he pulls through and looks to seek revenge.
In all, despite a mediocre flash forward, the three-sim, and Annalise's cringey date with Robert, this episode of How To Get Away With Murder was surprisingly enjoyable. Michaela's daddy issues took a new turn for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens on the back of Frank's return, and the hole Nate is digging himself. Asher's sister showing up is the icing on the cake, because after a pretty mediocre opening few episodes, something more interesting needs to happen in his life.
Thanks as always for reading. There's lots of moving pieces in this episode to dissect and discuss so do make sure you share your thoughts and theories on what happened in the comments below. See you all right back here next week.
