The fifth episode of ABC's How To Get Away With Murder was probably a season high in many areas so far, but it left a hell of a lot more questions behind in its wake than it did answers. Felix Alcala directed "We're All Gonna Die", with Sara Rose Feinberg writing.
Many new pieces were out of nowhere added to an increasingly complicated puzzle that is this final season, and there were more active subplots than usual. Things kicked off in the hospital, with Frank's grave condition improving after he was dumped on Bonnie's doorstep in last week's hour. Good writing and clever directing allowed Frank's story to be told through flashbacks as he recovered, with said flashbacks depicting a clueless Xavier and his accomplices trying to beat the information Frank had on Laurel out of him. This was a surprising initial twist because for all intents and purposes I think most would have assumed Xavier to have the upper hand, and was therefore stepping in to stop Frank in his tracks as opposed to trying to make him help find Laurel himself.
Xavier did try to blackmail Frank into cooperating, stating that he had his sister, Jamie, empty the safety deposit box that Frank found a couple of weeks ago. As a result Xavier had the confessions in it, and he tried to use them against Frank, but Frank was having none of it, opting to take the beatings instead.
While recovering in the hospital, Frank did manage to tell Bonnie - who was looking after him for the entire episode - that he believed Annalise had Laurel had a part to play in his beating. The secret bank account Annalise was transferring funds from last week came up again this week, with Frank alleging that that account was linked to the Castillos. It may very well be the case because it was cleaned out in this episode, and I have a feeling Michaela's father, Solomon Vick is involved as well. Either Annalise was lying to Bonnie's face when she claimed the account contained her C&G bonus - this being just one of the many unanswered questions this hour contained.
He was saying Laurel to you because you helped her disappear.Speaking of Solomon Vick, his and Michaela's relationship developed rapidly in this episode. After being acquainted barely one day, Solomon hired Michaela to help him select the candidates for his female-oriented venture capital project, while also trying to win her trust and make up for abandoning her. I thought Solomon's reasoning for not introducing himself earlier in Michaela's life was reasonable, but him writing a blank check to Michaela was an interesting move, even if Michaela specifically demanded money. I'm thinking that check is very much a loaded gun, and puts a target on Michaela's back.
The strong family and friends theme continued through Asher and his sister Chloe, who was hellbent on getting her brother to return home to their ailing mother, which is no doubt the early stages of his storyline this season. I can't say I like Chloe very much, so I was pretty satisfied when Michaela shut her down when she questioned how much Asher's new family really knew him.
You don’t know who I am any more, Chloe.Tegan's screentime was fascinating, and probably the hour's high point for me. For once we saw her literally let her hair down, though budget restrictions may have been the reason why we didn't actually see her at home - instead she opted to meet ex-wife Cora at the C&G office instead of somewhere else.
What intrigued me was the dynamic between Tegan and Cora. We saw on several occasions that Tegan still loves Cora, but when Tegan mentioned that to Cora, Cora didn't reciprocate, instead making it quite clear that the feelings weren't mutual, In the end Tegan signed the divorce papers and indicated she'd come after Cora for everything she was worth, but I don't think she has it in her heart to follow through with that. Cora looks set to return next week though, with her motorbike conveniently failing to start and Nate coming to the rescue. There's surely only one thing on Nate's mind, and that is to question Cora on Tegan's connections with the Castillos.
The storyline concerning Connor and Oliver was by far the lamest of them all. Following the three-sim they arranged with Robert in last week's episode, it looked like round 2 was a possibility, but Connor was hung up on Oliver neglecting to tell him about the progress on Laurel's disappearance he and Frank made. Though Connor was using this as an excuse to voice his displeasure with his husband, it's almost certainly only a portion of the reason why he's unhappy. Introducing a third person into the bedroom doesn't happen without consequences, and it was written all over his face last week and again this week that he wasn't 100% happy with the three-sim idea. The predictable rift therefore continues to grow.
Three final points worth covering before the flash forward, with the first being Gabriel's reconciliation with Michaela. This one was inevitable, but what was very telling is that Michaela was knocking on Asher's door before Gabriel opened his. Asher was of course away with his sister, and although it's been known that Michaela still has a soft spot for Asher, the fact that she would act on those feelings is most surprising.
Gabriel's night was pretty quiet for the most part, but he did meet with Annalise (point #2), who had earlier destroyed the tape containing the therapy session in which she could be heard admitting her feelings for Sam. Annalise told Gabriel precious additional information about her history with Sam, why she did what she did, and also that Sam loved him.
Lastly, Frank admitted to Bonnie that she was right about Laurel, and he also told Bonnie that he loved her. Bonnie was understandably rather shocked, and didn't respond. Maybe it's the meds talking, but I don't think it is.
That leaves the flash forward, which was possibly the most interesting one yet. In it we can see Tegan arriving at a crime scene and being denied entry by an officer. The camera tracks up the stairs behind the cordon to reveal a large pool of blood and a bloody handprint. Importantly, the crime scene is in the same building as Asher's and Gabriel's apartments, and also, Tegan is referring to a client. That combined with the location may narrow down the possible client pool, but an early bet would be that she's working for Michaela given we've seen her in custody already in previous flash forwards.
It was an intriguing ending to a fairly decent episode of How To Get Away With Murder on the whole. Though very busy, it flowed well and avoided that feeling of being congested. I enjoyed the writing and directing more than I have for most other episodes this season. Tegan's stint was particularly good, and Michaela's fast developing relationship with her father is also difficult to overlook for curiosity's sake.
That's it from me for another week. Thanks as always for reading. As per usual I'd love to hear your own thoughts and theories on this episode so do be sure to share them in the comments below. See you again next week.
