Compared to when How To Get Away Murder paused its sixth season at the end of last year, the world is now a completely different place. Perhaps it was fitting that the worlds of the characters in this series are also completely different, though some things will never change. "We’re Not Getting Away With It" was written by Tess Leibowitz and directed by Sheelin Choksey.
Despite watching the winter finale immediately prior watching last night's hour, it was clear early on that the 4 1/2 month hiatus did this midseason premiere no favors whatsoever, and scheduling such a long break was a mistake on ABC's part. This series requires momentum, and that's been something that ABC has consistently ensured by not allowing weeks off during the season aside from the standard Christmas break, which I believe was a major factor in its success, especially in its early seasons as a fan following was built. This unprecedented lengthy break just doesn't allow the average viewer like me to recall enough of what happened in the fantastic final episode of 2019. The recap sequence at the top of the episode was also surprisingly lean, so that was two quite significant factors that were piled against this episode right off the bat - or fire iron.
To recover somewhat, this episode had to be more forthcoming with answers than additional questions, and fortunately the showrunners did reasonably well here. We learned very early on that Annalise was indeed offshore - likely in Mexico. Annalise's wig was again used as a vehicle to signal a change in identity, though this early scene didn't have anywhere near the level of impact that a similar moment did back in early Season 3. Among a bustling street, Annalise was later met by a young woman who supposedly worked for the VIP Results firm Annalise had used to arrange her disappearance. However Annalise got cold feet at the last minute when they arrived at a getaway vehicle, and moments later she was arrested by police.
Getting this level of plot movement for Annalise in one episode was quite unexpected, and it lines up with next week's promo that her stint offshore is not going to be very long. That doesn't mean there's still time for more twists in the Mexican side of the storyline to have unfolded between her arrest and return, though that would be asking for a larger than usual suspension of disbelief.
Fast-moving plots was also the name of the game back stateside, with Connor and Michaela moving through the process of arrest, interview, hearings and deals before being released. In among that, Michaela's father, Solomon Vick, was reintroduced, and to compliment that, Connor's mother, Pam, also learned of her son's predicament and turned up at the police station where she gave Oliver a mouthful. Oliver's previously unplaced confession in last year's flash forwards was placed as that's the point in which he made the rash decision to confess in a futile attempt to save his husband.
What I thought would be a reasonably significant moment in this season was the bail hearing for the trio, but this was over in no time at all, and would lead me to suspect that the showrunners are saving their courtroom set for what's hopefully going to be a trial of the century equivalent in the How To Get Away With Murder world. It's more important to them at the moment to keep the characters out of a jail cell so they can keep interacting. Given Solomon's unnecessarily racially motivated position around this time in the episode as to whether Michaela would survive a trial better or worse than Connor, the showrunners missed an opportunity to justify Solomon's stance by giving Connor bail and denying it to Michaela. That would have added to the significance of the deals both Connor and Michaela later struck with the FBI, where they asked for parity.
If you have the evidence then charge me for all of it.While answers have been forthcoming in the two subplots I just discussed, the showrunners were more careful to let Asher's death linger a bit longer, though the amount of answers we did actually get here was surprisingly plentiful. Asher indeed being the FBI mole was confirmed for certain, and his motivations made a lot of sense, even if his endgame or actual deal are still being withheld. It makes Gabriel's dealings with the FBI pale in comparison.
More importantly, however, is the question of who killed Asher. We now know from this episode that he left Bonnie's house alive, with Frank, and Frank walked him to his apartment door. Frank then took the liberty of using the bathroom, where he fiddled around with a loose board in the vanity. It seemed clear to me that Frank didn't know what he was looking for, but what he found - if anything - remains to be seen. I wouldn't be surprised if this harks all the way back to when Rebecca, Wes's former girlfriend, lived in that apartment.
Still, it seems that Frank left Asher's apartment with Asher still alive. He seems to have died after he smashed his phone containing the latest recordings - which weren't incriminating, although other contents may have been - and after banging on Gabriel's door and asking to use his phone in exchange for the $64,000 check he won from C&G earlier in the season. Giving away that check in exchange for a simple phone call is a move that's completely out of character for Asher, and with Gabriel supposedly claiming he knows who killed Asher in next week's episode promo, that is where the biggest questions right now reside.
The final small but significant subplot developed in this hour is that Tegan assisted Laurel in disappearing. Frank wasted no time chasing Tegan down and interrogating her, only to find that she didn't know much else that was pertinent. However, it is important to question why Bonnie decided to reveal what she knew to Frank at the moment she did - especially after specifically asking Asher not to tell Frank that information before he drove him home. Bonnie knows Laurel is Frank's achilles heel, so why set him off on that quest again now?
And, if you ask that question, you also need to ask why Nate and Bonnie had a brief but fiery standoff about Nate Sr, and the death of Ronald Miller. As much as I'd like those issues to go away for good, I have a feeling they're likely to be pivotal in the resolution of the overall story.
You wanna actually move on from all this, and be the hero you think you are? Just turn yourself in.For the most part, given the 4 1/2 month break, the approach the showrunners took with the majority of things in this midseason premiere were correct. We needed more answers much more than we needed more questions, and by and large that's what was delivered. Progressing the plots quickly was perhaps an unorthodox approach to that, but there's still plenty to explore with regard to Wes's reappearance, Annalise's death, and Laurel's return.
Thanks as always for reading! Given the long break that also means it's been a while since I've had to write a review, so hopefully it was OK to read! If you've got a comment to share, make sure you share it below as always. Just five more episodes of this series remain, and I'm not going anywhere because of the COVID-19 lockdown, so I'll see you right back here next week!
