How to Get Away with Murder
I’m Going Away
Original Air Date: Sep 28, 2017
Caitlin- Senior Staff Writer
caitlin@thetwocentscorp.com
Given how early last season’s finale came, it’s been more than seven months since we last witnessed the drama of Annalise and crew- which, frankly, is about the right amount of time to recover from everything that happened. Now, still grieving Wes (and still in the dark about he met his demise), the gang is moving forward as best they can. But, of course, they’re not going to have an easy go of it, even we don’t see any bloodshed just yet.
Laurel would be the most traumatized by learning exactly who took her boyfriend’s life. And so, still seemingly clueless, she meets her father on campus and tells him she had an abortion. He certainly acts concerned about her emotional state, though he doesn’t reveal a thing. She forces a smile for a photo and then heads off to dinner. Because Annalise has arranged a meeting with everyone. All we know is that it’s at a fancy restaurant- and that she’s left a mysterious envelope on each person’s plate.
Two weeks earlier: Annalise meets a charming stranger (played by Viola Davis’s charming husband) on a plane. She introduces herself to him as Bonnie. She’s flying off to spend some time with her parents and sister, but it’s not just a casual family chat. The daughters want their mother to consider moving into a care facility, and she does not take it well. We also learn that Hannah Keating is attempting to freeze Annalise’s insurance check for her burned-down house. Hey, at least she sets up a meeting with that stranger. Shame he doesn’t know her real name.
Pre-dinner, Connor and Oliver are sitting at a gay bar where a not-gay bride asks them to dance with her. “Bonnie” and Desmond (our stranger) waste no time in getting to a steamy hotel hookup. But it’s soon interrupted, causing Annalise to reveal her real name and storm out. After she goes home, she is woken in the middle of the night by her mother, who believes the house is on fire- much like that night years ago when she burned her own house down and left her brother- a drunken uncle who abused Annalise- trapped inside.
The next morning, they bond together over a new painful reality. Mama Keating relents to check out the new home, and the whole family visits the next day. Her husband still isn’t on board, though she scolds him for making a show about the place in public. Meanwhile, Michaela and Asher seem to be getting more serious. They’re buying a mattress together at least, and despite all the jokes, it’s quite sweet. Can’t we just let them have happiness? Can we allow anyone that much?
Frank and Bonnie are spending time together, too. He’s showing her a facility he may buy for Annalise’s practice. (Remember the money in that suitcase when the students were looking for Rebecca’s body?) Annalise spends more time with her sister and mother, asking the later point blank what she wants. It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking conversation. And in the end, she stays at home, at least for now. But Annalise is facing disbarment because of her state the night of Wes’s death. She begs for another chance, promising not to drink again.
It’s on the way home that she sends the texts inviting everyone to dinner, and we gather there again at the end of the episode. Annalise reveals that she got her license back, and says that the envelopes contain recommendation letters. She’s setting all the students free regardless of whether they want that or not. They all leave, and only Annalise and Bonnie remain at the table. But Bonnie is being released, too. Annalise wants to be completely on her own. I don’t like what that suggests.
The students read their letters with a whole range of different reactions as Annalise moves into a small apartment in an old building. Oliver proposes to Connor (again), though they won’t be getting married just yet. And then, as expected, the plot twists come. All of them involved Laurel- and weirdly, none of them involve murder. (We think.) First, she lied to her father and is having the baby. Second, she does know who killed Wes- which might explain the gun at her bedside. And finally, she wakes in a hospital months later- with that baby gone from her womb. And if that’s not enough to process, there will be many more bombshells to come. Maybe we’ll even get some murder after all.
Next Episode: I’m Not Her
The post How to Get Away with Murder– Recap & Review – I’m Going Away appeared first on TwoCentsTV.