'How to Get Away with Murder' Recap: "Don't Tell Annalise"
Nora Dominick ‘17/ Emertainment Monthly Executive Stage Editor
There are barely any words to describe the twists and turn that arose in How to Get Away with Murder this past week. From eliminating another possible victim in the flash forwards to even more twists in present day, there’s no time to slow down. How to Get Away with Murder’s latest episode “Don’t Tell Annalise” Let’s recap!
This episode picks up right where last week left off. Annalise (Viola Davis) is in jail following the fire at Keating & Associates. She’s begun her peaceful prison life when Bonnie (Liza Weil) swings by and let’s her know that another person was pulled out the fire… And they’re alive! At this point, they don’t know who it is, but boy is it a shock!
Now we flashback to four weeks earlier, with Annalise slinging back tequila shots with Eve (Famke Janssen) at a bar. They’re catching up and they eventually descend into full blown party mode. Shots and typical Shondaland, dance-it-out music. Perfect. Much, much later, a drunken Annalise struggles to get into her house when Nate (Billy Brown) assists her. It appears Annalise is leaning towards Eve again, especially when she lies to Nate about who she was with.
Bonnie picks up the case and Asher continues to attempt to inspire the others in helping to defend Tristan. Tristan has seemingly spent thousands of dollars and Asher tries to get to the bottom of it. Eventually the team discovers Tristan frequent a local storage unit. Bonnie and Asher take him there where they find he’s stashed thousands of dollars worth of new baby items. Tristan admits that his girlfriend is pregnant. He begs them to keep it a secret because his “girlfriend” works at the school.
Asher and Bonnie then turn to the teachers they met in court who said they would do anything to help Tristan. In particular, they chat with Susan, who claims that she was always aware of Tristan’s history of being abused as a child.
Bonnie interrogates Susan on the stand the next day in court. Susan claims that she doesn’t know what Bonnie is talking about until Bonnie makes it clear that she’s accusing Susan of rape. Tristan begs Asher to stop Bonnie, but Susan eventually pleads the fifth. Tristan is furious with Asher and Bonnie following the trial. He explains to them that everything he’d tries to was for his future child. If Susan ends up in jail, the baby will end up in the system like he did. Although Tristan is upset, Asher tells Bonnie he’s proud of her.
Meanwhile, where is our good friend Frank (Charlie Weber) this week? Frank poses as a janitor named Kevin at a prison in Coalport, PA. In the beginning we were wondering why Frank needs to be here so badly. He’s clearly looking for someone, considering he sleeps with a nurse in order to get access to the restricted section of the prison. We later find out that the prison is housing Bonnie’s father. Frank arrives and ultimately brutally murders him. Crazy.
If this isn’t bad enough for Annalise, she of course gets into a screaming match with Nate. Although Nate has been supporting Annalise, she doesn’t seem to care. Later on, when Nate walks in on Eve and Annalise chatting, he’s surprised she’s back in town, he still remains calm. Finally, Nate walks in on Annalise drinking her troubles away and this seems to be the last straw. Nate asks point blank if Annalise is sleeping with Eve again, but that doesn’t stop a fight from breaking out between them. Nate takes off and ends up sleeping with new ADA Rene Atwood who he apparently knows previously.
With all of this going on, Annalise doesn’t falter once. By episodes end, Annalise faces the University board members. She admits to them that she’s an alcoholic and she promises to go through a rehab program as long as she can get her license back.
So, what are the other characters up to in How to Get Away with Murder this week? Laurel (Karla Souza) is back to calling Frank (on a new phone number). Wes’ (Alfred Enoch) girlfriend Meggy (Corbin Reid) turns to Laurel to help plan a surprise party for Wes, but Laurel ends up telling Wes about it. The one strange portion in How to Get Away with Murder this week is how interested Wes is in Laurel’s moves. He says he wants to be there for her and that’s the reason.
Meanwhile Connor (Jack Falahee) and Oliver (Conrad Ricamora) continued their very awkward journey from boyfriends to try to be friends. Connor puts himself back into the dating app game. At Wes’ birthday party, Connor tells Oliver that he should go out and hook up more too, especially if he really doesn’t want to be with him. A reluctant Oliver tells Connor he can do the same, which Connor does.
Of course the biggest, jaw dropping moment in How to Get Away with Murder this week comes in the final minutes. We are thrown back into the flash forward timeline where Oliver and Bonnie frantically try to figure out who the other body is. At the hospital, Meggy is one of the nurses working on the victim. In the final minutes, we find out Laurel is the other body from the fire and she’s pregnant!!!!!