If you would like to read my review of last week’s episode, click here.
Synopsis: A meeting with Olivia Pope proves to be crucial in giving Annalise the opportunity to argue her case in the nation’s highest court. (IMDB)
Writers: Morenike Balogun and Sarah L. Thompson
Director: Zetna Fuentes
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 43mins
So this is the second half of the epic TGIT crossover (for a recap of the Scandal portion, click here). While the main story of the crossover has been about getting Annalise’s class-action case heard by the Supreme Court, the episode did not forget about the season’s mystery involving Wes.
The episode started with Oliver and the Keating 4 heading to Washington D.C. to see Annalise present her case. While Olivia was getting Annalise ready, she got a call from Jacqueline and ignored it. Annalise’s opponent tried to discredit her and Olivia on television, however, they’ve both dealt with worse. It actually prompted other lawyers to want to join but Annalise refused as this was her case.
When Annalise arrived at the Supreme Court, she basked in the moment and called her mama. Her parents soon joined her in Washington D.C.. As much as it was exciting to see Kerry Washington and Viola Davis together, it was equally as exciting to see Cicely Tyson join them. Annalise’s parents, especially Ophelia, were in awe of her.
Marcus and Michaela spent a lot of time in the earlier hour and now here and got a lot closer. They were staking out Annalise’s opponent but found nothing except for a pizza delivery driver. Michaela set boundaries for them as she saw how close they were getting. Despite this, she eventually gave in to her feelings for him and they made out.
When Nate showed up, Olivia was not happy when she learned that the face case was Annalise’s ex-boyfriend’s father because she believed that this could be used against them but Olivia wasn’t that much better. This meant everything to Annalise so she didn’t want anyone to tell her how to do her job.
As soon as Michaela and Marcus joined the others, they knew they did something but Michaela didn’t want them to tell Asher. Michaela then recognized a pizza delivery driver from earlier with one of the Supreme Court judges.
Annalise had been ignoring several calls from Jacqueline that day though she eventually got to Annalise after blocking her number. She told Annalise about Isaac overdosing and blamed her for it. This destroyed Annalise at the worst possible time. She couldn’t do it and wanted alcohol. Olivia got her some but she didn’t drink any and found the courage to pick herself back up just in time. Ophelia also came just in time to spill her stew all over Olivia’s suit.
Annalise’s case didn’t start off well as they couldn’t see Nate Sr. as a victim of the system. Meanwhile, Ophelia was giving her own wisdom to Olivia and told her a story about how they were alike. She had to decide whether her case was about money or race and she picked race. The judges argued about whether they should continue and they decided to continue.
Annalise sent Michaela and Marcus to find an earlier ruling that she can use in her rebuttal. The ruling they found contradicted a past ruling by the Supreme Justice. She then made a powerful speech about how despite all the progress, people of race were still not treated equally by not being provided a basic defense.
After the hearing, she thanked all the people that helped her get her case heard. The judges’ hearing has yet to be determined but Olivia wanted to continue her relationship with Annalise. Annalise was done.
Just to wrap up HTGAWM specific plot points:
- Oliver and Connor didn’t want a wedding despite everyone else wanting them to.
- Wes’ meeting with Sandrine was so she can pay him off to stay away from Laurel. Bonnie and Frank tried to find evidence of it but didn’t find any money in Wes’ bank account. Frank found a drive in Wes’ apartment with a recording of his meeting with Sandrine and played it for Laurel.
- Finally, the episode ended with Annalise getting a phone call from Bonnie telling her that Simon was awake.
Overall, this was an amazing episode and a fitting conclusion to the epic TGIT crossover. The buildup to the supreme court and the proceedings were compelling to watch, especially Annalise’s breakdown beforehand and her subsequent recovery. The best part of both episodes was Kerry Washington and Viola Davis and their excellent chemistry, making these strong women play off of each other with the scene of Annalise’s breakdown perhaps being the standout moment. Cicely Tyson dserves recognition as well as Ophelia Harkness. Annalise has had plenty of powerful speeches over the course of the series but her speech in the Supreme Court was probably one of the best as this was an issue that she cared so much about. Although the Wes discovery wasn’t overly surprising, it will be interesting how it all ties together and how Simon will figure into it.
Score: 9.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
