If you would like to read my review of last week’s episode, click here.
Synopsis: Annalise takes on a case for the greater good. Meanwhile, Laurel asks Michaela to help get information on Wes’ death; Connor makes a major decision. In a flash-forward, a surprising confrontation during the night of the crime is revealed. (IMDB)
Writer: Erika Harrison
Director: Nicole Rubio
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 43mins
Annalise now has a mission for the foreseeable future though before that, she decided to take on a case from the Philadelphia Public Defender’s office and their head Virginia Cross (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). She was worried about Annalise’s problems but she reassured her that she had nothing to worry about. Annalise’s case involved the retrial of a man named Ben Carter (Rene Moran) who was sent to prison for killing his girlfriend. Carter looked like a gang member so he believed that he was judged unfairly on those grounds. Carter was accused of pushing his girlfriend out of a window during an argument although he claimed that she jumped. Annalise claimed that the girlfriend suffered from postpartum depression.
Oliver pitched his services to the DA’s office, warning them of how susceptible they were though he’d only know that if he had hacked them himself which we all knew he did and Nate suspected as much. He was then called by the prosecutor working Annalise’s case for assistance. Oliver saw Bonnie and told everyone else. Oliver was worried she’d tell on them but Asher told him Bonnie was fired. He learned it from Frank for whom he’s helping with his LSATs and that he and Bonnie were living together.
Back with Annalise’s case, Nate was called as a witness which surprised her. She grilled him because of his surprise appearance and his lack of knowledge of the case. Her next plan was to put Carter on the stand. During a urine test, she ran into Laurel in the washroom. She had tried to get Bonnie to hire her as an intern but she refused. Things were tense as she informed her of everyone else’s exploits including where her Wes investigation was going. Annalise told her that if she were to have a child then she should stop acting like one.
To try and get the upper hand, Nate and Bonnie called Oliver and asked him to hack Annalise’s phone. Oliver begrudgingly helped because he was desperate but he still sort of cared about Annalise. Once they reminded him what she did to him, he found a deleted voice memo from one of Annalise’s earlier recordings with Carter. In it, he talked about him having a fight with his girlfriend when she said that his kid wasn’t his. Nate passed this information along so they used it in court to rile them up.
Annalise confronted Bonnie and Nate about what happened. She suspected both until Nate admitted it was all him, however, she didn’t believe him. This was all for naught once she was called about identifying a body that turned out to be Jasmine, thus confirming her suspicion. In a moment of weakness, Annalise visited Isaac. He thought she should withdraw from her case but she didn’t want to be a failure.
At her hotel room, she got a special package containing a video of Carter’s girlfriend jumping out a window. Frank told her that it wasn’t him and then told her he’d find who did it which was Cross. In court, she called Cross to the witness stand and confronted her about giving her the video and why she had kept it hidden. This was just an excuse to expose the Public Defender’s office. Cross was not happy with what Annalise did but instead of making it worse, she let her go.
Annalise went back to Isaac and he told her that he didn’t have to do it the way she did but it was her master plan to file a class action lawsuit against the government and the criminal justice system. She wanted to feel better and this was something that made her feel better. She then confronted him about his treatment of her. She believed that he thought he was losing control and that this was his way to get it back. He believed that this was all in her head.
Michaela was still reeling from Laurel’s request at the end of the previous episode. She just wants to move on but Laurel desperately wants Michaela to get dirt on her father’s company so she can bring him down. At the law firm, she became part of a competition run by the partners involving the interns and their knowledge of the firm. Michaela was prepared and so was Simon who was her biggest competition, however, she won. Meanwhile, Laurel visited the office and had proof that he father’s plane was in town the day Wes was killed.
Connor’s mid-life crisis continued when he decided to drop out of law school altogether. He seemed to not care anymore. Laurel visited Frank to convince Bonnie to hire her as an intern which she later did. They were then called upon to assist in Conor’s intervention. At the intervention, Connor just wanted everyone to support his decision. Connor’s dads visited him at a strip club to see how far he’s gone.
In flashforward news, while trying to find Annalise. Isaac runs into a bloody Michaela who may or may not have killed someone.
Overall, this was another great episode where Annalise was finally given something to do while the other characters have their own separate paths but it will be interesting to see where it will all lead and how it connects to the flashforward.
Score: 9/10
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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.