How To Get Away With Murder Review: Episode 1×02 – “It’s All Her Fault”

Family of Murderers, Take Out with Non-Boyfriends and Juicy Revelations in This Weeks Tension Filled Episode of How To Get Away With Murder.

Tonight’s episode of How To Get Away With Murder brought forth another case that gave the students further opportunity to impress Professor Annalise Keating and show what they’re capable of. Romance was in the air for Connor Walsh with his IT lover, Oliver, and Wes was shown to be growing increasingly interested in his neighbour, Rebecca. Annalise also began to grow suspicious of her husband’s relationship with Lila Stangard, the dead university student found in the water tank. There were also some juicy revelations in the future portion of the show’s arc, regarding Annalise’s murdered husband Sam. With so much packed in, there’s plenty to discuss!

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Murder: it’s a family trait

The case of the week was the murder of Marjorie St. Vincent, who was stabbed (to death) 16 times. Professor Keating is defending Marjorie’s husband and alleged killer, Max. Steven Weber brought an unsettling creepiness to the role that kept us highly suspicious of Max’s guilt. In a well-written turn of events, Max is shown to not be his wife’s killer because his skills as a hunter meant that he would have been able to kill her with efficiency not seen in the brutal murder. However, he was revealed to be the murderer of his first wife, the mother of his daughter Eloise, who we’re fairly certain was Marjorie’s true killer. Eloise wanted revenge after finding out on her own that her father had murdered her mother. Murder most certainly runs in this family, and we were even teased as to a potential return from Max. Though we’re not routing for him to murder his own daughter as retribution for his second wife, Steven Weber gave such a strong performance that it would be a treat to see him return for at least one more episode, if not a multi-episode arc.

“The question I’m asked most often as a defence attorney is whether I can tell if my clients are innocent or guilty and my answer is always the same: I don’t care. And it’s not because I’m heartless, although that’s up for debate, but because my clients, like all of us here in this room, lie, and that makes them unknowable.” ~ Professor Annalise Keating

Professor Keating is in her element when working a case. She knows how to delegate responsibilities to the members of her team and inspire efficiency from them. But her professional life seems just as solid as her personal life is not. She’s had a falling out with her boyfriend Nate, after she black-mailed him on the stand and made him sell out his own department. He wants her to stay away from him, even threatening to tell her husband about their affair if she calls him again. But she later returns to him after her suspicions about her husband Sam being involved in the murder of Lila Stangard become too much for her to bear. First she had found e-mails between Sam and Lila on his phone, but when she checked again later, they had been deleted. That’s suspicious, to be sure. But Viola Davis nailed all parts of Annalise’s story this week, from the powerful strength of her work in the courtroom, to the emotional panic over the possibility that her husband may be a murderer, in addition to a cheater (which she is apparently already of).

What’s love got to do, got to do with it

Connor was still pumping his IT lover boy, Oliver, for information. Oliver’s skills proved useful when information needed to be hacked for the case. Connor promised to take Oliver out for lunch but ends up forgetting. He calls to try to apologise and later comes back to Oliver’s apartment with take-out. Oliver initially slams the door in Connor’s face, but re-opens it after a moment to tell him, “Okay. But tonight, I do you.”

“I don’t do boyfriends.” ~ Connor Walsh

When Oliver was first presented, it wasn’t obvious that he’d be brought back again. Connor was very much the one in control of the situation, manipulating Oliver into doing what he wanted. To see Oliver stand up for himself makes this a more engaging relationship to watch. Connor might not be the best person when it comes to sensitivity or consideration for the feelings of others, but he’s showing potential and the look of glee on his face to be let back in to Oliver’s place was just so precious! Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora have terrific chemistry and this budding relationship isn’t just diversity for diversity’s sake; it’s quality material.

Trouble’s Knocking At My Door

Wes’ neighbour Rebecca comes over asking to use the shower. Because that doesn’t scream manipulation at all. Adorably, Wes comes across every bit the blushing virgin, figuratively speaking, when she drops her towel before closing the door. Everything about this screams manipulation via sexuality. Also off-putting is the fact that flashback-Rebecca’s styling is little more than a ripoff of punk-rock Sarah Manning. Wes is a highly observant individual who is skilled at piecing things together. Having seen Rebecca previously arguing with Griffin O’Reilly, the boy-friend of Lila Stangard, Wes suspects that she may have ties to the recent murder. Sure enough, she ends up arrested and he then checks under the floorboard of his bathroom where he discovers a mobile phone Rebecca has stashed there. It’s locked with a key code but it seems likely that he’ll figure out a way in soon enough. Rebecca and Griffin’s faces are flashed across the news as being arrested in the Lila Stangard case, and Rebecca is revealed to have a history of drug charges, including the sale of hard-core narcotics. It doesn’t make much sense for Wes to be so determined to help her when they’ve barely spoken at all. Regardless of how cute he finds her, how can he be so willing to dive into this mess? The chemistry between these two characters isn’t particularly strong, especially when compared to Connor and Oliver, or even Annalise with both her husband and her boyfriend. Wes offering up a bit of friendly legal advice about not speaking to law enforcement without lawyers present seems reasonable enough, but to passionately shout it again when she’s being carried away feels a bit melodramatic and out of character from everything else we’ve seen from him in the past portion of the show’s arc.

“I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe now.” ~ Wes Gibbins

The future portion of the arc is again presented and at first, it seems like it’s just repeating itself. But then we start to get new pieces to fill things in. For one, that coin flip West did? He lied about the outcome just to ensure that the group would retrieve the body. He seemed so honourable in our introduction to him and it’s almost sad to see him having departed from that. In many ways, he had seemed like he would be the moral compass of the group but now all of a sudden he’s the ringleader of a murder cover-up? Then when he’s in the gas station to buy the lighter fluid, he also purchases a disposable phone to call a motel, room 203. He tells the person on the other end, “We’re taking care of it. They didn’t want to at first but I got them to come around. We’re gonna protect you.” Of course by this point, the sinking feeling in our stomach already tells us what’s coming. When he heads to room 203, it’s Rebecca waiting for him. She’s rid herself of the punk rock Sarah Manning ensemble and the two are now a couple. So what can we guess led to this point? Lila’s boyfriend was jealous of her affair with a professor? So he poisoned her with drugs bought from Rebecca? Sam found out? Blames Rebecca? Attacks her? He gets murdered in self defense? Wes may have lost a bit of the likability we had for him but he’s still a quite a teddy bear. Someone still needs to explain to us what those scratches on his wall are, though.

FINAL VERDICT: Time To Build The Tension

Writer Peter Norwalk has somehow managed to maintain the quality and double the intensity of the pilot! How is that even possible? It’s incredible how this show is only an hour long (43 minutes if you remove the commercials) considering how much gets fit in to develop the story, the characters, and draw the viewers in. Director Bill D’Elia had quite the task to put all the pieces of Wes’ story together and they were nicely scattered throughout the episode. The director of photography put some great shots together with the blood spatter in the St. Vincent bedroom, along with Steven Weber’s re-enacting the murder on Connor for his legal team. Having one case per week is a wise choice, since the resolution of that particular storyline can give viewers some closure, while the other story lines grow more complicated. There’s a great deal of mystery being built, with only small clues and pieces being presented at a time. With each new episode, we’ll presumably learn a little bit more till it finally all comes together. It’s a hefty task for the writers, but they’re doing it well so far. However, Asher, Frank, and Bonnie are so secondary as characters that it’s almost unclear what use they have in being on the show at all. The Connor/Oliver relationship was sweet to watch, and had great substance to it as well. Alfred Enoch’s ability to play two vastly different versions of Wes is impressive, particularly when everyone on this show has to sprint to try to keep up with Viola Davis. The show has given her plenty of opportunity to showcase her range and the writers should keep up the good work giving her such well-rounded material.

Thoughts, Questions, Comments, Concerns…

• Professor Keating’s smug grin when walking out of the courtroom after winning her case had me laughing so hard. YOU GO, BOSS LADY.
• Then the crowd was shouting out, “You got away with murder!” So I kept laughing because I’m ridiculous enough to be amused by characters saying the title of what they’re in!
• Gay couple, interracial gay couple, interracial gay couple that aren’t tokens, interracial gay couple that aren’t tokens and have really cute banter… Shonda Rhimes is delivering that quality diversity in spades!
• Wes! Do not be the naive fool that gets swept by the excitement of an outlaw! I just want to steal you away so I can protect you from the world!
• Asher is such a bro. Is he just there to be the comic relief, or…?
• Viola Davis. Viola Davis. VIOLA FREAKING DAVIS!