How To Get Away With Murder Review: Episode 1×11 “Best Christmas Ever”

Stolen Cars, Basement Girls, and Bilingual Holiday Drama

On this week’s How To Get Away With Murder, our favourite group of troublemakers must deal with the arrival of Sam’s sister, Hannah Keating, who has come to Middleton determined to clear her brother’s name. She and Annalise have been known to butt heads, but will Hannah’s snooping about put herself in harm’s way? If that weren’t enough to deal with, Annalise has a new client seek her out. Jackie Wilson has her own dirty laundry to air, as she has spent some time being abused by her husband and brainwashed (?) into helping him keep two young women captive in their basement. Though the Keating Five are disgusted by Jackie’s actions, Annalise is determined to help her get the plea deal she’s after. But what other misdeeds of Jackie’s will surface as Annalise’s investigation continues? And what else will surface by the time this episode finishes? Plus we haven’t even gotten into all the holiday drama of certain Keating Five members yet. As ever, there’s much to discuss so let’s jump in!

So, How Were Your Holidays?

We’ll start things off with the cuteness, because there’s a whole lot of ‘WTF’ in this episode so let’s just ease ourselves into that. Connor appears to be slightly back on with Oliver again, much to our delight, but though it’s clear Oliver is still interested in Connor, he’s not so ready to jump back in considering that Connor cheated on him before. We weren’t simply saddened by the breakup of these two because we’d loved seeing them together; it made us concerned that there would be little to no more screen time of Conrad Ricamora. Thankfully, the writers brought him back into the fold and treated us to a nice emotional monologue about his conflicted feelings that nicely held its own on a show on which many a lead character has delivered powerful monologues. Still, we can feel there’s going to be some sort of tragedy to blow up our good times with these two. Maybe Oliver gets caught and arrested for all that hacking he’s been doing, or perhaps Connor will get in trouble because of that whole murder-coverup thing. Either way, we’re dreading more heartbreak because we can’t help but route for these two. Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora work so well together that it’s simply not possible to love them playing a couple. Then there’s Wes, whose holiday flashback was more so focused on the fact that he is having nightmares and is concerned about his sanity. One thing we’re most pleased with regarding Wes’ story is that the writers have pulled back on the amount of Wes/Rebecca action because it was the most glaring weak point among the many strengths of the show. We’re quite intrigued by the return to one of the original mysteries introduced on the show which was that of Rudy, the man who had been living in Wes’ apartment before he moved in. Those deep scratches in the wall have yet to be explained after all but we’re hoping that if this isn’t dived into further in the remainder of this season, it will be given more coverage in season 2. Also just the fact that Laurel reached out to the group and Wes was the first to share makes us think that this is a statement about Wes’ character and his searching for a place he belongs. Perhaps that’s intended as some sort of explanation as to why he was bizarrely erratic and clingy regarding Rebecca without knowing anything about her. From what we’ve seen, he has no friends or family so his standards must be low… speaking of which, what was the deal with Rebecca’s callous comments about Wes being an orphan? On what planet is that an acceptable thing to poke fun at? Perhaps it was some foreshadowing that she’s just a sociopath that’s going to try to ruin Wes once he realises the true meaning of friendship. Enough of this, let’s move on to the badass ladies.

“Unless we all start talking, we are all gonna fall apart, and that is exactly how we are going to end up in jail. I got back together with Khan, I am trying to get over Frank, I saw my family over the break, it was the worst thing ever. So I actually missed you guys.” ~ Laurel

We were truly saddened for Michaela and the dissolution of her engagement, not because we think much of Aidan but because Aja Naomi King fully sold us on Michaela’s heartbreak. When we look back on the road that Michaela has taken, we have to tip our hat to Aja because much like Connor, she started off so steely and hard and over the course of the show, we’ve come to learn and appreciate the many depths of the characters. This is also a result of strong writing since the writers were able to have us get to know these characters much like we would any other person, where we start off with the facade they present to the world and after spending time covering up a murder together, we get to know what’s underneath. And who knows? Maybe she and Wes will be in same boat of realising they can and should do better, and decide to do so together. (Yes, there’s some wishful thinking in here but who knows what could happen!) Then there’s Laurel, sweet newly-bloomed-badass Laurel. We never thought we’d say this but murder has done her good! But before we get to that, what thrilled us most was seeing a bit more of Laurel’s cultural background on display. Not only did we see her Latinx (have they specified what she is yet?) family, she even laid a verbal smack down in Spanish! Go in, girl! Laurel, much like Michaela and Connor, has had some undeniable character growth over the course of the show but hers has been more so in the reverse of the other two, where she started off as more of a wilting wallflower but now she knows how to handle herself and anyone else that she sees fit. It was so important for her to stand up for herself to Frank, showing that she is a capable person and does not need to be babied for any reason. Also, that little smirk as she walked away from the table will go as Laurel’s most iconic moment thus far (but of course, Karla Souza is welcome to outdo herself any time she pleases and we’ll happily thank her for it).

What Makes A Monster?

The case of the week is that of Jackie Wilson, a psychologically and in all likelihood physically battered woman who comes to Annalise, hoping to do what Annalise did, and turn the tables on her husband. That particular detail was a piece of writing we really appreciated, because it showed just how much of an impact Annalise’s strength and resilience can have on those who encounter her. But as for the case itself, this was one twisted piece of work. It was equal parts horrific and tragic. The writers did an excellent job with the exploration of Jackie as a character, making viewers constantly question whether or not we were supposed to be routing for her. On the one hand, we were in agreement with the Keating Five in their disgust over her actions, from helping her husband keep the girls captive and drugging them before they’d be raped, but then we found moments where we sympathised with her, as she had tried to get the little girl free and protected when it seemed as if she’d be the next victim of her husband. But the final reveal itself of the fact that Jackie was just too far gone, leaving this young girl in a cabin in the woods because she’d overestimated her ability to get off for the crime, was another jaw-dropping moment of the show. But what made it even better was that it immediately outdid itself by having Annalise then turn the tables on Jackie, dropping her as a client and removing the possibility of her getting to keep that plea deal proved that which we already knew: Annalise is in charge and nothing good comes from crossing her.

“My husband’s holding two girls captive in our basement.” ~ Jackie Wilson

Clearly Nobody Ever Taught Hannah Keating “Sisters Before Misters”

Hannah Keating’s arrival was clearly intended to shake things up a bit for team murder-coverup and boy, did it ever. First of all, Marcia Gay Harden is handling this character like nobody’s business and it’s only been one episode so far. Hannah Keating is an absolute bloodhound, determined to sniff out the answers she is seeking that will exonerate her brother’s name. We see her even go so far as to stalk Annalise all the way to Nate’s house. There was something so hilariously genius about their conversation outside his house, where Annalise invited her to come inside more than once, and how Hannah seemed to have a deep insight into Annalise’s insight. It’s entirely evident there’s much history between these two, which we look forward to seeing explored more. We’re quite certain that things are only just getting started with the trouble Hannah’s stirring up for Annalise, particularly now that Sam’s body has been discovered. But what we found particularly surprising was Annalise being so honest (albeit partially) with Hannah at the episode’s conclusion about all that she had done to try to cover Sam’s tracks. That information could end Annalise’s career and it was downright shocking to see her sharing it but it made us crave that much more to know what their relationship is.

“You won’t talk to me, I have no choice but to find answers to my questions in more unorthodox ways.” ~ Hannah Keating
“By stalking me.” ~ Annalise
“Call it what you want.” ~ Hannah Keating

Another intriguing point about Hannah’s plot came at the end between Annalise and Frank. We first learned that Frank had manoeuvred a call to be made that claimed Sam was spotted somewhere in New York. This fits in with what we’ve learned thus far about Frank and how he’s willing to operate outside the confines of the law to help Annalise. But when he expressed his concerns about Hannah’s tenacious ways, he asked Annalise if he should “handle it.” What. Does that. Mean. We’ll be quite sore if we don’t get some answers about Frank before the season is up because if he was implying that he was willing to have Hannah killed, or something even close to that devious, that is just too juicy a piece of character development for us to not know why. These HTGAWM writers must have it out for us, driving us absolutely wild with all these scandalous developments.

Final Verdict

Before we carry on praising another otherwise solid episode of this show, we have to address the entitled buffoon in the room. So Bonnie and Asher aren’t on the best terms right now because he wants more (sex, dates, we have no idea, and we no longer care), and she does not. Now when Asher got out of line regarding the case by continuing to talk badly about Jackie Wilson, Bonnie’s response was to tell him that he if didn’t like it, he could get a job elsewhere. This is not an unreasonable point to make, as Bonnie was simply doing her job keeping the students in line. But Asher’s response, threatening to file a sexual harassment suit, was completely crossing the line. Then later, he goes and claims that it’s because she was “mean” to him. Really? Are you literally seven years old? What kind of emotionally juvenile garbage was this? In one fell swoop, all of Asher’s character development was undermined for us. Was this supposed to create sympathy for Asher? What on earth were the writers trying to accomplish? The fact that we are defending Bonnie, a character we have hardly cared for since the show started, shows just how wrong this move was. Bonnie was no more cold than she always with, with all of the students. RIP Bosher, we hardly knew ye. Even if these two get back together, there will need to be some next-level overhauling done here for us to ever route for this pairing. Putting that aside, we quite enjoyed the work of director Michael Katleman, particularly in that shot of Laurel smiling over the shots of the murder. Laurel has risen from the ashes of that murder like a phoenix and it is magnificent to watch. Writers Tracy A. Bellomo and Warren Hsu Leonard infused great continuations of character development for the Murder-Four (seriously, can we decide on an official group name for the Keating Five minus Asher, already?), as well as maintaining the question of whether Jackie Wilson was a redeemable character or not. Only four episodes left! What are you hoping for before we’re left to obsess for however many months until season 2 starts up again?

Questions, Comments, Concerns…

• Poor Annalise! I just want her to be okay! *attempts to reach into screen to hug her*
• This mouse of a woman wants to be a lion? Annalise is definitely a good choice to model yourself after.
• Oh snap… there’s more of a mystery to Rudy isn’t there… remember those scratches on the wall? Maybe Rebecca killed him. Maybe she killed Lila too. Maybe Wes needs to get his life together and upgrade who he dates. Maybe he and Michaela should be a thing. *smirks* #Waffling
• YES! We get to see Laurel’s Latinx roots! Wheeeee! #RepresentationMatters
• Ew! WTH is with this chick? Stalking? Really? So apparently ICK runs in the family because between Sam and Hannah, they’re both just awful.
• Lawd, I’m about to bake cookies on Nate’s abs. #OmNomNom
• Connor and Oliver are so damn cute *clutches heart*
• Laurel and Frank… exchanging banter and making eyes at each other… you two are everything. #Flaurel
• Wow, Wes! Nice catch about the baby! *snaps for Wes*
• “You hurt my feelings” WELL THREATENING TO RUIN SOMEONE’S LIFE/CAREER IS NOT THE APPROPRIATE REACTION, Asher. I have no sympathy for your nonsense.
• Jackie is way off the deep end, good grief.
• Slow down on the drinks, Michaela! *10 seconds later* See! What did I just say?
• Damn, Annalise! That was cold (and I LOVE YOU for it!) #GoAnnalise
• There are actual TEARS in my eyes right now because Conrad Ricamora is EVERYTHING.
• What on earth is Frank offering right now??? Murder??? Writers, please give me this hot piece’s backstory because I NEED TO KNOW.
• Welp. That’s not going to help Wes’ nightmares any. #SamsBodyIsBack