It’s baffling how inconsistent this season has been in term of quality, but if there’s one thing that’s assured, it’s that there is no long-term planning on this show. Never has been.
There was some progress this week with the possibility of an intriguing case, but as with every single case on this show, everything becomes convoluted and outrageous by hour’s end. If there’s one bright side to the clients this time, it’s how Annalise sees herself in the sick mother’s shoes. Touching…sort of.
Speaking of which, Annalise asking the entire gang to lash out on her was interesting and quite satisfying, sure, but is this the only storyline this show can muster right now? Annalise ruined their lives, they blame her, yell at her for it, then stick with her nonetheless. It’s been a recurring theme since the show’s inception two years ago, and it’s become boring and simply tiresome to watch right now.
Of course, the cliffhanger could be exciting if the show does in fact turn Wes against Annalise, but there’s a huge possibility this is another one of Keating’s manufactured schemes. In either way, it doesn’t exactly make that much sense right now: why would Wes turn on her all of a sudden, and conversely how could this possibly benefit Annalise if it is in fact her arrangement? Let’s hope the next two episodes offer more answers, and for God’s sakes, more entertainment.
Murderous Bits
– Awfully soapy moment with the reveal that Frank has seen Wes and Laurel making out. Why, just why?
– Great emotional backstory for Soraya, the university president, and Lauren Luna Vélez delivers a truly top-notch performance in that AA scene.
– Awkward father/son moment between Nate and Wes outside the court.
– Nice callback to the pilot with Wes mentioning how Laurel stood up for him after Annalise’s first question in class.
– Oliver’s subplot was terrible, period. But the fact that he waited THAT long to tell someone he knew he would be sleeping with that he’s HIV-pos is so far-fetched for a smart man like Ollie.
– Heartwarming moment with Asher being glad that Connor and Oliver are friends again.
– Cop-out ending with Annalise coming to a solution for the case on her own without needing any evidence. Call it a “viewer’s intuition”, but it seems to me like the writers simply had no idea how to end the case.
– Frank and Bonnie are still the weirdest, least fleshed-out characters in the history of television.
– Positively hilarious moment with Laurel dropping the L-word on Wes, but since Frank overheard that then I’m guessing this was just a plot contrivance. Thanks, writers, for insulting our intelligence for the hundredth time.
– It does look like Wes is going to die in the next episode (especially with Annalise telling him to live as good as he can), so it’s most likely a red-herring. Goodbye, Connor?
– Viewer discretion is advised for the next episode? Call me intrigued.
Courtroom Exchanges
Wes: Who shoots their father and doesn’t get rid of the gun?
Wes: Have you heard from Frank?
Annalise: No. Maybe we got lucky and he killed himself.
Laurel: Sexualizing me without my permission…
Michaela: …is creating a hostile work environment.
Laurel: She’s right, thank you.
Michaela: Shut up, we’re still not friends.
Conclusion
Another week, another disappointing episode that goes nowhere.
Chris Rating
C
Eek! It looks like this wasn't as enjoyable for you as it was for me.
Random Thoughts:
The parallel of an abusive mother was nice touch, and probably one of the stronger cases of the week but since you mention how much that’s always been a “thing” in this show, it probably would have served better last season.
The cliffhanger has me intrigued because Wes is alive, not because I think he betrayed her though. He was one of the big candidates for being dead so it’ll be interesting to see who they choose. I also think it’s an elaborate scheme of Annalise’s in some way for him to do this.
In regards to Bonnie & Frank, I think since the Wes/Christophe mystery was so successful last season they might use the back end of the season to further elaborate on their back stories in a similar way. The risk with that however, is that they end up being very prominent characters we see every episode but know little about. It makes me wonder should they have been outlined sooner.
Speaking of Frank, it looks like he and Annalise finally meet face to face next week. It’ll be interesting to see the characterization that exchange has because admittedly even though I understand the tension between them there’s always been something “odd” about the conflict they've been trying to portray about the situation as a whole.
As far as the case of the week(s), given how hit or miss they've been throughout the show, do you think that the show would have been stronger if they limited the amount of cases they had per season and used the excess time for things like events surrounding the main plot’s mystery, character back stories, & establishing recurring characters like judges/lawyers from the courthouses and students/faculty from the university?
Honestly, this has become such an exhausting show to watch every week. It's a shame because I thought the first half of season 2 was truly incredible!
As for the weekly cases…hmmm, it's hard to tell. If you've ever seen The Good Wife, that's a show that brilliantly brings in a random case every week but somehow makes it seem MUCH more interesting than any other procedural show on television. Seeing as how HTGAWM is also supposed to be a “legal” procedural, I can't wrap my head around why these cases are always so twisty, outrageous, convoluted and unbearably forgettable. The Good Wife never sacrificed its season-long arcs in favor of its weekly cases and simultaneously never went over the top with the parallels between the case and the characters (something Grey's Anatomy is very guilty of), so if I were to choose a preference, yeah I'd like this show to have cases. Ones that actually MATTER.
Without them, they would have to murder a main character every other episode. And that's not good.
Thanks so much for commenting! Always a pleasure to talk about this show with you Anonymous, even if we often disagree hah 🙂