Saturday, October 31, 2015

How to Get Away with Murder Season 2, Episode 6 ("Two Birds, One Millstone") Recap


The episode opens with a flash forward scene. Annalise is being taken into surgery, and then Frank runs in after the people rolling her on the bed asking what they are going to do and yelling for them to not let her die. He continues this as he is escorted out, but when he leaves and passes the camera outside, he becomes very calm (as in he was faking for the camera) and gets into his car. And in the back of his car, on the floor of the backseat, Catherine Hapstall knocked out or dead!

Back to present time, Frank and Laurel stop messing around when his alarm clock goes off. He asks if she wants to shower, and she tells him to go without her. She then tries to look through his things to figure out why he had all that money in that suitcase. But she doesn't find anything. In class, she and Wes begin discussing it when Michaela and Connor walk up to find them discussing the suitcase as they expected. Laurel, Michaela, and Connor agree that there is nothing to find, but Wes still thinks something is going on and that Becca is dead. 

When class begins, Annalise calls on Asher to tell the class the verdict in a case where a witness decided it would cause too much emotional harm if they testified and the prosecutor agreed to let them not testify. Then the show goes back to the scene where Annalise is showing Asher the video of Bonnie and her father. Annalise tells Asher the abuse Bonnie suffered from her father is why she ended up killing Sam. She convinces Asher not to testify by saying everyone protects who they love. She later tells Bonnie Asher decided not to testify, because of what Bonnie said to him, not disclosing she went to talk to Asher and showed him the video of Bonnie's father abusing her. When Asher later tells them that Sinclair has something else bad on him and his father, Annalise says they can take care of it. Asher warns that his father is a federal judge and can do bad things to them if his deal with Sinclair falls through. So without Asher knowing, Annalise goes against her word from last season, and tells Bonnie and Frank to gather info on Asher's father's mishandling of cases. Annalise goes to talk with Sinclair, where she tells Sinclair how she would look if the media found out what she was doing to Asher just to take Annalise down. So Sinclair agrees to lay off the issue and just focus on the Hapstall case. Annalise later uses the information on Asher's father to get the D.A. to drop the charges against her client ( a transgender professor who killed husband) and to get Sinclair to end her witch hunt against Annalise. Later in the episode, Asher's father tells him he sold out his own father, because the D.A. is investigating all of his cases. He tells Asher they are done and to have a good life. 

The group is tasked with finding another potential suspect that could have a reason to kill Caleb and Catherine's parents. They throw out a few people, but they have alibis. Asher asks about their birth parents, but the siblings do not want to go down that road and Michaela agrees. While the siblings are talking outside of the room, the group talks about Caleb's butt and their belief that the siblings may be the murderers. And then they discover Catherine was recording them to see what they really thought about them, after which she and Caleb ask that none of the students work on the case. But they continue to work on the case and decide to look into their birth parents, and with Oliver's assistance discover their aunt had a son who she was supporting with a charity she created the year she gave birth to him. So a secret baby that could inherit everything after taking out his aunt and uncle, and then his mother, and then getting rid of his cousins by framing them. Annalise informs the siblings of the discovery. Afterwards, Michaela ran after Caleb when he was leaving to apologize for what was recorded, and he asked if the part about her being single was true. She said it was a long story, and he said maybe he'll get to hear about it some time. Later in the episode, Oliver tells Connor he kept digging and found the secret baby AND hacked into his computer. But someone is watching them from Oliver's laptop, and it looks like it may be the secret baby...who may also be the Hapstall killer!

Meanwhile, Wes is giving Frank the evil eye, and Frank is asking Annalise when she is going to talk to Wes. And Nate tells Wes he's done working with him and anything having to do with Annalise. It turns out his wife died. Annalise went and left peach cobbler at his door when he wouldn't answer. She went back again, and this time he opened. He admitted to giving his wife the pills, and also told Annalise she took away precious time he could have had with his wife but had to spend in court and in jail. He said he didn't want her apologies, and corrected her by saying he didn't hate her...he just didn't care about her (in a way that clearly meant he cared so little about her he didn't even hate her). After he yells at her to leave and closes the door, Annalise turns and sees Wes there. He leaves, but she beats him home and is waiting for him by his door. She tells him she didn't kill Becca, and that all she knows is that Becca ran away. He says he doesn't believe her, and she says she knows he feels abandoned by his mother (who committed suicide) and Becca, and that is why he can't trust her. He asks how she knew about his mother, and she says it's her job to know. Wes tells her she is nothing like his mother, she is just a liar. She once again says all she knows is that Becca ran away. Then says the worst part is it is destroying them, but that she is here for him and never leaving him. With a tear in his eye he says she has to stop lying, and she says there will be no more secrets. But then she lies to him and says they looked all over for Becca and can't find her. 

Sinclair offers to give Bonnie a file on Tiffany Howard since she is dating Asher, but Bonnie declines, telling Sinclair she lost and should move on. Sinclair says Bonnie is going to want to read it, because Tiffany was gang raped. Bonnie stops, and seems to decide to take the file.

 Frank takes Laurel to meet his family. Then he meets up with his high school friend to get a bag wih a woman's body in it. After leaving Wes' apartment, Annalise calls Frank to ask if he's taking care of "it." He says it's handled, and then proceeds to take the body out of the bag in the woods. Initially the body has on the same jacket as Becca, and there is a flashback scene to Becca being smothered in the basement with the jacket on. But then there are flashback (or flash forward) scenes of Catherine knocked out. Then we see him carrying a woman in her pjs in the same scene. It's Catherine. An officer finds her body the next morning, and then Catherine jumps up grasping for breath. I rewinded a few times, but it's still very unclear. They didn't indicate a jump in time, like they do every other time. They clearly showed a woman with Becca's jacket initially being lifted up by Frank. And furthermore, Catherine wakes up in the woods, but in the flash forward scene showed in the beginning of the episode she was knocked out in Frank's car after he walked out of the hospital Annalise was taken to after being shot. So unless he drugs her again, and puts her in his car around the time Annalise is shot, it's really making no sense. I guess I'll have to see how they explain it in the next episode. SMH. 

Scandal Season 5, Episode 6 ("Get Out of Jail, Free") Recap


The investigation hearings commence, and Mellie is up first. She went in thinking they would only be asking her the questions they told her they would ask, but she soon learns they were setting her up. After saying she didn't have prior knowledge of Fitz' affair with Liv before Liv's public announcement, the senators hit her with Jeannine Locke! The White House staffer Mellie told to take $2 million in exchange for saying she was the one Fitz was having an affair with, proving Mellie lied and did indeed know about "Olitz" before Liv's public confession!

Next up...OPA (including Abby). Liv instructs them not to lie on the stand, but tells them to take the questions very literal. If they ask if you know something you only think you might know, say no. And so on. So that's what Huck, Quinn, and Abby did. They didn't know who planned the Jeannine Locke cover up. But they did know who leaked that video of Jeannine calling Fitz "hot." And the answer is funny two-folds...1) It was Harrison, who is conveniently dead, and 2) Marcus had an outburst in the office when they first discussed saying it was Harrison when asked, where he said that Harrison was dead and that was great...why is that funny? Well, because Marcus is like the new Harrison. So who knows, would he have his current recurring role if Columbus Short was still on Scandal as Harrison and wasn't killed off?? But anyway...beyond that, they had nothing else to share with the senators.

Next up...Olivia Pope! And most of the episode centered around this looming testimony. After the Jeannine Locke revelation, Patty Snell changed the plan for Fitz from cooperating to asserting executive privilege. But that only helps Fitz, not Liv. So there are essentially three possible solutions explored...

First, Liv will just lie and perjure herself. Yep, Liv told Abby she had to choose between lying on the stand and facing jail time or option 2 (which will be discussed next, but it's not to tell the truth). She even says she was willing to perjure herself so Fitz wouldn't get impeached. That's right, Liv is willing to go to jail so Fitz can stay in the White House a few more years!! I can't with her, I really cannot. But, Liv doesn't end up lying to the Senate and perjuring herself.

So the second option presented to Liv was for her and Fitz to get married. Her initial response was a clear no, seemingly because she didn't want them to get married under those conditions. Later, she began to say it was because they just weren't ready. But after getting another rejection after putting together a semi-romantic proposal at the White House (petals and Betsy Ross' actual ring included), Fitz called Liv out on her not being ready for marriage and possibly never being ready for marriage. This leads to Liv briefly questioning whether she was the marriage type. It was brief because she wanted to discuss it with Jake, and he was over being Liv's shoulder to lean on as she tries to navigate her relationship with Fitz. And about dang time! He had to hang up on her twice in the episode when she called about marrying Fitz. Liv can be just as selfish as Fitz! Hmph! Now after Liv's attempt to run with the third option (which will be discussed next) goes left, she decides to go ahead and put Betsy Ross' ring on and marry Fitz. But...it didn't happen, and here's why.

So about the third option, this requires some background from the other story line in this episode. Elise goes to see Rowan in jail to finalize his escape plan. Being Team Papa Pope, my heart jumped in glee probably like Team Olitz did when they thought Liv and Fitz were going to get married to keep Liv from having to testify. LOL. So Rowan follows a guard who is supposed to help him escape, and the guard tells Rowan to get into the laundry hamper. But see, Papa Pope knew something I didn't know, and something the guard didn't know Papa Pope knew. The laundry truck already came and left that day!! They were trying to set Papa Pope up, but he held his own when the guard attacked him and killed the guard. This may be the first time Papa Pope is shown actually killing someone. Guess I can no longer say to my Grandma, who is not a Papa Pope fan, "But did you see HIM kill anybody, though?" But it was in self-defense. lol. But I digress... 

So anyway...Rowan is put in the infirmary. The nurse calls Jake, because he is one of the only two visitors who have visited Rowan. Jake of course is not interested in checking on Rowan, but he is interested in knowing who the other visitor is. So the nurse tells him it was Elise. Jake later confronts Elise about helping Papa Pope, and she tells him she was actually hired to kill Rowan, not set him free. And of course, Rowan is fully aware of this now, so he calls Liv to tell her his life is endangered and she needs to get him out of prison. But you know Liv...she just hangs up. SMH... So Rowan calls Quinn, and she actually goes to see him, but only to tell him she's not helping him. But later, it turns out their conversation may have continued, because Quinn ends up telling Liv that Rowan may be able to help her get out of testifying. So Liv goes to see her father in the infirmary, where we later learn he is using his ability to make his heart beat irregularly (what can't this man do?! LOL) to stay in the infirmary. He tells Liv he has things on each of the senators that would make the investigation and potential impeachment go away, if she helps him get out of prison before he is killed by whoever is after him. Now that there's something in it for her and Fitz, Liv decides she's willing to help get her father out of prison. 

Does she go ask Fitz to pardon her father? Nope. She goes to Mellie, who she recalled knew how to forge Fitz' signature. Liv tries to suggest Mellie helping to free this prisoner in Virginia would help them all out, because Liv wouldn't have to testify. But of course Mellie is like, she's already lost everything after her testimony (her career, marriage, home). So she basically tells Liv she's not about to set someone free so Liv and Fitz can be happily ever after in the White House for 3 more years. Things continue to go left when Liv seemingly threatens Mellie by suggesting after Liv's testimony things could get even worse for Mellie. But the worst of it, when Mellie asks to know who the prisoner was, and Liv gives her a file with Rowan's picture, Mellie identifies him as Damascus Bainbridge, the campaign donor who asked Mellie for the information on the jurors who ended up being murdered. Mellie throws a slight dagger when Liv clearly is unaware of who "Damascus Bainbridge" is, by highlighting that that's why Fitz kicked her out of the White House and asking Liv why she thought Fitz kicked Mellie out? Liv's eyes begin to water as she says she didn't know why he kicked Mellie out. Were her eyes watering because Fitz never told her about her father being "Damascus" or because she thought he kicked Mellie out for her? <shrugs>. So Liv ends up telling Mellie not only that the prisoner is actually her father, but also, after Mellie calls her out for wanting to set free a murderer to save Fitz from impeachment and how Liv doesn't fall far from the tree, that he had killed Mellie's son! Mellie begins to hyperventilate, and obviously does not move forward with helping to set Rowan free. Why did Liv tell her that?! Was it to be hurtful?! It certainly couldn't have been to convince Mellie to help get him out of prison. 

So with option 3 apparently not happening, Liv decides to move forward with marrying Fitz. Fitz and Mellie proceed to sign the divorce papers. Fitz mutters that Mellie has already taken everything, but ignores Mellie's request that he repeats what he said louder. He finally says it, and Mellie goes into this great monologue about how Fitz always manages to convince himself that he is blameless in everything when he is actually the common denominator for all of it!!! Then she walks out. Fitz and Liv are preparing to get married (no ceremony, flowers, or vows at Liv's request) in the Oval Office right before her hearing, when Liv receives a phone call she says she has to take. 

Meanwhile, Vice President Susan Ross has asked David to look into whether there are any legal ramifications if she resigns. He tells her there is not, and then the two begin discussing why she is considering resigning over wine coolers (Susan's request) in David's office. Ross says it is because the President is disgusting, but David tells her it looks like it might actually be because she's afraid of what former VP Sally Langston described as her becoming the 2nd woman president (because you know Sally had to tell her viewers she was the 1st woman president, LOL). David then tells Ross she would make a good president, because she is humbled by the position, unlike others...throwing in she couldn't be worse than the current president! So this had me like...so is Fitz really about to get impeached? Is Liv about to testify? 

I'll get to that, but first...Jake decides he wants to leave with Elise to help her take down Rowan. So Elise tells him to meet her at Union Station at 3p. And I'm thinking, ummm we know what happened the last time she was supposed to meet him at a station. Womp, womp. So shortly after Liv gets the phone call in the Oval Office, Jake is walking in Union Station looking for Elise. He comes up to a woman sitting on a bench who looks like Elise from the back. Since the camera was only showing her from the back, I assumed it wasn't Elise. But to my surprise, when he got in front of her, it was Elise. Buuuut...she was DEAD!!!!! 

Meanwhile, the senators are at the hearing calling out for Olivia Pope to come to the table, and Liv is no where to be seen. Then in walks a lady with envelopes for each of the senators. They open it and they each have different gruesome pictures, needless to say the hearing went into immediate recess and would later be called off all together.

After the call, Liv is walking in the tunnels of the White House where she meets with Mellie, and Mellie tells Liv she had a realization about Liv. What did she realize? That Liv is going to make her president! Why, because she owes Mellie for giving her what she wanted. And out walks PAPA POPE and Tom Larsen!!! 

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Have You Been Watching Rosewood and Truth Be Told?



So I finally found time to check out Rosewood, and I absolutely love it! I'm not even into CSI-type shows, but this is a really good show. Morris Chestnut stars as the main character, Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr. (aka Rosie), a private pathologist consultant who helps Miami PD solve murders (often by forcing his way in to the dismay of Captain Ira Hornstock, played by Domenick Lombardozzi aka Herc from "The Wire"). He's dealing with a debilitating disease, but manages to live a very stop and smell the roses type of life and is definitely the best of the best at what he does. His sister Pippy (played by Gabrielle Dennis aka Janay on "The Game" aka Derwin's baby mama) and her finance Tara work for him, and are just as good at catching the small details during an autopsy that can lead to solving a murder case. His mother Donna (played by Lorraine Toussaint #AnyDayNow #TheFosters) is a semi-helicopter mother, and about 4 episodes in is invited by Rosie to join their office after retiring. Rosie works closely with Detective Annalise Villa, who is a Miami native who moves back from New York after the sudden death of her husband. While there seemed to be an instant spark from Rosie, Donna's stand offish personality led to no flicker being ignited. However, about four or five episodes in she begins to have feelings for Rosie, who is then in a relationship with Kat (played by Nicole Ari Parker). I won't tell the rest. You have to check it out! I know I'll be watching! 


So I saw the commercials for this show, and knew I had to watch it. I mean, have you seen Tone Bell, who plays Russell?! And it wasn't until I watched the first episode that I realized Zach, ehem Mark-Paul Gosselaar was also in it, he plays Mitch. Can't fail with my "Saved by the Bell" #MCE. LOL. And it took 2 episodes for me to realize that was Imunique from "Love That Girl!" (yes, I'll admit, I sat threw some of those episodes when there was nothing else to watch!) , Bresha Webb, playing Angie (a doctor). Okay...so what is the show about? And is it good? Yes, it is very funny! I mean LOL funny, in my opinion. It's essentially about two married couples, Angie and Russell the newlyweds, and Mitch and Tracy the 4-years or so vets (who also have a 4 year old daughter). Interesting choice to name Mitch Mitch, because he is kind of the Hitch (Will Smith movie) for married couples (not to be confused with "mitch" in "Real Husbands of Hollywood"). Mitch and Russell are besties, and as the longer married friend and the ethics professor, Mitch is often giving Russell advice on how to be a good husband. So a lot of the show seems to be focused on Mitch and Tracy showing/telling Russell and Angie what a good marriage looks like. And the show also throws in some racial humor, often tied to Russell being Mitch's only Black friend and at times related to Tracy being what Mitch describes as ethnically ambiguous. Vanessa Lachey, who plays Tracy, is half White, half Filipina (and yes, that is Lachey as in Nick Lachey, her husband of 4 years). It seemed a bit heavy on the racial humor in the first episode, but I think they struck a balance in episode 2. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the season!  

Have you watched either of these shows? Rate them below!

Being Mary Jane Season 3, Episode 3 ("Sparrow") Recap


This was definitely a tear-jerker. In the beginning scenes we see Lisa preparing to commit suicide, and then eventually taking her own life by purposefully overdosing on pills. 

David tries to get in touch with MJ to let her know, but she's ignoring (and eventually blocking thanks to Mark) his calls. He even tries going to her house, but she doesn't answer the door. Finally, Niecy gets a hold of her. David is at the house with Niecy and MJ's parents and has shared the sad news with them. Niecy asks MJ to come over, but MJ insists that she tell her what happened. So Niecy tells her Lisa committed suicide. 

In a small scene, but possibly worth a mention for future episodes, Mark offers to stay with MJ in the office after having to remind her they all signed a memo that they wouldn't drink at the office and that included removing the tequila from her desk when she says she needs a drink and looks for a bottle in her desk drawer. But she tells him she'll be fine and he should go meet up with his French beau who's in town for 48-hours. Later, MJ ignores a call from Nichelle, and looks through her missed/ignored calls, including 4 from Lisa...1 of which seems to be from the night she committed suicide. 

In a later scene at MJ's house, MJ, Mark, Kara, and Nichelle share memories of Lisa over drinks and discuss plans for her funeral. It eventually leads to a conversation about Black people not being known for suicide, suicide being an illness (as opposed to a weakness), and the relationship medication has with suicide. Then Nichelle reveals to MJ that it was David who found Lisa's body after asking MJ if she had spoken to him. 

So in a later scene MJ is speaking to David in front of her house. He offers to pay for the funeral, but she tells him it's taken care of. She asks him what he was doing at Lisa's house in the first place. He said he went to check on her since she hadn't been answering his call since the accident. He then asks MJ how she's doing, and she tells him she's fine all things considered. He begins to say, "If you need anything..." but she cuts him off and says, "I won't. Thanks." Then she walks into her house. 

Later, MJ goes to talk to her mother about the funeral arrangements, and her mother starts the conversation by saying she and MJ are responsible for Lisa's suicide. This frustrates MJ, who tells her mother she came to discuss arrangements not to have a pity party. Her mother then informs her that she reached out to Lisa's family and they would likely be doing the arrangements. This further upsets MJ, who is furious that her mother would contact Lisa's family given she hadn't spoken to them in 15 years! She adds that Lisa's family planted the seed that ultimately led to her suicide. She storms out of the house, ignoring Niecy's question about whether she still wanted her help. 

When MJ is in Lisa's house, Lisa's mother and stepfather (played by Richard Lawson, aka Queen Bey's stepfather, aka Ms. Tina's new husband) comes to the house. MJ and Lisa's mother are in Lisa's bedroom, and MJ is less than welcoming, even being slightly confrontational about the grade she and Lisa were in in a picture Lisa's mother was looking at. Lisa's mother asks Mary Jane to do the eulogy, and Mary Jane agrees to do it. But when Lisa's stepfather yells up for Lisa's mother to come on so they could leave, MJ tells Lisa's mother it's either her or him at the funeral. So it becomes clear he's the reason Lisa no longer spoke to her family. In the car, Lisa's mother asks the stepfather to not come to the funeral, because it would look bad if MJ wasn't there. He pushes back by saying he hates it when she acts so weak (interesting, since by MJ's reaction, Lisa's mother may have acted weak when it came to protecting her daughter from her stepfather), and he throws in that she knows Lisa was bipolar with a vivid imagination (I suppose that was his excuse when Lisa's mother got wind of what he was doing to Lisa). But eventually he agreed not to go to the funeral. Another interesting note was MJ's comment to Lisa's mother about posting to Facebook, noting it sounds insensitive but is the best way to inform as many people as possible in this day and age. Though I wonder, is it the best way because it's Facebook, or because we simply do not keep up and stay connected with others as well as we used to? I mean, they had funerals before Facebook. But I digress....

At the church...wait let me backtrack a little for a sweet moment between MJ's parents as they got ready for the funeral. MJ's father saw her mother reaching for something in the closet that was just out of her reach. So he went into the closet to get it for her, and after going back into the room he looked back at her in the way I hope my future husband will look at me someday. They may be my favorite couple on tv right now.

Okay...so back to the church. David and MJ are talking before the funeral begins. MJ does most of the talking. She talks about procrastinating on writing the eulogy by trying on 8 different black dresses, including one Lisa told her was too expensive. She said Lisa was right, because the next week she found the same dress at another store for much less. She also said that was the last time she and Lisa did something fun as friends, noting they hadn't really talked in a year. David tried to share words of encouragement, like telling MJ she'll do fine because she always knows what to say. But then things started to not come out so right, like when he followed up saying Lisa was in a better place by saying that was a cliche that may not be true and they don't know if she's in a better place. At which point he admitted it was hard for him to know what to say, understandably so. But he soon learned what NOT to say, when he told MJ it wasn't her fault. Then things went left! MJ took it as him trying to put the blame on her, instead of taking any responsibility in it or even sharing in it with her. So yea...that conversation doesn't end well (MJ throws in things about David screwing Lisa and wanting Lisa's money). Though I found it surprising that MJ basically tells David the same thing she told Lisa, that she has nothing to give him. I guess I found it surprising since I would think the death of a friend you just told that to would make you reconsider having said it as well as saying it to someone else in the future. 

Then MJ nearly has a fit before the processional when she sees Lisa's mother brought Lisa's stepfather after all! The pastor had to remind her that everyone is welcome in the house of the Lord. When MJ does the eulogy, she focuses on the need to make sure the people we love know we love them no matter their ugly truths (also announcing the fact that Lisa's stepfather molested her from the age of 9 to 16, as well as the fact that she suffered from depression, unrequited love, and the silent treatment too many times). 

Love your loved ones while they are here....love them unconditionally and be the person they can share their ugly truths with.  



Saturday, October 24, 2015

How to Get Away with Murder Season 2, Episode 5 ("Meet Bonnie") Recap


This episode should probably be titled "How NOT to Get Away with Murder" as all the lies start to unravel. And not just the lies, the students start to unravel too!

 But first, we will start with the Hapstall case. Sinclair did a last minute request to use the siblings' now deceased aunt's testimony. So the judge gives Annalise about 6 hours to provide evidence on why the aunt's testimony to the police should not be used in the trial. So Annalise has the students dig through the files to find anything that shows the aunt lied. Michaela finds the police dashcam video from when the police encountered the aunt the morning after the murders. It shows her using racial slurs against the siblings, but cuts off before she answers how she knows they killed their parents. Caleb comes to the house prepared to provide pill bottles to discredit his aunt with a possible drug addiction, but ends up overhearing the video. For obvious reasons he was hurt by the new knowledge that his aunt thought of him and his sister in the way she spoke of them on the video. Later, with Oliver's help, Michaela and Connor are able to get additional audio footage from the dashcam. While Oliver is hacking the police department, and Michaela is in the bathroom, Oliver's comments about Annalise not paying him for doing work that could land him in jail leads Connor to tell him that he may actually be going to jail. Oliver of course asked what was going on, but Connor told him he couldn't tell him because he would get in trouble too. So it turned out the police deleted the video footage of the aunt saying she doesn't remember hearing anything the night of the murder but failed to delete the audio footage. So Annalise played it during the hearing. Sinclair pointed out that it wasn't a part of discovery, meaning Annalise illegally retrieved the footage (Connor's face shows a hint of concern about Oliver who would certainly get jail time if it's ever discovered that he was the one who hacked the police department for the footage). Annalise claims it was just anonymously dropped off to her, but the judge doesn't believe her. So the judge is going to allow Sinclair to use the deceased aunt's testimony that she heard screaming the night of the murders, noting sometimes when people are traumatized they forget things when first questioned on an event. The judge also said she will be investigating how Annalise got the footage. Catherine Hapstall has a big outburst about the judge being Black and hence being able to see their aunt lied due to her racist bias against the siblings. The judge says she understands racism all too well but she has to uphold the law. 

Asher is pretty much MIA the whole time, because he's working with his dad on getting immunity for anything having to do with Sam's death and the Trotter Lake incident in exchange for testifying in a hearing where Sinclair is trying to get a wiretap in Annalise's home. While waiting to be called to the stand, Asher gets up and leaves after reflecting on Bonnie's confession to him that she killed Sam. She told him Sam tried to rape her when he came home drunk, and she hit him with a lamp...killing him. He then goes to Annalise's house, where everyone sees him go into her office to talk to her alone, planting the fear that he knows what really happened to Sam and may be turning them all in. But what really happened was he asked Annalise for the truth, and she feeds him the same lie Bonnie did about Bonnie killing Sam after he tried to rape her. Later, when speaking to Bonnie, he asks her if Frank and Annalise helped her put the body in the forest, and she says yes. He asks if the others knew about it, and she says no they were already at the bonfire (but he has a flashback to knocking on the door that night, because he saw Connor's car in Annalise's driveway). He then asks her if that meant their first night together was just so she would have an alibi, and she hesitantly says yes, throwing in that everything after that night was real and meant something. Later, in what turned out to possibly be a stalling mechanism according to Sinclair, Asher tells Sinclair he knows who kills Sam and requests a revised immunity agreement. While there he learns his dad is only helping him out to get his own immunity (seemingly related to the David Allen death row case). With that, Asher once again leaves. Much later in the episode he basically tells Bonnie he's going to do what's best for her, which Bonnie takes as him telling Sinclair Bonnie killed Sam. When Bonnie informs Annalise of this she tells Annalise to just let her take the blame for being as stupid as Annalise told her she was for telling Asher she killed Sam (earlier in the episode when Bonnie was telling Annalise what she told Asher, Annalise told her she couldn't possibly hate her any more than she did at that moment). Annalise then goes to see Asher where she shows him footage of Bonnie's father recording himself raping Bonnie as a young girl.  Horrific thing to watch, but the fact that Annalise would use this video for such a purpose is sad and sickening. And honestly, I wouldn't put past Annalise that she made up the fact that that was Bonnie in the video, and that it was someone else. Either way, very tragic.

Attempting to use other tragic news to her advantage, Annalise spent part of the episode working with Frank to figure out what Wes and Nate knew. She informs Frank that she saw Wes and Nate together working on something. So Frank went to finding out what they knew and fixing the situation. Annalise went about trying to get them to individually confess whatever they were working on. First she goes to Nate, where she tells him she didn't want any more lies between them so she had to tell him his wife asked her to get her some pills to commit suicide. He asks her if she did, and she lies and sasys no (the truth is she did get the pills from Frank, but she decided not to give them to her). But, by the look on her face when Nate left without mentioning Wes, it was all just a ploy to give him a chance to come clean with her. Later she calls Wes into her office (which made everyone suspicious of him since he's managed to be so calm the whole time. But it's not because Annalise had him in the loop, it's because he's been working with Levi and Nate to figure out if Annalise killed Becca).  She asks him how everything is going, hoping he would bring up Nate, but he doesn't. She asks him how he felt about their relationship, and he simply says he was upset that she wouldn't disclose what she and Asher discussed but now she's told them (when they all started picking on Bonnie to tell them what was going on Annalise told them Bonnie told Asher she killed Sam to save them) and he's no longer upset. That's it...nothing about Nate. So Annalise goes to Nate and demands he tell her what's going on with him and Wes. Nate tells her Wes thinks she had something to do with Becca's murder, and then she goes on to tell him Bonnie's made up story about killing Sam after he tried to rape her (so much for not wanting any more lies between them! Ha!). And of course Nate asks her where was his protection when she was trying to protect Bonnie by framing him. Then Annalise goes into this spill about hating herself and not wanting to be this person that makes everyone's lives worse. Saying she'll die if it means not hurting him again.

While Annalise is seeking out confessions, Frank is putting in work. He tells Annalise that Wes has been calling Levi, Becca's foster brother. He also tells her that Levi and Michaela have also been talking. Annalise tells him to keep Wes and Michaela away from Levi, and noticing Michaela talking to Levi on the phone she snatches the phone, tells everyone to get to work on the Hapstall case, and continues to walk away with Michaela's phone as Michaela is telling her she still has her phone. Wes and Levi go to confront Frank's friend about possibly burying Becca's body in the cemetery, and Levi pulls a gun out on the guy. Wes deescalates things and tells Levi to put the gun away, and then he asks the guy to tell them what he and Frank talked about when he called him three times. So the guy tells them Frank asked to use his storage unit, and Wes conveniently gets a hold of a storage unit key on Frank's keychain when Frank leaves his keys on a table. Later, when Wes and Levi are preparing to get in the car to go to the storage unit, Connor, Laurel and Michaela pull up. Michaela jumps out and yells Levi name and demands to know what's going on. So Wes tells them he's Becca's foster brother and Eggs 911. He also tells them Becca's most likely dead. Shortly thereafter the cops come and arrest Levi after finding drugs in his trunk. Wes, Laurel, Connor, and Michaela go on to the storage unit expecting to find Becca's body, but instead they just find a suitcase full of money. They see this as yet another time Wes leads them on a wild goose chase to nothing, but poor Wes actually got duped by Frank's master plan. Frank got to his friend before Wes and Levi and told him to tell them Frank asked to use his storage. He then put the suitcase full of money in the storage unit and left the key in plain sight for Wes to see and grab. He also put the drugs in Levi's trunk!

Then there's the flash forward scenes. This episode the scene shows Bonnie running out of the Hapstall mansion with Annalise and Sinclair dead. She runs to a car Asher is waiting in and asks him if he is okay and then says it is almost over. Asher says nothing and just has a look of shock on his face. She drives to a gas station where she tells him she needs to use the bathroom, but instead goes in to wash blood off. By the time she gets back to the car, Asher is gone. He's gone to a police station to make a statement. 

So the question is, did Bonnie and Asher show up before or after Wes, Connor, Laurel, and Michaela? I'm leaning towards before. In earlier episodes I got the sense Wes and Connor had tried to help Annalise but figured it was too late. Also, Asher and Bonnie have a clear tie to Sinclair that could lend itself to them attempting to murder both Sinclair and Annalise. But it'll probably turn out to be something I haven't even thought about, which would be an even better twist!

Friday, October 23, 2015

Scandal Season 5, Episode 5 ("You Got Served") Recap


So the Senate has decided to investigate the President's relationship with Liv, potentially leading to impeachment. Cyrus is glued to the tv with cheeses, wine, and brownies, despite Michael's attempt to get him to turn the tv off and get off the couch. David explains to Fitz that impeachable action is whatever the Senate decides it is, and he reminds Fitz that discussing the investigation with Liv could lead to time in prison (you know perjury, obstruction of justice, and all that jazz). He then advises the President to hire an attorney, as David is the country's attorney, not the President's.  Abby asks David who he would use if he was the President, and he suggests Patty Snell.

Patty Snell comes in and sends Abby to the briefing room to declare the President will be completely cooperating. She then calls Elizabeth a joke, tells her to stop talking about executive privilege, and has the White House send all of their files to the Senate for their investigation. Clearly in an attempt to give them too much to go through. While looking at all the files they received, and waiting on more, Senators Gibson and Moskowitz inform Mellie she can't stay on the committee since she's divorcing the President, a clear conflict of interest. A disappointed Mellie goes to Cyrus, and by the look on her face he could tell she was removed from the investigation committee. So he invites her to join him on the couch to watch everything unfold. He even apologizes to Mellie, because it was he who brought Liv onto the campaign in the first place. 

Back at OPA, Liv has hired Leo to help her during the investigation. He says they should go with the doe-eyed teenage love story, but Liv disagrees and ends up opting to go with Quinn's idea for the everywoman Liv story line. So Leo tries to go with it, having Liv reach out to Senator Edison (her former fiancee) to do an interview where he would attest to her moral character. And he sent Quinn to go buy her some clothes you can get at a mall.  When Liv approaches Senator Edison, he reminds her of how bad Liv treated him when he asked if she was having an affair with the President, quoting the title from episode 11 of season 2, "A Criminal, a Whore, an Idiot, and a Liar". Liv thought he was calling her those things, which he was, but he pointed out those were the things she said to him when he asked if she was sleeping with Fitz. He then demanded she be honest with him about whether she ever loved him, in exchange for him lying for her on tv. I guess she told him the truth, because he goes on tv and says those who know Liv know she has a high moral character. Liv and Fitz are watching it together, thinking everything is all good. But Liv broke one of her own number one rules. She didn't tell Leo the whole truth. She neglected to tell him about the heirloom diamond ring Fitz gave her, despite him having asked if Fitz had given her anything. It was Mellie who told Senators Gibson and Moskowitz about the ring, and they then leaked it to the media! So Liv was forced to go with Leo's original plan, the doe-eyed teenage love interview. But prior to doing the interview she goes to speak to Jake, where she ends up meeting his wife. Slightly awkward, well actually pretty awkward though everyone played it cool, especially when his wife kisses him as she leaves to give them time to talk. Then Jake and Liv discuss her being scared of being forever tied to the White House and Fitz. Then he advises she tell her truth, how she really feels about Fitz. During the interview, she essentially says she wishes she had never met Fitz so they wouldn't have fallen in love and all of this wouldn't be happening.

Meanwhile, Senators Gibson and Moskowitz picked up Marcus, who's only worked for Liv all of two days, and ask him (well actually threaten him with digging up his and his family pasts and using it against them) to be their spy at OPA. For a moment it seemed like he decided to do it, but we learn he only pretended to spy for them. When he met with them in Senator Moskowitz' office he took a pic of documents they were reviewing...not just any documents...documents related to Fitz' conversations with the CIA in relation to Liv's kidnapping and the war in west Angola. Liv immediately goes to David to see what he knows, and he confirms they found the file. So Liv goes to Fitz and fakes a love scene to tell him what they've found. Seeing as they could get away with it if there's no proof that Fitz watched the tape, Fitz has to make a game-changing decision.

With Liv pointing out Cyrus knows Fitz watched the tape, and Liv and Fitz agreeing he would tell, Fitz decides to ask Cyrus to come back to work for the White House. Cyrus goes on this spill about how well he knows Fitz by giving obscure examples of things he remembered from previous campaigns. And then he tells Fitz he doesn't need him and the White House, noting Fitz knows nothing about Cyrus, including his mother's name. Well Fitz shares his own memories, including about Cyrus' mother. So Cyrus has a change of heart, but he required Fitz to make him Chief of Staff and to permanently fire Elizabeth North. Cy's back!


Thursday, October 22, 2015

Empire Season 2, Episode 5 ("Be True") Recap


The case against Lucious has been dismissed, and Vernon's death has been ruled a suicide (apparently as a way to avoid admitting his decomposing body was put in Prosecutor Ford's car). So Lucious is back inside Empire, as is Andre who has been put in charge of Gutter Music. Thirsty has been hired to take on Vernon's role at Empire, not to be confused with replacing Vernon as Andre pointed out to him. And Jamal is in the studio recording with Ne-Yo, who gives him some relationship advice: 1) don't take relationship advice from Lucious and 2) if your significant other is your serenity take him on the road with you if that will help you get through a tour (which goes against Lucious' advice not to take your significant other on tour). Generally speaking, Lucious may have been wrong, but in regards to Jamal's current situation, he may have been right...and here's why....

While out for drinks, Chase One (the Rolling Stone photographer/painter) tells Jamal and Michael he agrees with Lucious about not taking Michael on tour. He goes on to say he thinks it's better to be in love with someone different every day. Jamal and Michael of course disagree. And later, when Jamal is walking with Chase One alone, Chase One drops to his knees and unzips Jamal's pants! Jamal steps back and tells him even if he was attracted to him, which he's not, he wouldn't do that to Michael. Then Michael comes up and sees Jamal zipping up his pants and Chase One on his knees. Luckily, Michael could see what was going on and didn't assume the worst. Unfortunately, Jamal still invited Chase One to his party at his home later in the episode. And when he goes out onto the patio to speak with Michael, he finds Michael getting head from Chase One! SMH!!!!

Hakeem has found a girl that's different than the rest, according to him. Laura decided to come on as the lead singer for his Latina girl group. When she comes to the studio and he introduces her to Tiana she sees him embrace Tiana in a way that made her ask Tiana if something was going on between the two of them. Tiana tells her he's just that way with all of the girls. So later, when they are watching a music video and he dances with the other two girls in the group and then dances with her and pushes up on her, she tells him she's not like the other girls and leaves. Later in the episode he finds her and convinces her to give the group another chance by promising not to push up on her like that again and having his car take her home while he catches a cab. 

Andre has decided to get baptized, and his pastor gives some questionable requirements for baptism at his church: 1) confess his sins against his family members to them directly, and 2) invite them to the baptism. Confess to the Lord and repent, I know...confess to family and invite them to your baptism...not sure I'd get baptized at a church that said those are the requirements for baptism...especially without mentioning confessing to the Lord and repenting. But I digress...So Andre goes about confessing to his family members. He tells Rhonda about his plans first, and of course she's worried he means confessing what they did with Vernon, but he assures her that's not what he's talking about. And is it just me, or did it look like Rhonda wanted to confess something herself, like maybe she isn't actually pregnant?? #IJS

So Andre tells Jamal and Hakeem that he's the one that setup Jamal getting robbed (and almost shot), not Hakeem. Then they accept his invitation to attend the baptism, though Jamal initially requested he ask the church if he was welcomed. He confessed to Lucious that he told Cookie to blackmail Lucious and produce Jamal when she got out of prison. He also told Lucious that he tried to commit suicide in Lucious' studio. He said it was God that kept him from dying after pulling the trigger. And you know Lucious...he told Andre he just needs to man up instead of thinking baptism would help...or more specifically he said dipped in tap water. He also said there's no God, and I instantly wanted the mama from "A Raisin in the Sun" to slap him like she did Beneatha (where's Claudia McNeil or Phylicia Rashad when you need them). #InMyMothersHouseTheresStillGod Ok...I digress again! 

So anyway, at the church Andre is preparing to confess to Cookie, but she stops him. I wonder what he would have confessed to her. Rhonda, Cookie, Hakeem, and Jamal are there for the baptism. And later, Lucious ends up showing up after working with Freda Gatz on a song about her relationship with her father made him realize his son's needed his presence...or so he says to Jamal, Hakeem, and Cookie who continue to make cracks at him stepping foot in the church just as they were doing when they didn't think he was coming. He even threw in how he provided for them while Cookie was locked up, and Cookie had to remind him he's the one robbing and beating up his family (more on that later). Now when he first came in, all late, Lucious walked all the way down the aisle to the pastor and Andre. Shook the pastor's hand and introduced himself as Andre's father. He hugged Andre, and his response to Andre telling him he loves him..."I know you do." SMH! So while Andre is being dipped in the water, Lucious begins to have flashbacks to his mother forcing him to be "baptized" by her in water in their tub. It proves to be too much for him, and he ends up getting up and walking out of the church, which Andre notices after he's brought up from the water the final time. SMH. Andre wasn't the only one to see something disheartening. Having moved a pew behind Cookie and Jamal to give Lucious the seat, Hakeem seems a bit bothered by seeing Cookie and Jamal holding hands while everyone stood up in celebration of Andre's baptism. 

Now throughout the episode, Lyons Den has been under attack. Starting with Tiana being mugged by two girls who pretended to be fans wanting a picture right in front of Lyons Den! They took her purse and then began posting some of the contents on youtube in a potential attempt to try to blackmail Lyons Den. 

Meanwhile, Vernon was cremated, and Lucious refuses to take the ashes.Cookie tells Lucious that Vernon told her Bunkie was going to shake Lucious down and probably thought it was a matter of time before Lucious turned on him. Then she asked him if he killed Vernon or had him killed. Which he of course denied (and we all know he didn't kill Vernon). Cookie then points out that the two people who had their backs are now in boxes (boxes she notes Lucious doesn't even want to claim). She asks how they will keep their family safe, and he says he feels safe and suggests she doesn't feel safe because she doesn't have him looking after her. Seeming to imply, as Cookie points out, that he may be behind Tiana's purse being snatched. He of course denied knowing anything about it. And despite Cookie telling him to act half-human as if he has any morals and take Vernon ashes, he just walks out while her back is turned. SMH. So she takes the ashes. 

Later, Cookie hires a promoter named Laz Delgado (played by Adam Rodriguez...yum! And based on the preview for the next episode, he and Taraji will be rekindling that "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" flame...Cookie's always getting the cuties). While other promoters would see Tiana's mugging as reason to avoid Lyons Den, Delgado said getting dirty is what he does. And indeed he does, because when Woopty Woo (Porsha's grandmother's mutt that Porsha brought to Cookie for protection, after Tiana's purse being snatched, in a successful attempt to get her job back after being the reason Cookie got arrested in the last episode) starts barking while Cookie and Delgado are meeting, the pair go out into the main area where they find and take down two guys attempting to steal Cookie's masters for Lucious (something Thirsty asked Andre to do on behalf of Lucious earlier in the episode, to which Andre said he wouldn't do that to his mother and that anything Lucious has to tell him about family affairs needs to come directly from him).

And worse yet, at the end of the episode a group of guys kidnap Hakeem!!!! 

Creed Trailer


Being Mary Jane Season 3 Premiere ("Facing Fears" and "Louie Louie") Recap


Episode 1 - "Facing Fears"
Being Mary Jane is back! And it started right where we left off. Mary Jane has been in a serious accident, and she is rushed to the hospital. Kara is covering up the mirror in MJ's room, because she has some serious lacerations on her face. Helen and Paul, MJ's parents, are at the hospital, as are Lisa and David. Everything is normal, or as normal as it can be, when MJ's parents see her. BUT when David approaches her she goes off and pushes him away, and Lisa's behind slithers herself down the hallway before MJ sees her. When Paul Sr. asks David what that was about, David says it's complicated. So of course, Paul Sr. asks him to explain so he could understand. After making the request several times, David finally attempts to explain it without really explaining it. But he says just enough about MJ possibly overhearing Lisa telling him something about his past with Lisa, and when questioned on it he attempts to say he doesn't want to go into details out of respect for MJ and gets a nice punch to the face from Paul Sr. And Lisa didn't get away free. Later, she sits with Helen in the cafeteria, where Helen sets her straight (including making it clear that she wanted to know if David was in ANY of Lisa's holes, and also that of the million of men out there David was the only one she shouldn't have messed with...even calling it incestuous b/c they were both so much like family to them).

Meanwhile, Celia, or CeCe (played by Loretta Devine), who was the driver in the other car, is stuck in pain on a bed in the hallway, apparently because she does not have insurance. Until MJ has them put her in a room. They had a brief conversation, where CeCe told MJ she probably had a lot on her mind like all professional Black women do, and reminded her about how much she needed her face for tv (in the sweetest, yet not so sweet, way). When she leaves, MJ has someone on the medical staff give Cece a check from MJ for $3000 and the memo line said she was sorry. But later in the episode, the network tried to give Cece hush money, because MJ had some alcohol in her system during the crash (though not enough for a DUI...which the network seemed disappointed in...smh...they definitely don't want her there). In the meeting, CeCe talked them into giving her more money than originally offered, because she did her research and then put them in their place. Ms. CeCe seems to have a way with words (like how their reverse gentrification wasn't panning out for them as they may have planned). 

Back at home, a disfigured MJ, has to deal with her mother who apparently volunteered to stay with MJ...but you know how Helen can be. A conversation that started as an apology for trying to push MJ towards David, quickly turned into advising MJ to accept that she's stupid for being in love with David so she can just get over it already, to her then actually kinda becoming the victim when MJ's response wasn't exactly what she expected. But I mean, who wants to be forced to focus on the fact that the man you loved hooked up with your best friend when you're dealing with almost having died and a possible career-ending (or maybe just major altering) injury, especially when said injury is related to that violation of your trust! And when Helen walks into the glass door (and it was hard), it was pretty much time for her to go. Paul Sr. came to get her, apparently insisting he come get her immediately more out of concern for his wife who had just had an accident (though nothing wrong with that).

Later, MJ gets some texts from both Andre and Sheldon (among other people). In summary, Andre is praying for her and Sheldon is available if she needs anything. 

Later in the evening, PJ comes by to talk to MJ, and they have a conversation about men born with silver spoons in their mouths, and how they can love a difficult woman but don't know how to fight for them. Followed by a brief lecture on MJ needing a man to care for her, similar to when Helen was telling her she was trying to push her towards David because she didn't want MJ to end up alone. 

Then Patrick comes by banging like the dang police! But he didn't come to check on MJ. He came to bring Lisa over to talk to MJ (something about her bugging their mom and him not wanting her to commit suicide). MJ eventually goes out to talk to Lisa...and it is talk TO, not talk with. She starts by apologizing to Lisa...apologizing for men not wanting Lisa, apologizing for making Lisa the third wheel with her and David, apologizing for their friendship being more of an obligation than a friendship the last few years...and so on. Lisa got in a few words. The conclusion being, MJ loves Lisa and hope she finds what she needs, but whatever she needs MJ doesn't have it. 

Episode 2 - "Louie Louie"
The network is pretty much trying to get rid of MJ, even telling her attorney the next time he wants to go hard for a client make sure it's not a middle-age, alcoholic Black woman. They even have footage of her drinking tequila in her office on a routine basis and point out the moral turpitude clause in their contract with MJ. They pushed back on setting an exact time frame for MJ's return, despite her doctors saying she could be back in 3 weeks. Meanwhile, MJ convinces Kara to try to get the network to temporarily replace her with an "ugly, Black woman" (which Kara points out is both racist and offensive). And really, who would want to be the face of the network's "ugly, Black woman" movement?! But it didn't matter anyway, because the network was pressured into replacing MJ with a Latina anchor...a young, beautiful Latina anchor...named Marisol. It took the right words from CeCe to make MJ realize she needed to get back in there and take her seat back (told you CeCe was good with her words). MJ eventually pulls herself together and goes to the network meeting for her show and has Ms. Marisol pick up her bag and move from the head of the table so MJ could take back her seat.

But the network isn't the only one coming for MJ. CeCe shows up at MJ's home unannounced, using MJs personal check to get the address to her house. I knew that check was a bad idea, especially since she apologized on the memo line, essentially admitting fault. As MJ learns from her attorney, CeCe's signing of the NDA (nondisclosure agreement) with the network would protect MJ...as long as there's no admission of fault. WOMP, WOMP...And though even CeCe admits to MJ that it was her that turned when she wasn't supposed to, CeCe also points out MJ's $3K check with sorry on the memo line would sure make a jury believe MJ was at fault! CeCe also informed MJ that the NDA only mentioned the network couldn't be sued, not MJ. Womp, womp! So apparently, MJ is CeCe's "blessing"...her blessing for exactly $25,000. MJ is only able to get $5,000 for CeCe the next day, but no worries, Ms. CeCe puts her on a payment plan! SMH!! But I will give it to CeCe, while they were waiting on the messenger with the check, CeCe schooled MJ on some things like how to pronounce W.E.B. DuBois, the systemic oppression of Black people in America, and how Marisol was taking her job! Now I think MJ probably thought she was schooling CeCe on all of those points (except for the Marisol part), and some of y'all may agree with MJ. I think they both had valid points on being Black in America...systemic racism has kept some Black people oppressed and some Black people are lazy (some of all races of people are lazy...lazy people exist in all races). But, in case it wasn't clear through the scripting, because they gave MJ the last word, CeCe actually pronounced W.E.B. DuBois' name the way he preferred for it to be pronounced (doo - BOYZ... "My name is pronounced in the clear English fashion: Du with u as in Sue; Bois as oi in voice. The accent is on the second syllable.")

Meanwhile, Patrick is being superdad for D'Asia, including helping to coach her basketball team and even asking his father to help him get a job (of course making his father both joyful and emotinal). Unfortunately, this leads to jealousy from D'Asia's mother who is now in a halfway house, and of course Niecy is hurt that he didn't have the same level of desire and intensity to be a great father for her and her sister when they were growing up.

And so the season begins....CeCe will probably be schooling MJ and collecting her bi-weekly check from her all season (or at least I hope so...though I don't like what she's doing to MJ, I love how she thinks). The network is going to be gunning for MJ, but hopefully she'll stay strong and push through it like the end of the second episode. It's great seeing Patrick continue to step up as a father. Hope he continues to do so for all of his daughters. And I suppose Lisa and David will come back eventually. Maybe we will get lucky and MJ can get a new beau, like Sheldon, but without his hangups. Not that she has to be in a relationship, but it does make for good tv! 

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The Wiz Preview


How to Get Away with Murder Season 2, Episode 5 Preview


How to Get Away With Murder Season 2, Episode 4 ("Skanks Get Shanked") Recap


Annalise receives a call from Nate's phone, but it turns out it's his wife, Nia, calling. She asks Annalise to come see her in the hospital, where they discuss whether Annalise loves Nate and what Annalise put Nate through (especially given his wife was unable to be with him during his trial). But ultimately, she thought Annalise would be willing to get her some pills so she could commit suicide, because Annalise killed Sam after all(this is what Nia, and probably everyone who doesn't know the truth, believes). This request throws Annalise off her game in court with her new client

A teenage girl is being tried for murdering her best friend with two other girls. She claims the two girls bullied her into killing her best friend over a boy. Connor begins to compare the bullying between the girls with Annalise and her students, suggesting she's brainwashing them. Laurel on the other hand, is convinced the girl is a psychopath, and she's able to prove the girl was behind all of it when she steals her phone and finds a video of her and the girls reenacting the murder, followed by the girl suggesting they kill someone else. When Annalise shows  the video to the parents, they tell her to make the video disappear. So Annalise and Frank go about doing this, though Connor says it is yet another example of her brainwashing them by having them work to ensure the freedom of a killer who wants to kill again. Throughout the trial, Annalise is off her game, because she keeps thinking about Nia asking her to kill her (or assist in her suicide). Then the prosecutor calls one of the other girls to the stand and ends up showing the video! They claim they only became aware of the video that morning, because the witness feared for her life. During the witness' testimony, the defendant has a major outburst where she threatens to kill the girl on the stand next! So yea...Annalise lost the case. She soon realizes it's Connor who gave the other side a copy of the video. The two later exchange words over it, but Annalise gets the last word when she reminds Connor her husband's blood is in his car and tells him Laurel's belief that Frank got rid of the car was all a lie! 

As for the Hapstall siblings, Annalise tasks Michaela with trying to trick the pair into admitting they are sleeping with each other. But instead Michaela seems to have fallen for the brother Caleb (though still dating Becca's foster brother), and found out the sister, Catherine, is a virgin (which they had confirmed by a physician). 

Then there's Asher...He and his father have worked out a deal with Sinclair for him to testify against Annalise. Because he called in "sick," Bonnie had one of Frank's guys track Asher's phone (I'll throw out that during her convo with Frank, Frank's response to the news that she had drinks with Laurel to discuss him led Bonnie to tell him he's in love with Laurel). So Bonnie tracked down Asher, and was there when Asher and Sinclair mentioned Asher testifying as they said good bye. When Bonnie confronted Asher, Asher told her he knew Annalise had Nate kill Sam and that Frank and Bonnie were covering it up. And what was Bonnie's response? She confessed to killing Sam! (But we all Know Wes killed Sam, as Connor so nicely reminded us during his confrontation with Annalise...though Bonnie did kill Becca). I suppose she figures Asher's love for her will keep him from testifying. If Bonnie would kill Becca for Annalise, it is certainly no surprise she would confess to killing Sam for Annalise. 

Meanwhile, Wes is working with Nate and Becca's foster brother (separately) to find out what happened to Becca. Nate tells Wes that Frank called a woman 3 times the night Becca went missing, and Wes later gives Becca's foster brother the woman's name. Later in the episode, when Wes finds out Becca's foster brother is still dating Michaela, he goes to kick him out of his apartment. But the foster brother tells him he found out why Frank was calling the woman. It turns out the woman has a brother who went to high school with Frank. He takes Wes to the place Frank's friend works...a cemetery (aka a place where you can bury bodies...like say... Becca's body!)!  

Annalise ends up getting the pills for Nia, but in what seems to be becoming a thing for Annalise, Annalise tells Nia she too has wanted to kill herself but hasn't, and since Nia is a better woman than her she shouldn't kill herself either (the thing being Annalise telling people she's gone through what they are going through and they should suck it up). So ultimately, despite getting the pills from Frank, she doesn't give them to Nia.

While this is going on, Wes is telling Nate about the cemetery discovery and slips up and uses the term "we." So he has to tell Nate he's been working with Becca's foster brother. Nate is less than pleased with the news that Wes is working with someone who he may or may not be able to trust. And where are they having this exchange of words? Outside the hospital where Nate's wife is...and who's walking out the hospital?? Annalise...yep...Annalise sees Wes and Nate talking!

And can't forget about the flash forward scenes. So here's what we learn... Sinclair is dead, but Annalise didn't die. She's in an ambulance being rushed to the hospital, and the group hears this on the cop radio in Nate's care. Michaela gets a call, and Nate tells her to answer it and act normal, which she does. Then they stop and let her out somewhere, as though part of their plan. And who does she go see? Caleb Hapstall! He asks her, "How is she?" with a worried look, and Michaela replies, "Good."

Monday, October 19, 2015

Scandal Season 5, Episode 5 Preview



Scandal Season 5, Episode 4 ("Dog-Whistle Politics") Recap


So Papa Pope may or may not be trying to take back over, according to Jake. Apparently that's what Louvre Burning/Lazarus One means. Papa Pope neither confirmed nor denied it. He leaves it at, true power is never lost! He also gives us a refresher on Liv's background...he raised her to be a Black woman who knew she could own whatever a White man could own. Of course, the media gives their own spin on Liv's background throughout the show...arrogant, urban, articulate and so on...what Marcus Walker referred to as "dog-whistle politics" - terms used by the media that don't sound offensive to the general public, but Black women hear loud and clear what they are really saying. Marcus had Huck and Quinn going on tv using this buzz phrase in Liv's defense. How did this come about?

Well Quinn, feeling she and Huck were overwhelmed with trying to keep Liv's clients, tried to recruit Marcus to join the Gladiators (finally replacing Columbus - ehem Harrison). Initially he turned the offer down, due to their corner-cutting, bend the rules and laws ways. And when Liv found out Quinn asked for his help, she told Quinn and Huck they should be able to handle it on their own and shouldn't bring anyone else into the mix. But later, when Quinn and Huck get to the office, there's Marcus ready to get to work. Despite Huck bringing up what Liv said, Quinn decided they should let Marcus stay. He claimed he changed his mind for the money, but later says it's to help out a sister who helped him. So he went about calling out the media on how they were treating Liv.

And while Liv was getting ran through the mud by the media, Fitz was trying to avoid being ran through the mud on the Hill. The women of the Senate tried to recruit Mellie in their efforts to impeach Fitz, but she declined. Cyrus tried to convince her to do it, saying it was an opportunity for her to get the presidency. But Mellie stood by her decision, even sharing a later scene with Fitz and their baby boy where they agreed to stop hurting each other. But later she gets into it with Cyrus over who had a deeper connection with Fitz, after Mellie tells Cyrus to stop being so vindictive and let it go. Cyrus has the audacity to not only say Fitz was/is his son, but to also tell Mellie being unable to protect his son (Fitz) is worse than her having a son in the grave (who according to Cyrus has already seen the worse in life and is now safe in the ground). Really Cyrus?! Mellie told him to get out, and he quits.

But the women of the Senate aren't the only ones who want to impeach Fitz. His own party members in the Senate are threatening to impeach him if he doesn't get rid of the Brandon bill (Fitz' "legacy" according to Abby, otherwise known as the bill passed after the murder of an unarmed Black youth by a police officer on episode 19 of season 4 - "I'm Just a Bill"). 

Meanwhile, over in Paris, Jake and Charlie are trying to figure out who Papa Pope is working with. Charlie plans a meeting for the two of them with a female spy who supposedly has more murders under her belt than Jake and Charlie put together...and who is also supposedly very attractive. When she arrives, it is clear she and Jake know each other and that whatever they had didn't end well...because she declines to help them. In a later scene, Jake goes to see her and we learn they worked together as spies and were even married. The last time they worked together, Jake waited for her at the train station for an hour (35 minutes over protocol), but she said she came and he should have waited. They end up sharing a kiss and she agrees to help them, but things go wrong during the mission and she gets shot by the Russian she met with. Later at the hospital she admits she never came to the train station (because they are spies and their relationship couldn't last forever), and Jake asks her to come back to the States with him.

And back in the States, Fitz meets with Abby about the Brandon bill and possible impeachment. He also reminds her he wants to fire her for throwing Liv under the bus, but Liv won't let him because Abby did what Liv would have done. So he asks her...what would Liv do about the Brandon bill. Abby's answer...make the smart choice and kill the bill. But Fitz decides Liv's job as a fixer is to be smart, but he doesn't work for Liv. In his office it's not about doing the smart thing, it's about doing the right thing. And what's the right thing?? 

Fitz going to pick up Liv, his mistress, and taking her on a date. Now, I'm not team Olitz (is that how you all say it?), but I am for Fitz risking something for Liv instead of the other way around. And yea...about passing on the "smart" move to make the "right" move...definitely not a smart move. Because not only will Senator Gibson be seeking impeachment of the President, now so will Mellie and the women of the Senate!

Empire Season 2, Episode 5 Preview


Empire Season 2, Episode 4 ("Poor Yorick") Recap


Jamal is in the studio recording and doing an interview for his cover on Rolling Stone, when the FBI begins to raid Empire. Back at Lyons Den, Anika is once again pleading with Cookie to let her work with them. Cookie moves on to talk to Hakeem about getting in the studio to make some songs for them to leak online (since they can't get on urban radio), but Hakeem asks for one more week to find a lead singer for his Latina girl group. Then Anika tells them that Empire is being raided by the Feds. And just when Cookie starts ordering Anika and Hakeem to reach out to Empire artists to get them to come to Lyons Den in the wake of the raid, the FBI comes and raids them! And at Lucious' home, Thirsty (who spent the night there with a set of twins) wakes Lucious (and the woman in his bed)  up to inform him the Feds raided Empire and were likely on their way to his house. And before he left the room the Feds and Prosecutor Roxanne Ford arrive. Thirsty tells Lucious to get up and get ready, and Lucious decides him being ready is standing butt naked waiting for Roxanne Ford to come in.

Back at Empire, Mimi Whiteman informs the other board members that Empire will be halting future endeavors in support of Lucious while the investigation continues, and Jamal adds that that includes his Rolling Stone cover. But...in walks Lucious (and no, he's still not supposed to be in Empire, as Jamal reminded him). But Lucious tells the board this is no time to hide, rather it's time to expand to take advantage of the street cred Empire will receive after being raided by the Feds. So Jamal's Rolling Stone cover is back on.

There's definitely something interesting and awkward about the dynamics between the photographer/painter for the Rolling Stone cover, Chase One, and Jamal's boyfriend. There's almost a hint of the photographer wanting Jamal, and Jamal's boyfriend being fully aware of it. But then on the other hand, the photographer is really weird (in a Tom Green kind of way, or maybe he just kind of looks like Tom Green), and I just don't see Jamal going for it anyway. But the demeanor of his boyfriend makes it seem like something may happen later in the season.

After the raids, Lucious calls the family together to meet with Thirsty, who informs them that they need to come together as one big happy family to counter the Feds. He also adds that the raids mean the Feds don't have anything. He then says that if they can find Vernon (who's dead, but the only one in the room who knows this is Andre), they can convince him not to testify and the case will be dismissed. This leads to a later scene where Andre meets with Lucious and asks him if he would let him back in at Empire if he got the case dismissed. Lucious told him if he got the case dismissed he could have anything he wanted, but he soon realizes by the look on Andre's face that Andre actually has some type of plan in mind. There's also a flashback to a social worker interviewing Lucious with his mom about whether he felt safe, because some neighbors reached out to CPS. Young Lucious, Dwight, proclaimed he wanted to stay with his mother.

Later, Cookie approaches Lucious about Hakeem and Jamal doing a music video (Hakeem's idea for the whole big happy family image) in exchange for letting them back on the radio and Lucious promising to stop going after their artists and Cookie's masters. Lucious agrees to the video and not going after their artists, but he says he's trying to make Hakeem a man by making him figure out a way to get back on the radio. He also tells Cookie he never went after her masters. She told him Anika told her he did, to which Lucious said Anika was lying. In a much later scene, after calling Anika to meet her at the video shoot (after having been in jail, more on that later), Cookie told Anika Lucious said she was lying about him trying to take her masters. And when Anika said he was lying, Cookie just said she knew he was but she doesn't trust Anika. So once again, she said Anika can't work with Lyons Den. And I just looked at Anika standing there thinking...why doesn't she just go find another label to work for?? Why is she insisting on working with Cookie? Cookie does not want to work with her!! But anyway...

They begin shooting Jamal and Hakeem's video, and the theme is supposed to be Black Panthers in a post-apocalyptic world (the set reminds me of the "California Love" video). Before the shoot, Lucious goes to see Hakeem in his trailer to tell him he's glad he's doing the video, but Hakeem said he's only doing it because he can't get on the radio. To which Lucious says keeping him off the radio was payback for Hakeem leaking his album. He then notes he's impressed with how Hakeem is facing the adversity, but Hakeem shoots back a comment about Lucious breaking up his girl group. Then Lucious offers to make it up to him by giving him headphones to listen to beats he made for him. Hakeem declined, noting he's on to his father's ways. He changes his mind while Lucious is walking out, but Lucious doesn't let him hear the beats.

 After a little back an forth between Cookie and Mimi, the shoot is underway. At some point Cookie steps outside and is arrested because of warrants for missing court (turns out her assistant tried to get on a subway train without paying and told authorities her name was Cookie Lyon). As she's being put into the police car she asks if anyone is recording and also yells out if she dies while in police custody she did not commit suicide (seems like a reference to the Sandra Bland incident, but it seemed forced and/or unnecessary...or maybe just out of place...I don't know, but I really wasn't feeling the way they threw in the reference). While she is MIA, and no one knows she's in jail, Hakeem listens to the beats Lucious made for him. He tells Lucious they are good, and Lucious tells him they're his if he comes back to Empire. Hakeem once again declines the offer (affirming his loyalty to Cookie), and when they walk back to the set they see the painting of Jamal for Rolling Stone. As the artist is talking to Jamal about him being a genius, and Lucious walks up to the painting admiring it, Hakeem goes off about getting the painting off the set. He even calls it tacky and ugly. Lucious asked him why he couldn't be happy for his brother, and Hakeem says Cookie would have had the painting off the set. This of course led to Lucious calling Hakeem a mama's boy and telling him he made Jamal the head of Empire, because he doesn't need his mama to do work (interesting, since just last episode both Becky and Jamal at one point concluded Jamal needed his mama to be his producer to record his music). After having already threatened Lucious for calling him a mama's boy,  Hakeem gets a knife (from where I don't know) and stabbs Jamal right in the neck (well not Jamal, the painting of Jamal). I see stabbing Jamal's throat as a representation of anger over Jamal's musical talent (though the artist later tells Jamal and his boyfriend that it makes the painting better by symbolizing the violence and anger of a racist and homophobic society). But anywho...they go on with the video shoot. Well, until Hakeem and Jamal begin to physically fight. Hakeem even lifts up a bat towards Jamal who is sprawled on the floor. But Hakeem ends up just walking out. He then  asks everyone why they looked shocked, and adds they've never been a real family and that he's leaving and never coming back.

This whole time, Cookie is being questioned, or more like threatened, by Roxanne Ford at the police station. She threatens Cookie about being on parole and about her sons (including releasing Andre's medical record to disclose his mental health records). Cookie has flashbacks to a time in prison when she was close to giving up, because she hated it so much. So Cookie decides to give Roxanne what she wants, well kinda. She tells Roxanne she doesn't know if Lucious killed Bunkie or not, but that before he died the two were arguing over whether Lucious should buy the satellite radio company. Roxanne said that was perfect, but it was a lie that was actually perfect for Cookie. Roxanne said she would start an investigation into Lucious' deal with the radio company, stalling the deal for years!

Now, after having revealed to Rhonda that God has been speaking to him in a way he couldn't explain and telling him not to give up on returning to Empire, Andre tells Rhonda he has to dig up Vernon's body to get the case against Lucioius dismissed and get Andre back at Empire. Proclaiming herself to be "ride or die", Rhonda goes with Andre to dig up Vernon's body (interesting choice of labor for a pregnant woman). After digging and finding nothing by the tree Andre identified by a hole in its trunk, Rhonda realizes ALL of the trees have the same hole! And then a car comes! But...it turns out to be Lucious and Thirsty! Lucious had Thirsty put a tracking device on Andre's car after Andre had Lucious agree to let him back in Empire if he got Lucious' case dismissed. And I guess suspecting Andre would be digging for a body, Thirsty had a contraption that could detect buried corpses. So the four of them dug up Vernon's body (yes the four of them, because three grown men felt it unnecessary to excuse the pregnant woman from having to help dig up a dead body). They placed Vernon's body in the trunk, and Andre asked for a moment to share some last words about how much he loved his Uncle Vernon. Then Lucious asked to say some last words in private, being Lucious, his final words to Vernon's body were, "rot in hell you snitch." SMH. Just evil.

Meanwhile, Hakeem is out drinking alone at a bar and discovers a potential new lead for his girl group named Laura.

And later, Roxanne Ford gets in her car, while telling someone to put out a press release that says the FCC has blocked the APEX Radio deal. Score Cookie. Then Roxanne lets out a scream when she finds a decomposed body, I'm guessing Vernon's body, in her passenger seat. Score Lucious. SMH. Poor Vernon. Those Lyons do him so wrong, even after death.