Tuesday, October 20, 2015

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."