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In “Hello Raskolnikov,” How to Get Away With Murder picks right back up from where it ended in the winter finale with Annalise going to the police about Sam’s involvement with Lila. Note how she puts on her armor of perfect hair and makeup to take on the police and lie through her teeth about her fight with Sam and his subsequent disappearance. Granted, his is a permanent disappearance but the police are none the wiser. Actually, no one except the Keating Four (Asher remains clueless as usual) know what happened, and even they don’t see the whole picture. Only Wes does, which is frightening and irritating all rolled into one thought because it’s Wes. Anyhow, let’s get to how Annalise is going to get away with murder.
Remembering back to Sam’s murder, Annalise may not have been around for the actual death blows, but she does instruct Wes on how to get rid of Sam’s body, burn it to destroy the DNA evidence under his fingernails and on his skin, and get rid of the remains to cover their tracks. According to Annalise, Sam deserved to die for what he did to Lila and she’s kinda not wrong, unless he didn’t actually kill Lila, then I got nothing. Honestly? He deserved to die just for what he said to Annalise, but again, I hold grudges. So, to help get the charges against Rebecca dropped and therefore set up a perfect excuse for Sam to be on the lamb, Annalise wants the kids to prove that Sam murdered Lila.
As the Keating Five set about to investigate Sam’s possible murder of Lila, they remain the bitchiest, accidental murderers to ever grace the tv screen. They’re all so paranoid about their involvement in Sam’s murder, they have become a pit full of vipers waiting to strike first. Connor, not surprisingly, is the one leading the charge to save himself and turn on the others, with Michaela not far behind him. The surprising news is that all of the kids manage to hold up during their police interrogations, or so it appears.
The kids manage to find a way to get a videotape of Sam and Lila at a clinic admitted into court, and it looks like Sam is trying to convince her to abort the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Annalise has Sam’s DNA tested against Lila’s unborn fetus and it’s a match. So these two damning pieces of evidence combined with the cell phone records found on Sam’s computer indicating that he was on the rooftop of Lila’s sorority the night of her murder make a compelling argument to drop the charges against Rebecca. Unfortunately, that means Rebecca is sticking around and probably with Wes. Double ick.
Connor and Michaela work themselves into such a state of panic that they decide to turn themselves in to the police and convince Laurel to do the same. Except she goes to Wes to tell him that everything is falling apart, because Frank knows everything, which means Annalise knows everything. The key here is does Frank really know what’s going on? Annalise told him something, but since the audience never saw what it was, who knows what version of events he was told? AND the kids still have no idea that Annalise has been in on this since the beginning. It’s like the murderous version of “Who’s on First?” Anyway, Wes gets Annalise to stop Connor and Michaela from turning themselves in for Sam’s murder and she vows to help them get away with this murder.
In the ballsiest move ever, Annalise gives all her students their final exam, an essay in which each student has to come up with a defense for the Keating Five under the guise of a hypothetical situation mirroring their own. So Annalise can use anything the students come up with to help her and the Keatiing Five get away with Sam’s murder. She’s either brilliant or a sociopath or both to put this out into the universe while the police are breathing down her neck to find Sam. Everything appears to be falling into place for Annalise and the kids until Connor alerts Annalise that Sam’s sister is at the police station making waves defending Sam against these murder rumors. Turns out, this murder and cover up won’t be as smooth as Annalise thought.
Overall, this was great episode to come back to after the long winter break. This show hasn’t missed a step with parsing out the details of Sam’s murder or Lila’s for that matter. I love that we as an audience still don’t know who killed Lila. It keeps the pieces of the puzzle fluid as other pieces fall into place. I also love that Annalise and Bonnie still have a whole boatload of issues to resolve, but Bonnie remains a loyal soldier, mainly because she knows that Annalise will bury her. Literally. Because when it comes down to it, Annalise is the master manipulator in this game, and she will win at any cost. One final thought, I really enjoy this show, the Keating Five may not be the strongest in terms of acting choices, but Viola Davis‘ presence elevates everything and makes it all better.
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