How to Get Away with Murder (Season 5 – Episode 1)

Image: ABC

Original Air date: September 27th, 2018

Roller Coasters were made for TV. They were especially made for How to Get Away with Murder. We last left the Keating four, Oliver and Annalise in different aftermaths. The supreme court sided with Annalise’s class action case. Michaela cheated on Asher with Marcus Walker during the Scandal crossover. Connor admitted to flunking out of school. Bonnie has found some new office romance.Connor and Oliver are going to have a wedding. Laurel’s dad was arrested thanks to Teigen. Michaela called ICE on Simon. Denver had files on everyone before his death. A new male is joining the college. His name is Gabriel Maddox played by the handsome Rome Flynn. There should be zero issues; until the camera pans to Frank. He’s on the phone with someone saying “looks like the good times didn’t last too long. Her kid’s here.” Who’s kid are we talking about here exactly? Only one way to find out. Fast forward we are at the aftermath of Connor and Oliver getting married; the reception. All the guests are dancing, having drinks, even Annalise is busting a move with the guests. All seems well and good…that is until serious Frank appears and Annalise’s smile disappears. “Why do you look like someone just died?” That’s because, like how past seasons have started, someone actually did die.  Annalise slaps him and then the camera cuts to a first person point of view. The individual who is slowly dying is gasping for air while trying to make it to the event tent where the reception is being held. The person then falls to the ground and continues gasping for air. The person blinks and we are brought to a flashback to three months earlier. This person is walking on the grounds of the Middleton campus. From the looks of it this person is definitely a looker. But who could it be? It’s none other than new kid Gabriel Maddox arriving for his first day of class. “If you have to ask you should just leave now.” Leave now is an understatement people should if they can’t handle this.

Through all the struggles Annalise has had, after winning the class action case. With a motivation boost from Olivia Pope during the Scandal/How To crossover episodes last season. She is now teaching an Advanced Trial Skills class, which in her words just as she said in the pilot, is a sacrifice. With it comes the promise of trying to bring justice into the depressing reality of today’s world. Some who would just tune into the premiere and that episode alone would say that she’s being dramatic. While others who have watched since the beginning, like myself, agree with her 1000 times over.

Obviously due to her win in the case, now every student wants a piece of Annalise’s teachings. The course ends up being over-enrolled and because this is a TV show set with non real life rules in certain situations, instead of using the registration system, she makes a challenge for them to build a drawing board of potential topics that could be more Supreme Court type of cases.

Most notable topics from the Keating 5 2.0:

Connor – Universal basic income Michaela – Repealing of loitering and trespass laws due to inherent racism Asher – Immigration Laurel – Education Gabriel – Prison reform and the abolition of our current prison system

With everything that has happened in the past “semesters”, Annalise tries her very best at putting a large distance between herself and the Keating Four. Then again, Thinking back to the “…her kid is here” call Frank made towards the end of last season, it’s quite obvious that the four students that have been through the rough patches with Annalise are the least of her problems. The first cliff hanger question of this season is: Who Is Gabriel Maddox? What sets in is that Gabriel has known about Annalise for a long time. Which made him take the dive into transferring to Middleton. I can already sense Annalise’s paranoia being heighten.

Aside from Gabriel, Annalise has an even bigger issue at hand. Due to her old place of employment, which is where she also lived at, is now in ashes, she need to find a new firm to work at. With her case fame, she has gained a lot of offers. Most notably one from Caplan & Gold. If you also can recall, a lot has happened at that place; with Simon getting shot and Laurel’s dad high plan of having power. Which is why Tegan, who became a Jane Doe whistle blower for having Laurel’s dad arrested last season, highly suggests to Annalise that she does not take the deal. Several extended offers have also been made to her. How bad do other firms want her? They’re willing to make her a partner. Some are even willing to give her own resources. Others are giving her the chance to build her very own team. She makes a promise to look over all of the offers and get back to them individually.

Meanwhile, Bonnie is still working in the DA’s office for now interim DA Ronald. He filled Denver’s position after Denver died in a car accident. She then sees Nate and tells him that with this job, she’ll be able to find Denver’s files on all of them. Many minutes later she gives the same status report to Annalise. Speaking of Annalise, she wants to start a legal partnership with Bonnie to defend the unfortunate people who have been wrongfully convicted. However, Bonnie is still running around looking for the files. She’s scared about what she’ll find but Annalise who’s in boss up mode says she’s done being scared.

Later in the office, when Annalise stops by the office to bring Nate some papers to sign for his father’s re-trial. Then again Nate is still snooping around Bonnie’s file that was kept in Denver’s secret stash. The mystery he’s been trying to solve is a note saying “Child Alive?” that is the main idea of Bonnie’s file. Nate takes a step further by stealing a coffee cup from Bonnie’s office to send to the lab for a DNA test.

The Keating Four are having relationship struggles:

1. Michaela wants to text Marcus back in D.C., but struggles to appear breezy and casual. Eventually, she calls him and leaves him a painfully awkward message about being single and liking him.

2. Meanwhile, Laurel is sleeping with Frank, but mostly cause he’s a great dad to Christopher and she’s grateful.

3. Oliver comes over for pizza and brings in a mysterious package: Laurel’s baptismal gown. Her father is in prison so he couldn’t have sent it. Her mother? Still M.I.A. at least for the moment.

Back in the classroom, all the students are competing for a space in Annalise’s new clinic by making counter-arguments against their selected topics in hopes of securing a spot. But class is dismissed early due to Annalise being flooded with calls from the firms where she interviewed. They don’t want to do business with her. Connor wants to talk to confront Annalise, since Frank put the idea in his head, about her calling in a favor for Connor to be able to attend the college again.

Now, about the firms…

It turns out all the firms are rescinding their offers because the governor is still upset about losing the Supreme Court case. She has called all the firms suggesting they will put intense pressure and scrutiny on anyone who hires her. Meaning she performed a large act of sabotage. Which means she has to go back to Caplan & Gold and work on a deal with them.

Frank is still digging through information on Gabriel Maddox, searching his criminal record online and finding snapshots of him playing college basketball. He’s continuing to make mysterious phone calls about Gabriel and insisting they not tell the mom about his reappearance. Laurel interrupts for her late-night fix, but not before Frank changes the subject into godly matters and suggests she baptizes Christopher.

Then everyone is in their own desire modes:

1. Laurel and Frank

2. Nate and Theresa (DNA Analyst)

3. Bonnie wants something with Ronald. He wants her help with his speech, but she wants him to stop being her boss for a moment.

Back in the classroom, the reverse-engineered arguments continue and Gabriel targets Annalise with emotion. He states people who commit murder are broken. He crosses the line a very deep line when it comes to Annalise and brings up her dead spouse.

Jesus…

Oliver has found a house for him, Connor, Michaela, and Laurel to move into. It’s cheap and has room for a nursery. He wants it to be their “village” for raising Laurel and Wes’ child. Oliver then proceeds to guilt trip Michaela into saying yes over Simon’s unknown whereabouts. He was taken by ICE in the season 4 finale. Later, they all move in and Michaela pledges a vow of fabulous abstinence when Marcus blows her off.

Frank brings Annalise a hefty file of background checks on her new students. Let’s be Frank here, she did not ask for them. He doesn’t like Gabriel because he’s been lying to her — he’s on his second year of law school and the class is only for third-year law students. He also sees her discarded job offers and urges her to start her own firm because she’s the “money”. he basically means metaphorical powerhouse of self-worth and bad-assery. Which is true to the point of no return.

She doesn’t quite do that. Annalise does ask Caplan & Gold to underwrite her clinic. She refuses to accept less than the deal they want to offer her. There by getting up and walking out when they insist the job meeting is a “negotiation.” When it comes down to it, Annalise knows her worth however she almost gives in to their offer. Turning around for a brief moment in the parking lot, before her phone rings and they are calling to meet her original terms. Later, she signs the deal.

The clinic is officially funded, so what will that mean? At the end of the semester one student will have a full paid tuition. Annalise is then down to her final selections and when one spot is left, both Asher and Gabriel are still in the running. She calls Gabriel out on his lies. Despite that she still chooses him over Asher. Because his topic of immigration was only selected as a slap in Michaela’s face due to her cheating and her slight guilt. Annalise calls him a “clown” and among other things. Asher looks like the way an entitled rich boy looks when he gets caught. Needless to say he is having a full meltdown in his brain like Spongebob did when he forgot his name while trying to be fancy.

Laurel tells Frank she’s moving out of his house and into the “village”. He wants her to stay with him. How does he ask her? He ends up proposing to her. Despite him being a big help, she says no. At this point, I think Frank needs to work on himself a little more before opening up for love again.

The episode ends with Christopher’s baptism, as the priest reads off scriptures in the eyes of god, the camera moves over to the Keating Four, Bonnie, Annalise, and Frank. The irony is lost on no one. Annalise and Frank are identified as the godparents.

In the midst of a religious celebration, we see Nate getting the DNA results. The coffee cup he nabbed from Bonnie’s office is a perfect match for the DNA results. “She’s the mother; he’s her son,” they tell him. And then the priest back at the baptism mentions something about Christ being crucified, only to rise from the dead, as we linger on a shot of Gabriel Maddox. Something that always eerily happens on this show.

From baby Christopher’s point of view in his baptism, we are flashed forwarded back to three months later. Baby Christopher is out there in the snow crying on a blanket in the wounded person’s field of vision. Bonnie is there too but she does something to the mystery person first before getting Christopher. She reaches out to cover the mouth and eyes of the bleeding person before we cut to black. There by killing the individual in the form of asphyxiation.

To think the show would lose it’s blood count is an understatement. I’ll see you in the next post.

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