In the third episode of season 4 of How to Get Away with Murder, titled “It’s For the Greater Good,” Annalise takes on a new case, but soon realizes that the stakes are much higher than she believed. Meanwhile, Laurel wants Michaela to use her new job at Caplan & Gold to investigate her father’s role in Wes’ murder, Connor makes a major decision that his friends do not support, and Michaela shows off her competitive spirit at work.
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Annalise Takes On A New Client
With her reputation in the garbage and a practically non-existent client list, Annalise decides to do some good and help the Public Defenders’ office with case overflow. After convincing the woman in charge to give her a chance, Annalise is given the case of Ben Foster, a man who was convicted of killing his fiancee 12 years earlier. The main “evidence” behind his conviction was that he was a former gang member with gang tattoos covering his entire body. After talking to her client, who says his fiancee took her own life, Annalise makes this argument in court and says they owe her client his freedom.
Later, the prosecutor calls Nate to the stand and they present a voice-mail from the victim that Annalise’s client supposedly deleted. Annalise’s counter-argument is that they don’t know for sure who deleted the voice-mail and that even if they did, deleting a voice-mail isn’t proof of her client’s guilt. Nate must realize that she’s right because he goes to Bonnie for help and they turn to Oliver for assistance. Oliver isn’t exactly thrilled about being asked to hack his former boss, but he needs the money and Annalise did fire him without so much as a “see ya.”
Thanks to Oliver, Bonnie and Nate hear the recording Annalise made of her first meeting with her client in which he confessed that he fought with his fiancee before her death because she told him that he wasn’t the father of her child. The prosecutor uses this information during his cross-examination and basically gets Annalise’s client to admit that it’s true.
Later, Annalise confronts Nate and Bonnie about their antics. Annalise and Bonnie get into a pretty awful fight — though, as Bonnie tells Nate, it’s not the worst fight they’ve had. Nate then claims it was all his idea, but Annalise knows he’s lying.
That night, Annalise returns home to find a package waiting for her. She originally assumes Frank sent it since he’s the only one who knows where she lives, but Frank says he had nothing to do with it. The package contains a DVD of video footage showing the victim jumping to her death, thereby proving that Annalise’s client is innocent. Frank helps Annalise trace the DVD back to the Chief Public Defender who apparently had the footage all along and just didn’t find it until recently. Annalise calls this woman out on her mistake in open court, potentially ruining her career. Yet, by proving her client’s innocence, Annalise wins her second case in a row.
Annalise Confronts Her Therapist
As if Annalise doesn’t have enough to deal with this week, she gets a call from the police asking her if she can identify a body. The victim turns out to be Annalise’s most-recent
client/former cellmate, Jasmine. From the looks of things, Jasmine O.D.’d just like Annalise assumed she would.
Annalise speaks to her therapist several times in this episode and in one of those conversations, he asks her if she could’ve won her case without putting the Chief Public Defender’s career in jeopardy. Annalise says the woman was a sacrificial lamb so she can have what she needs to file a class action suit against the governor and the state. Annalise insists that she’s doing this for the greater good because the system is failing poor people, but Isaac thinks she’s repeating the risky behavior that landed her in this mess in the first place. Annalise thinks he is trying to tear her down in order to regain the power in their relationship, but Isaac insists that the only person Annalise is in a power struggle with is herself. (I’m honestly not sure what to think.)
Michaela Gets a Much-Needed Win
As the episode begins, Laurel is still pleading with Michaela to use her new job at Caplan & Gold to help Laurel bring down her father. Michaela isn’t willing to risk her brand new job at her dream firm on circumstantial evidence like Laurel knowing her father is a terrible person. Laurel tries to sway Michaela by saying this is for Wes, but Michaela counters that Laurel is losing her cool like Wes once did and look where he ended up.
The next day, Michaela kicks off her new job by participating in something called the “Caplan & Gold Hell Bowl.” The new interns are all pitted against each other to see which of them knows the most about their new firm. Michaela makes it through the first round without issue, but she gets hit with a case of nerves later on. One of the partners, Ms. Price, tells Michaela not to let that “man-child” Drake get in her head and that she’s betting on Michaela to win.
“Hell Bowl” eventually comes down to Michaela vs. Drake. Michaela ends up winning thanks to a tip from Laurel. As part of her prize, she gets to pick which partner she wants to work with and she chooses Ms. Price. Alas, it seems like the reason Michaela chose Price is because she’s in charge of Laurel’s dad’s account.
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Laurel Asks Frank for Help
After Oliver lets it slip that Bonnie is working for the D.A.’s office, Laurel’s asks Bonnie for a job as her intern but Bonnie turns her down. Laurel later goes to Frank and asks him to convince his roommate to change her mind. (Yes, Frank and Bonnie are apparently living together now.) Bonnie eventually caves and gives Laurel the job. Laurel then uses her new position to find proof that her father’s jet landed in Philadelphia the day Wes was murdered. Laurel tells Michaela about this and says she believes her father’s associate, Dominic, was on said plane. This is apparently enough to convince Michaela to help Laurel prove her father had Wes killed.
Connor Drops Out of Law School
To everyone’s surprise, Connor is actually in a really good mood as the episode begins. This turns out to be because he just dropped out of law school. Oliver and the Keating 4 immediately try to talk Connor into changing his mind, but Connor is happy with his decision. Later, they recruit Frank to help them with an intervention/family dinner, something Connor finds amusing since it wasn’t long ago they thought Frank might’ve killed Wes. (He does make excellent meatballs though, so Connor shrugs off his inclusion.) Connor tells his friends that if they really care about him, they’ll trust him enough to let him make his own decisions.
Later, Oliver tracks Connor and Asher down at the strip club and he has visitors with him. These men are apparently Connor’s dads and they are less than pleased that this is where their tuition money is going.
What Happened to Michaela?
In this week’s flash-forward, Annalise’s therapist sees someone outside of the hospital nursery and assumes it’s Annalise. It is actually Michaela and she is not looking her best. She asks if “he” is dead and then breaks down, sobbing about how everyone around them dies. I assume the “he” she’s referring to is Laurel’s baby, since Laurel told Annalise that the baby is a boy, but what if the “he” is someone else? How is Michaela involved in this whole situation and how does she know Isaac?
What did you think of this episode of How to Get Away with Murder season 4? Will Annalise’s behavior with the Chief Public Defender come back to haunt her? Do you think Annalise is right that her therapist is trying to assert his power over her? If that’s the case, why is he so determined to keep Annalise under his control? Asher didn’t have much to do in this episode, but we did learn that he’s helping Frank study for the LSATS. What do you think of this new partnership? Are you enjoying the developing friendship between Nate and Bonnie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
How to Get Away with Murder airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC. Want more news? Follow our HTGAWM Facebook page.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
