In the sixth episode of season 4 of How to Get Away with Murder, titled “Stay Strong, Mama,” Annalise moves forward with her class action lawsuit as Connor comes on board to assist her, but the DA’s office goes after Annalise because of the suit. Meanwhile, Asher confronts Michaela about the lies she’s been telling, Laurel continues to investigate her father’s company, and we learn more about Annalise’s therapist, Isaac.
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Annalise Goes Up Against the DA’s Office
Early in the episode, Connor shows up at Annalise’s place to tell her that the DA is going after one of the plaintiffs in their suit. The DA’s office is threatening to seize Claudia’s mother’s house if she doesn’t withdraw from the class action suit. (Claudia is Annalise’s former cellmate who recently joined the class action suit.) Annalise tells Claudia that since she once dealt drugs out of her mother’s house, the city has the right to take the house away from her family. Claudia’s son is angry at the possibility of losing his home and he doesn’t trust Annalise to handle things. Connor stands up for Annalise and tells Claudia’s son that if Annalise says she will fix something, it will get fixed.
While Annalise is talking to her client, Denver calls a meeting at the DA’s office to congratulate everyone for their good work in preventing Annalise’s class action suit. They are close to getting all of Annalise’s remaining plaintiffs to drop out of the suit. Denver also takes the time to acknowledge Bonnie for bringing this case to his attention, something Bonnie is clearly thrilled about.
Bonnie’s good mood doesn’t last long, as Isaac drops by the DA’s office to check up on her. He claims he is worried about her, but Bonnie thinks he’s just worried about Annalise. Bonnie assures him that she made a mistake coming to him and she won’t do anything to hurt Annalise. Isaac tells Bonnie that she was making good progress during their sessions so he thinks she should take up sessions with another therapist. Bonnie claims she will check out his list of recommendations.
In order to prevent Claudia’s family from losing their home, Annalise needs an injunction. She goes to a judge seeking said injunction, but he says that nothing will stop the DA’s office from coming after her. He then says that he doesn’t think Annalise is the right person to take on this class action suit, given the state of her reputation and the fact that the suit is going to have a lot of public scrutiny. Later, Annalise tells Connor that all of the judges are too afraid to challenge Denver now that he is running for Attorney General.
Annalise ends up going to the DA’s office and taking them all to task for their behavior. She calls them out on going after her client and asks how they can sleep at night knowing what they are doing to this family. After Annalise leaves, Bonnie confronts Nate about covering for Annalise when he knew what she was up to. Nate tells Bonnie that the class action suit isn’t about her or Annalise and that Bonnie needs to start seeing things clearly.
Connor eventually comes up with an idea that gives Annalise the inspiration she needs. She decides to hold a press conference and make the DA’s actions public knowledge. During said press conference, she also calls out the judge she met with earlier, essentially turning the public’s eye on him so he will grant her the injunction. Annalise gets the result she wants and prevents Claudia’s family from losing their house. Annalise then tells Claudia that she would understand if Claudia wanted to back out of the class action suit. Claudia isn’t backing out because Annalise has given her hope and that is something she hasn’t had in a long time.
We Learn More About Isaac’s Past
As the episode begins, Annalise is having another session with Isaac. Isaac is lost in his own thoughts, but he checks back in when he hears Annalise say Bonnie’s name. Isaac hasn’t told Annalise about Bonnie coming to see him while using an alias. Isaac shifts the conversation away from Bonnie to Sam. He says Annalise hasn’t mentioned her deceased husband during any of their therapy sessions and he doesn’t want that grief popping up unexpectedly because it could threaten her sobriety. He tells Annalise to write a letter to Sam addressing all of their unresolved issues and they can discuss it at their next session.
Isaac is so stressed out from his sessions with Annalise that he ends up talking to a therapist friend of his. He tells her that Bonnie doesn’t pose an imminent threat to Annalise so he doesn’t want to violate Bonnie’s right to privacy. Isaac’s friend tells him to give Annalise a recommendation for another therapist, but Isaac doesn’t want to drop Annalise as a patient just as she’s starting to open up. Isaac then says that Bonnie told him that Annalise lost a child and his therapist friend believes that is why Annalise is triggering him. Isaac believes that he is the right person to help Annalise through her loss since he dealt with his own. His friend advises him to get Annalise to talk about Sam because that will lead to her opening up about her child.
Annalise makes several attempts to write a letter to Sam, but she throws them all out. She then tells Isaac that she couldn’t write the letter and she shows him the only picture she has of her son. Annalise opens up to Isaac about her son’s death and how much it devastated her. Isaac tells her that she shouldn’t feel guilty for the car accident that took her son’ life and Annalise goes off on him. She wants Isaac to let her feel guilty. She says the whole world wants her to be something she’s not. She says she can’t be strong all the time, but Isaac says she’s stronger than most people would be in her shoes. Annalise then admits that she tried to take her own life via sleeping pills shortly after she lost her son. Bonnie found her and took her to the hospital and Sam never knew anything about it.
Annalise’s confession clearly gets to Isaac, something that is clear in another conversation with his friend. She wants him to stop worrying about Annalise and start worrying about himself. She then says how hard it is for her to talk to him about dead children and suicide. She remembers what it was like the last time he was this close to the edge and she’s afraid it will happen again. Isaac gets upset and leaves.
As the episode comes to an end, we see Isaac watching a home movie of his daughter getting ready for graduation. While Isaac is watching said video, Annalise returns home to find Isaac’s therapist friend on her doorstep. This woman turns out to be Isaac’s ex-wife/the mother of his presumably deceased daughter.
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Laurel’s Dad Comes to Town
At the Caplan & Gold offices, Oliver is worried that Tegan will figure out they broke into her files, but Michaela thinks they are out of the woods since it’s been a week and nothing has happened. Their conversation is interrupted when Tegan says she has an emergency meeting about Laurel’s father’s company. Michaela isn’t allowed in the meeting, but she does spot Laurel’s dad making a rare in-person appearance at C&G.
Asher stops by to see Frank because he wants Frank’s advice. Asher admits that he caught Michaela in a lie when she claimed to be at work, but was actually with Laurel. Frank tells him to just act like a person and talk to Michaela. It is surprisingly good advice and Asher takes it, stopping by the C&G offices to confront Michaela about her lie. Instead of telling Asher what’s going on, Michaela comes up with another lie and says Laurel asked her to be her birthing coach so that’s why they were spending time together. Asher believes her.
Michaela calls Laurel to tell her about her father being in town and Laurel is surprised that he didn’t call her. Just then, the meeting ends and Laurel’s dad calls her to ask her to dinner. Laurel then has to find an outfit to cover her ever-growing belly because she thinks her father still believes she had an abortion. While Laurel is getting ready for dinner, Asher stops by to see her. He brought an early present for the baby and tells Laurel that he will be there for her if Michaela gets too busy or she just needs someone to talk to. It seems like a really sweeet gesture, but we eventually find out that there was more to Asher’s visit than simply checking up on a friend.
While Laurel has dinner with her father, Michaela surprises Tegan with a bottle of her favorite alcohol in an attempt to get Tegan to open up about the meeting. Michaela’s play works, but the women start off opening up about their loves lives. Tegan tells Michaela not to take Asher for granted like Tegan did with the person she loved. She then tells Michaela about Cora, a woman she loved but whom she set aside in favor of her career. Since Tegan is already opening up, Michaela prompts her to talk about the meeting and Tegan tells her the very same information that Laurel’s dad is currently sharing with her.
After arriving late to their dinner, Laurel’s dad tells her that he is taking his company public and their family is about to make a ridiculous amount of money. Laurel tells her dad that she wants to be a lawyer so she can’t be involved in any of his illegal activities. Laurel’s father assures her that he has taken care of any potential problems that could come back to haunt their family. Laurel takes this statement as proof that he had Wes murdered. Laurel tells Michaela and Oliver that she thinks Denver called her father when Wes was about to talk to the police about their various criminal activities. If Wes talked, everyone including Laurel would’ve been implicated in multiple crimes just as Laurel’s dad was trying to take his company public. Laurel believes that this is why her father had Wes killed. She wants them to get the files on his company and leak them before the company goes public.
Asher Learns the Truth
Later, Oliver stops by Laurel’s place to tell Laurel and Michaela that he found out that C&G is building a secure server room just for Laurel’s dad’s company. They’ve now made it so the files are practically un-hackable unless you have a special security badge. The only people who have those badges are the IT guy and the three senior partners. Michaela immediately shuts down using Tegan’s badge because she doesn’t want to sabotage Tegan’s career for Laurel’s mission. While they discuss things, we see that Asher is watching them through a camera on the teddy bear he gave Laurel as a “present!”
When Michaela returns home, Asher is packing his things. He confronts her with the video of her conversation with Laurel and demands that she tell him the truth. Michaela blurts out that Laurel’s dad had Wes killed and then goes on to explain what she’s been up to the past few weeks. Asher is upset that Michaela didn’t tell him about anything of this, but Michaela says she loves him and didn’t want him to get hurt. Asher thinks that if she really loved him, she would’ve told him the truth. He then storms out and heads to Frank’s place.
In Other News
-Frank receives his LSAT results and he apparently did very well. He tells Laurel that he did it all for her and for the baby. He wants to be there for both of them, even if he isn’t the baby’s biological father. Frank tells Laurel that he loves her and that he will wait for her. He then kisses her and leaves her to think about things.
-At her doctor’s appointment, Laurel asks when she get can a paternity test so despite what she told Frank in the previous episode, she apparently isn’t so sure that the baby is Wes’.
-During their dinner, Laurel’s father got her to drink a glass of champagne so it is possible that he was watching her drinking habits in an attempt to figure out if she lied to him about the abortion.
-Oliver is still lying to Connor about his real reason for working at C&G. While Connor might be noticing Oliver’s odd behavior, he is too excited about his work with Annalise to think about what Oliver might be up to.
-Despite all the hard work Bonnie has done lately, Denver is reassigning her to another case. He says she’s too emotional about the class action suit so he wants her on something else. Bonnie is clearly upset about this so when Asher’s stops by to see Frank, she ends up crying on his shoulder. (As happy as I am to see someone offer Bonnie some comfort, I hope the show isn’t going to revisit their romantic/sexual relationship.)
-When Isaac visits Bonnie at the DA’s office, Nate sees Isaac leave so that will probably come up at some point.
-In this week’s extremely brief flash-forward, we see a shocked Annalise in the shower washing off what appears to be blood. This is presumably the same blood the cops found in Annalise’s apartment, though we still have no idea whose blood it was.
What did you think of this episode of How to Get Away with Murder? In the flash-forwards, we’ve seen blood at both Annalise’s place and the C&G offices. How are the events at those two locations connected? Now that Asher knows what they are up to, will Laurel want him in on her mission to take down her father? Is Isaac triggered by Annalise simply because they have both lost children or is there some other connection between them? 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
