Hi, everyone, I’m jumping right in this week with How to Get Away With Muurrrdeerr. I’m ready to pick up recapping this wonderful show with the best office workwear on television. I’m eyeing those sheath dresses, Annalise!
The episode opens with Oliver running into his office in the law school to wipe Annalise’s phone. He’s hacking into the mainframe. The police are booking Annalise and taking her mug shot, and they’re suspicious that she doesn’t have her phone. Annalise isn’t bothered one bit.
Then some BIG-ASS TEXT flashes us back to six weeks earlier. Annalise is getting ready for work while Nate is downstairs making her a smoothie and looking fine. Nate has filed a missing-person report for Frank because his reign of terror cannot go on! Annalise would prefer no one do anything, but Nate wants to be proactive about the situation like a nerd. Annalise thinks they should keep certain things private for a while as she figures things out — about Frank and also about their relationship. Takin’ it slow, trackin’ down murderers. Nate gives her the smoothie to go, and Annalise tosses it out because she doesn’t understand how kind gestures work.
On campus, Annalise is meeting with President LaGuerta. The university doesn’t seem too concerned with catching the person putting up the KILLER flyers, and she thinks it would behoove Annalise to keep a low profile. Unfortunately, the case of the week is a real attention-grabber. Meet Toby Solomon, real-estate developer and all-around creep. He has a penchant for hiring sex workers and getting them high. He was captured on-camera dragging one of those sex workers out of his house and stashed her body on the street. He’s had a whole series of lawyers, and the Keating Gang will be replacing his latest lawyer mid-trial. None of the students want to be on the team because, well, the whole “murdering sex workers” thing. On their first day in court, the prosecution reveals that Toby took a selfie with her unconscious body before he called 911. Yikes.
Laurel is in Miami seeing her father, who is a real piece of work. He’s like a Cuban Tony Stark. He also has no real ability to deal with his daughter because he brings in the office mediator to help solve their problems. Laurel reveals that he left her mother when she was having a mental breakdown, and Laurel was kidnapped as a teen and he refused to pay the ransom. He calls her a selfish drama queen. They don’t have a great relationship.
Bonnie recommends that Annalise take a plea deal because her client of the week is a dumpster fire, and also because her entire staff is consumed with gossip that Connor and Michaela’s exes are getting engaged. Asher is trying to fend off Toby’s advances on Michaela when Bonnie overhears that they’re now an item. Awkward. Annalise meets with the prosecutor on the case because no one, and I mean no one, is interested in giving her client a plea deal. She also insinuates that no prosecutor will ever give Annalise a plea deal again.
Meggie (what is with that name?) and Wes are in bed after sex when Laurel calls. She’s told everyone that she’s at her grandma’s funeral, but Annalise told Wes what was really up. Laurel knows her father won’t help them track down Frank. Her dad stops by with a cake to shame her a little more, and also to let her know that he found Frank but he won’t tell her unless she agrees to some real-estate development in her name. Ugh, dads.
Later, at chez Keating, Oliver reads Toby’s emails and sees that he withdrew a large amount of money, so they need to stop him before he tries to run. Thinking he’s going to hire another sex worker, Annalise and Bonnie stop him — but, really, he’s going to pay off his former lawyer because he murdered another girl and hid her body. TA-WIST. Toby picked up a runaway for a night of drugs and fun; when she rejected him, he hit her in the head with a baseball bat. He claims he did it because he was triggered. I’m not sure he knows what that word means. Annalise and Bonnie are in a real “Buried Bodies Case” situation. They should tell the DA about the other woman because her family has been looking for her since 2012.
While Annalise and Bonnie struggle with their ethical dilemma, Michaela is in the mood to stir up some trouble, so she heads to Atlantic City to work out these feelings about her ex getting engaged. She brings along Asher, Connor, and Oliver for a night that’s sure to be free of awkwardness. She also has $20,000 of Toby’s money and proceeds to put it all on black all over the casino. Oliver and Connor use the occasion to try to start the friendship phase of their relationship. A guy who looks like he’s definitely from Atlantic City starts to hit on Oliver, but changes his mind when he realizes Oliver is Asian, I guess. When Michaela loses all the money, she heads to a pawn shop to sell her engagement ring, a final eff-you to her ex.
Late that night, Frank calls Laurel to tell Annalise that he’s isn’t falling for the voice-mails and that she doesn’t need to send another hit man because they’re even. Yeah, everything is cool again. Sure. No worries.
Annalise puts her client on the stand and has him “confess.” He tells the court that his cellmate in prison killed the runaway. When the prosecutor says this is irrelevant, Annalise drops the bomb that the prosecutor threatened her and wouldn’t even hear about this plea deal. Annalise manages to arrange a manslaughter charge that would give Toby three years in jail. When he balks at the deal, Annalise slaps the white off his face. “You killed three girls. You don’t get to complain.” Damn right.