Are you ready for the All Scheming All Plotting Annelise Keating Variety Hour? Because we’ve got a wild episode where Gabriel is charged with DOMESTIC TERRORISM, and that’s just a blip on the radar. Think about that: In the earlier seasons of this show, anyone being charged with domestic terrorism would have been a three-episode arc, but now we’re burning through the FBI trying to frame Gabriel for his actions protesting in Ferguson in about 18 minutes. How to Get Away with Murder goes not give a single fuck and will shove four episodes’ worth of plot into a single episode. How to Get Away with Murder does not care about you or your note-taking system so you can recap it in a timely fashion. Let’s get to it.
For all of my complaining about Gabriel not being at the center of the story, the show seems to be rushing through his storylines. The FBI and the district attorney’s office coming together to mess with Gabriel and Annelise should have been half of this season, but we’ve got TWO EPISODES LEFT? I guess so! Instead we’re just getting some furtive glances and that FBI lady with the square jaw staring at a dry erase board.
Annelise heads over to the police department to go see Gabriel. The episode flashes back and forth between Annelise being questioned by the Keating Gang as she prepares to go see Gabriel and Annelise questioning Gabriel. Annelise needs to stop answering the questions of the Keating Gang. They are reactionary and wildly annoying. Have they left that house in a while? They need to. The Gang just wants to know how much the FBI knows about Gabriel being Sam’s son. Asher is going wild suggesting that they just pin everything on Gabriel.
Gabriel finally tells Annelise that he was talking to Miller before he went missing and Miller was using him to find out information on Annelise in exchange for information on Sam. Annelise takes that information and passes it along to all the necessary parties and makes sure to tell Bonnie that Ron was playing all of them. Nate decides that they have to feed information to Gabriel about the governor connection so the FBI believes him.
Meanwhile, Teagan is sitting in her car waiting for the FBI lady to come talk to her. The FBI lady pulls up right alongside her car and that is the most suspicious move in FBI informant history. If you went down a small side street and saw two cars pulled up next to each other, you’d think “drug deal†or “FBI informant.†Teagan thinks Jorge Castillo is still involved in this somehow and the FBI laughs in her face.
Gabriel is charged with domestic terrorism and being in an iconic photo. Seriously, they took the photo of the Ferguson protestor tossing a teargas can away from the front lines and just said “What if that was Gabriel? One million dollar bail.†He’s also being charged with kissing a nurse on VJ Day in Times Square and being a migrant mother during The Depression.
Annelise puts the Keating Gang in charge of going through Gabriel’s correspondence to make sure there isn’t anything else waiting for them. Michaela also takes it upon herself to deal with Teagan’s suspicions. She does… fine. Oliver and Connor look through all of their wedding photos to make sure Nate and Ron aren’t in the same photo together.
Oliver finds some text messages in Gabriel’s phone where he’s talking to her mother about a lady and they all assume they’re about Annelise but Gabriel actually told his mom about Michaela, a girl he kissed about four times.
Bonnie decides that her best cause of action to deal with everything that’s happening around her is to continue to emotionally punish herself and go visit Ron’s mom. Bonnie should not be in charge of her own sad-ass decisions. Ron’s mom tells her all about the engagement ring and Bonnie doesn’t even get any good intel about it.
The FBI finally lays out something resembling the case against Gabriel and it’s thin. Basically, he’s got to cooperate and give them something on Annelise. This is a bold play that probably shouldn’t be legal.
Michaela’s plan to get Teagan off their back is to scare the shit out of her. I know they joke about how severe and maniacal Michaela is but…man, Michaela is TOO MUCH. They’re going to e-mail her from a dummy account to let her know that they know she’s the Jane Doe. Michaela doesn’t care if Teagan dies.
It’s time for Gabriel’s trial and Annelise pulls out some of the video footage of Gabriel in his apartment to show the FBI straight up planting evidence in Gabriel’s bedroom. Oh, how does she explain the footage? Gabriel is afraid of the police so he tapes his house constantly. SURE. Gabriel is pissed at the Keating Gang and they’re awfully snarky for a group of people involved in his dad’s murder. All the charges get dropped and Annelise tells the gang to keep an eye on Gabriel.
Annelise goes to see Frank and Bonnie, who have been combing through Ron’s phone records and found something damning: Ron knew about Annelise’s adoption. It ties Annelise to Wes in a more intense way, but that’s the only thing that they have that could possibly link Ron and the governor.
Annelise is FUCKING FURIOUS that she has to give up this piece of information in order to fix Nate and Bonnie’s goddamn mess. Just take everything from her. I wanted 13 more minutes of Annelise screaming at Bonnie, Frank, and Nate about their stupid-ass mistakes. Fine. Take everything. Annelise tells Gabriel about the adoption and does an inception about the governor. Gabriel takes all that info right to the FBI and says he heard Ron talking about Annelise’s option with someone named…Lynn?
The FBI lady with the square jaw heads to her dry erase board and tapes up a picture of the governor. My boyfriend definitely thought this was the end of the episode. (It definitely could have been.)
It’s time to enter the final montage. Michaela tells Gabriel where the camera is and they share a moment because Michaela has the absolute worst taste in men. Annelise tells Teagan that Emmett is watching her e-mail and Teagan is SHOOK. Nate and Bonnie decides that it’s time. Ron’s body is found and Bonnie gets a call from Ron’s mother. Asher starts to celebrate that they’re in the clear. Unfortunately, he gets a notification from Instagram. Connor’s mom tagged him in a photo and who is in the background?
NATE AND RON!
Only. Two. Episodes. Left.