How to Get Away with Murder Ep 4 Recap

The promos kept saying that the last nine words that Annalise says in the episode “Let’s Get to Scooping” would have jaws dropping, and they were right! My jaw was slowly dropping during the scene leading up to those words. Kudos to writer Erika Green Swafford, director Laura Innes, and creator Pete Nowalk for this episode! I bow down to Viola Davis, Jack Falahee, and the rest of the cast for a meaty episode! Let’s get to the recap!

The Present

It appears as though we are getting Connor’s take on what happened right after the murder. The scene is similar to last week in that we see Michaela freaking out and Connor bursting in saying they need to leave.  Wes suggests that he takes Rebecca out and everyone else meet him in the woods.  They hear banging on the door. It’s Asher.  He mentions that he saw Connor’s car in the driveway. Michaela confesses it’s her fault he’s there.  Asher is demanding his trophy back and asks if Michaela is with Connor.  So when did Asher win the trophy? At least we know now that he doesn’t appear to be involved in the murder.  Everyone hides while Asher keeps banging on the door complaining about how they are ignoring him.  Connor hides on the floor next to Sam’s body.  He keeps whispering out loud “We are so screwed.”

We start to see Connor beginning to succumb to hysteria and panic. On the way to the woods to burn the body, Connor makes good points on the fact that they are going out of town to get lighter fluid when Asher and the security guard knew they were at the house.  Street cameras have logged their  movements. There is DNA and rug fiber on their clothes and in his car.  Connor is later chopping up the body while the rest gather the parts into garbage bags to throw into the fire they create. The way he gets sarcastic is another sign.  Connor later goes to Oliver’s place and he has a breakdown outside Oliver’s door repeating he screwed up.  Oliver does notice that he smells like smoke.  Jack Falahee brought an intensity as well as sensitivity to Connor’s character in this episode that was only hinted at in the other episodes.  I enjoyed the character development for Connor in this episode.

7 weeks earlier – Tidbits

Asher thinks the trophy will be up for grabs.  A law exam is coming up and Michaela starts freaking out.  Laurel’s new friend Kan visits to help discuss how to help Rebecca with bail as well as provide notes for the law exam.  Frank gives him mean looks the whole time he’s there.  Bonnie and Frank bet on who’s the shooting star, with Frank betting on Michaela because she seems way stressed about the exams.  Frank won that bet when Michaela has a brief breakdown when everyone is more concerned about the Trudeau case instead of the upcoming exam.  Those scenes were twisted.  We are again seeing how if there were not any undercurrents the situations they are going through on the surface appear normal.

The Case of the Week

Marie Trudeau (Elizabeth Perkins), founder and CEO of a brokerage firm, is accused of insider trading especially after the FBI finds a video of her having relations with the CEO of Edson Pharmaceuticals.  I loved how Perkins brought spunk and flair to this character.  That line, “This is what pilates can do for you” was priceless.  Several women probably signed up for pilates that night! Annalise thinks that someone from her company set her up.  Trudeau doesn’t believe her at first.

The plan is to try to get the case thrown out before the preliminary hearing.  Annalise has the students interview the employees. Initially it appears as though all of the employees have nothing but praises for Trudeau.  However, Connor’s eagerness to solve the case leads him to have sexual relations with Trudeau’s assistant Paxton and records his conversation with someone implying a cover-up.  He then takes the recording to Oliver, the hacker guy he’s been sleeping since the first episode.  Oliver is able to tell him that the call came from the office.  However, Oliver later listens to the recording and knows that Connor slept with Pax. He throws him out.

Marren doesn’t take the news that Pax betrayed her well.  She confronts him.  He winds up falling out the window to his death after she goes for a low blow about his family.  This was one of the shockers of the episode as it was really unexpected.  Connor seems to feel guilty because his actions led to the suicide.  I did find it interesting when Marren was talking about how she felt like it was her fault about Pax.  Annalise was looking at Wes.  Is she thinking of their previous conversations where she’s yelled at him or is there more to it?

The students start comparing notes again to find out who are Paxton’s co-conspirators.  They narrow it down to two people that logged out around the time the trade was made.  Asher’s theory was actually a good one.  Jimmy, who Laurel interviewed, took a smoke break with Marren and Tahlia, who Michaela interviewed, made the trade while Paxton was the lookout.  Annalise sets up a deposition with the FBI and interviews Jimmy and Tahlia, who rat each other out when Annalise lies about the papers she puts in front of them.  Annalise uses the deposition as a teaching tool in class by showing how to pound the truth out of witnesses and lie if you have to like detectives sometimes.

The Lila Stangard Case

Annalise tries to set the bail low enough so Rebecca can get released but the judge sets it high to 1 million because of the written confession in evidence. Wes tries to get Rebecca to tell him the code to Lila’s phone but she doesn’t respond.  Bonnie and Annalise talk with Rebecca to find out what happened since her arrest that led to the confession.  Annalise brings up the point that she’s playing into the police’s hands by acting secretive to everyone, especially her.  Rebecca tells her that she didn’t kill Lila and that Wes told her that Griffin would pin it on her.  Puppy Wes is in trouble now!  Annalise confronts Wes about his impulsive visit to Rebecca and that it could have compromised the case.  She asks him what else she needs to know.  Wes still holds back about the phone.  Very interesting that he would do that.  Annalise takes Wes off the murder case.  He’s not allowed to talk with Rebecca or see her without permission from Annalise.  Yeah like that was going to work.

Annalise sets Bonnie on the task to get the confession video since she has suspicions Rebecca was coerced into making the confession.  Bonnie manages to get it by ratting out Nate doing surveillance on Sam.  She argues that they must not have a solid case if one of their own is looking at another potential suspect.   Now would she have been as effective if she had not seen Nate break into Sam’s car that one night?  And why was she lingering in the first place?

Sam claims that he was going to a department dinner that night.  Nate broke into Sam’s car to look at his GPS.  My guess is he was looking at where Sam drove the night of the murder.  He gets out in time before getting caught by Sam lingering around.  He makes an excuse that he saw the light under his car and jogs off.  I find it very interesting that Sam doesn’t seem to know Nate.

Bonnie saves the day with the confession tape, but lies to Annalise in how she obtained it.  I’m waiting for Annalise to go off on Bonnie when she finds out!  The tape does imply coercion. The judge sees this and reduces Rebecca’s bail. When she gets home, Wes is waiting for her and asks again for the code to the phone and she tells him.  How did she know the code anyway when it’s Lila’s phone?  Wes tells Annalise about the phone and showed what it contained.  Annalise asks Wes if anyone else knows about the phone. He reassures her that only Rebecca and himself know about it. The way that she slowly walked toward him sliding her fingers long her desk with a pleading but stern look on her face made me think she was seducing him even though she didn’t touch him.  She mentions how important it is for Rebecca to trust him as well as herself.  When Wes suggests that they can use the evidence on the phone she evades with “we’ll see.”

Annalise is sitting at her dressing table.  She takes off her ring and bracelet.  Next comes the wig.  She smoothes her hair, then takes off her lashes, next the makeup.  She’s on the verge of tears but she keeps it together.  She puts lotion on her hands and neck and the look she has is like she’s ready for battle.  This scene was so powerful because I felt like Annalise was laying herself bare.  We were seeing what was under the mask she puts on everyday as a professor and a successful attorney.  Sam comes home and congratulates her on her success at the bail hearing and hopes she didn’t have to come out of their pocket to pay for it.  She mentions that she was able to find another way.  Then she says the nine words while holding Lila’s phone:

Why is your penis on a dead girl’s phone?

Viola Davis was excellent in this scene.  I’m enjoying how she’s portraying Annalise and how we are continuing to see different sides to her.  This show continues to impress me with what gets revealed about the characters.

This confrontation was coming guys, so next week it looks like it gets heavy!  I’m thinking we will also see Laurel’s version of the present.  I am impatient now for Thursday to come! What did you think of the episode, especially that last moment! Sound off below!

*Photos courtesy of ABC/Mitchell Haaseth