How to Get Away with Murder review: Family matters

How to Get Away with Murder probably won’t have a solid string of good to great episodes, but it can at least put forth a not-bad episode.

How to Get Away with Murder has returned to its uneven quality after an episode last week that was legitimately good by the show’s standards. This week’s not quite as consistent, but at least it’s not boring.

After a week which saw Connor and Oliver’s wedding only appear at the end, it’s back to showing up at the beginning. Ron Miller, the DA, looks at a diamond ring in a box, then texts Bonnie to talk, and that’s about it.

Bonnie is the subject of the first scene in the present of the show, which is a month prior to the wedding. She pays a visit to Julie, her sister, and there’s a little girl present — making Bonnie an aunt. However, Bonnie’s missing baby is the more important part. Because this is How to Get Away with Murder, though, it’s not that Julie has the baby. Instead, she brought the baby back to their parents, and their dad took the baby off and, per Julie, “sold him.” Yes, Julie keeping the baby would have been too easy, but with how long this has already been dragged out, it’s just a disappointment.

When Frank gets involved and stalks Julie to what’s effectively an AA meeting, it gets worse. The unregistered gun in her closet doesn’t help matters, either. Thanks to Julie’s arrest record, Frank thinks he’s found the baby, but Julie tells yet another story that ends with the baby buried in the woods.

Familial relations actually play a big part in other parts of this episode, as we get to meet both Connor and Oliver’s moms properly. Although Connor’s mom made a brief appearance in the last episode, this is the first time Oliver’s mom, Joanna, has appeared. She melts for baby Christopher, but in general, she’s pretty tough, and insistent on giving money to the happy couple to give them a better venue.

She also doesn’t know Oliver is HIV-positive until he tells her while they’re tux shopping. Honestly, this plot ends up being the most compelling, even though it’s mostly just character work and even without Laura Innes. We do get to see a bachelor party, though.

Moreover, with Annalise out meeting the governor, Tegan puts Laurel on point on a new case about diet pills — in order for one of the Castillos to start helping pay Caplan and Gold back. It means that not only do Michaela and Laurel to show off, but also put Gabriel back into the equation, briefly.

Speaking of the governor, though, Laura Innes gets to bring Governor Birkhead — who’s pointedly a Republican. Her plan is to create a Fair Defense Project, which is basically the law clinic writ large. Emmett Crawford comes back and lights into Annalise, but she gives as good as she gets, with the kind of cold dismissal that Viola Davis has had years to perfect.

Crawford does put doubts in Annalise’s mind, though, which puts Birkhead on the defensive and promising to do some research on pardoning Nate Sr. as well as changing the budget. Finally, Timothy Hutton gets to put on a good performance, trying to convince Annalise to stay at Caplan and Gold and thus stay independent.

For what it’s worth, the show does a good thing by not immediately dropping Nate Sr. off the face of the earth. He wants to write a letter to the family of the man he killed, and Nate finds an address. He even calls in a favor with Ron to get Nate Sr. moved into a mental health facility.

It all comes down to that pardon, meaning that Annalise’s time at Caplan and Gold is done for now. But that pardon doesn’t come through, and nor does the transfer. Instead, Nate Lahey Sr. dies before he can get transferred, with no real answer as to how or why just yet. But the preview seems to show Annalise and Birkhead squaring off again.

Ultimately, this episode is not terrible, but it’s still not good so much as just less bad, even with the assistance of Innes. Everything is tied together, thankfully, and there are two standout moments: the ending scene as well as Oliver and his mother. However, the rest of the episode doesn’t feel as engaging.

Additional thoughts:

• Annalise’s slouchy blue coat that appears halfway through the episode is a gem.
• There’s some weird tension between Michaela and Laurel when it comes to Michaela’s feelings about Tegan. That’s not to say the conversations are biphobic, but they’re weird.