How to Get Away with Murder Season 3, Episode 4 Recap: Breaking Up and Scheming

How to Get Away with Murder had some serious reveals on tonight’s episode, “Don’t Tell Annalise”. Here’s the rundown, including another character’s fate.

Warning: this post contains spoilers for the October 13 episode of How to Get Away with Murder. Read at your own risk!

Once again, we start in the flash-forward. Annalise doesn’t look like she’s handling the holding cell well at all. Bonnie comes in and informs her that a second person was found alive in the house. However, no one knows who it is. We cut to the emergency room, where doctors intubate the person.

4 weeks earlier, Annalise sits in a bar. Eve walks up, looking fabulous in white. Two baby-faced “litigators” then approach, and Annalise and Eve use them for free drinks and an impromptu dance party. When she comes home to Nate, she is impressively plastered.

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Meanwhile, a knock comes at Frank’s door. A woman walks in, and she gives him a pressurized can of seriously dangerous gas of some sort in exchange for several wads of Benjamins. Laurel leaves him a voicemail on her new phone, just so he has her new number. (Aww, cute, except for the part where this still isn’t healthy, manipulation effort or no.)

In court, it looks like Asher has gotten the case of the week. Simon acts disgusted at the Keating 5 discussing their sex lives, because he is a Serious Law Student. Hungover Annalise walks in and even admits she’s hungover. Actually, “her brain is steeped in vodka.”

Our client is Tristan Fullerton, who is accused of using fake credit cards to steal money. Asher starts his opening statement, and it is not good, especially since the prosecution keeps whispering.

The prosecution then reports that Annalise’s license has been suspended, based on footage of her slapping last week’s client. Though she tries to argue her way out of it, the Bar Association representative says there’s no choice but to suspend her license, effective immediately.

Is Any Day a Good Day to Be Hungover?

Annalise blames the DA’s office for making the footage available. Bonnie has to take over Tristan’s case, and Asher angrily asks what his client did with all the money. Unfortunately, Tristan says the money’s gone.

Back in the clinic workroom, Michaela suggests Oliver hack into the disciplinary board’s emails, but Asher asks him to search for the money first. Meanwhile, Laurel comes up with a lie to go talk to Frank’s dad, where we learn Frank spent some time in jail.

In Coalport, Pennsylvania, we see Frank working as a janitor in a jail, funnily enough. He doesn’t have clearance to get into the medical ward, and he clearly wants to get in there.

Laurel, trying to be cheerful. Image is a still from How to Get Away with Murder 3×04, via ABC.

Oliver’s magic hacking reveals that Tristan regularly visits a storage unit facility full of baby goods. His girlfriend’s pregnant, and he’s been spending the money on items for the baby…and his girlfriend’s his teacher. Bonnie and Asher call her in.

They start questioning the teacher, Susan, but she says she doesn’t know anything about Tristan’s girlfriend. Bonnie plans on trapping her into confessing on the stand. Asher, in an impressive display of foot in mouth disease, brings up her dad.

Back to the Drawing Board

Nate meets up with ADA Atwood, who claims to know nothing about the tape of Annalise slapping her client. Meanwhile, she and Eve enjoy a glass of wine and discuss Annalise potentially retiring. It turns out that she also spent the insurance money on that hitman to kill Frank. She points out that he killed her unborn son and breaks down, requiring some comfort from Eve.

Asher, sometimes you need to stop talking. Still from How to Get Away with Murder 3×04. Image via ABC.

Speaking of Frank, he’s having sex with the nurse in prison, ostensibly to obtain access to that medical ward.

Laurel tries to find out what he went to prison for, but can find no record of him. Then, her phone rings. It’s Meggi, asking about plans for Wes’ birthday, and Laurel walks away from all of her technology. Clearly she didn’t get the safety talk at her freshman orientation. Wes asks where she was, and she lies.

Asher takes Michaela’s side in arguing that what Susan did to Tristan constitutes rape. Connor, meanwhile, gets a hit on his totally-not-Grindr app and IDs both boys before watching them strip. Using the same app, Michaela makes some matches for Oliver.

Via magic hacking, he discovers Barry Lewiston, a university board member, sent the video to the disciplinary board. In an argument with President Hargrove, the president finally tells Annalise to shut up and says that without a license, she has no tenure.

Does Anyone Win Today?

Laurel leaves another voicemail in court, asking Frank about his going to jail. Wes walks by, and the two of them have yet another awkward conversation. Laurel confesses that Meggie’s throwing him a surprise party, which takes the heat off of her.

Asher expresses some reservations, and we see him call Annalise as she pours herself an adult beverage. Nate comes home and asks if she’s sleeping with Eve, then tells her she has a drinking problem. The fight escalates. He tells her she will die alone in the house, that she’s a cancer, and so on. He insists she get help, then walks out, continuing Annalise’s no good, terrible, horrible, very bad week.

Annalise, post-Nate fight. Still from How to Get Away with Murder 3×04. Image via ABC.

Bonnie calls Susan to the stand. “You raped my client, Susan,” she insists. Though Tristan asks Asher to make it stop, he does nothing, and Susan pleads the fifth. The prosecution drops the charges against Tristan. He dubs both Bonnie and Asher terrible people, since no one will be able to care for his and Susan’s baby. “I’m proud of you,” Asher says to Bonnie.

Surprises All Around

Meanwhile, Annalise meets with the Bar Association representatives. She discusses her struggles with alcoholism and says she will go into treatment to get her license back. While she speaks, we see Nate and ADA Atwood getting it on, and Wes’ surprise party kicks off.

Eve and Annalise start kissing. However, Eve breaks it off and pulls away. She’s met someone who wants her to move to San Francisco.

At Wes’ party, Michaela and Meggie hit it off. Laurel grabs her stuff to go, apparently not enjoying seeing him and Meggie dance. Meanwhile, Connor asks Oliver if he’s hooking up and offers to stop sleeping around if they just get back together. When Connor’s phone goes off, Oliver walks away.

Bonnie walks in to see Annalise and reports that her imprisoned father is dead. Then, we learn that all of Frank’s scheming was to kill him. Laurel overhears all of this, and she admits to Bonnie that she knows Frank’s in Coalport. Bonnie says not to tell Annalise, dropping the episode title.

In the flash-forward, Oliver pleads with the nurse to give out the identity of the person found in the burning house, though he learns nothing. They try and ask Meggie, but she hurries to the OR. We see that it’s Laurel on the table, intubated, and that she’s pregnant, according to the test results Meggie just brought in.

Next: Project Runway Recap: Make Up Teams

On the next episode, we’ll see who’s behind the flyers, Mary J. Blige guest starring, and Frank and Bonnie meeting up. How to Get Away with Murder airs Thursdays on ABC.