How to Get Away with Murder season 4 episode 14 review: The Day Before He Died

How to Get Away with Murder makes big promises and generally fails to deliver on them in an episode that’s all buildup and very little payoff.

Did you miss flashbacks? How to Get Away with Murder really hopes you miss flashbacks, because this episode is full of them. Between the flashbacks and the plot, it’s a letdown after last week’s fairly well-put-together episode.

They show how the recording of Mrs. Castillo and Wes came to be — he makes it before she offers to pay him off to stop seeing Laurel, to the tune of $100,000. Because Wes is too good for such things, he rips the check up and hides the copy of the recording to be found in the present.

Naturally, this leads to two big confrontations between Laurel and her mother as well as some primo Laurel angst. I’ve expressed frustration before, but this really is dragging on for far too long. The pre-show ad even mentions that we’re going to find out “who really killed Wes.”

A significant portion of season 3 was dedicated to this mystery. We’re now at the end of season 4. It seems unwise to keep revisiting it, especially since the major reveal is that Mrs. Castillo tipped Mr. Castillo off for the death. That is not that big of a bombshell, all things considered.

In mildly more interesting things, Oliver’s boyfriend lie comes back to mildly bite him, because he faces a threat of obstruction of justice. It’s too early in the episode for a twist, so the first question out of Simon’s mouth is “Did I come out to you?”

That isn’t the kind of question that could incriminate Oliver. Admittedly, HTGAWM likes this sort of buildup and fake out anyway. However, this episode plays the card over and over again through Oliver (and Annalise) making repeated visits to the hospital.

The last happens to be the most ridiculous of the buildups, because it requires multiple moving parts in order to stop Simon from telling the cops what he does remember and firing Tegan. Unfortunately, the show immediately diminishes that success just for Laurel’s sake! She cuts a deal with Denver — who, surprise surprise, is still evil — just to figure out what happened to Wes.

It at least leads to some good things, like the return of Tegan Price (and Tegan and Annalise squaring off, because Tegan is representing Simon). Also, Isaac Roa’s back! Good to see you, Jimmy Smits. Oh, and there’s a deep emotional breakthrough for Annalise and Isaac. If there is a season 5, barring Isaac dying in the season 4 finale, he will pop back up. “The last time we can see each other?” No man gets to make Annalise Keating cry and not have her come back to make him understand his grievous error.

Impressively (sort of), HTGAWM actually doesn’t ignore that the Scandal crossover happened, both in terms of Michaela cheating on Asher and also with the whole Supreme Court case. At least Annalise interrupts the fight before it escalates too much.

Also, the show may have killed Bonnie off, which after doing similar with killing Wes last season again feels disappointing.

Quick thoughts:

• “The Day Before He Died” gets dropped about two minutes in.
• Conrad Ricamora’s smile when Matt McGorry is shaking it has to be genuine. It is impossible to avoid smiling at McGorry goofing off in character.
• Secondary question: Can we see Oliver and Connor’s bachelor parties? Or their wedding? Or basically anything where they’re genuinely happy?

Next: Jessica Jones S2E1 review: AKA Start at the Beginning

Are you excited for the How to Get Away with Murder season 4 finale next week?