Preview tonight’s How to Get Away with Murder, “It’s Called the Octopus”, airing at 10:00pm ET|PT on ABC.
“She’s Dying” picked up right where the premiere ended, taking us to the Hapstalls’ mansion. A gunshot rang out and we watched Wes run frantically from the building. We was actually running to meet Laurel and Michaela, who were hiding in the bushes. Where was Connor? He was inside the mansion trying to stop Annalise from bleeding out (but also blaming her for the circumstances).
We jumped back to the present, with Annalise, Frank, and Bonnie meeting the Hapstall siblings at the police station in the middle of the night. They were arrested and being questioned by detectives about their whereabouts (though it seemed they didn’t know about their aunt’s death). We knew that Caleb hadn’t been home all night, but rather than tell the police about his “late-night run”, he and Catherine lied and said they were home all night. When Annalise spoke to the Hapstalls, she told them how their aunt died, and the siblings both looked upset. Caleb and Catherine maintained that they were being framed and restated that they were both home together all night.
In terms of Nate’s trial, Eve agreed to remain Nate’s lawyer, but didn’t want Annalise micromanaging her strategies. When the probable cause hearing started, District Attorney Sinclair tried to have Eve removed as Nate’s lawyer because of her “long-standing” relationship with Annalise, which meant there was collusion going on. Obviously, Annalise had helped Nate murder Sam and now brought Eve in to help get Nate off. However, Eve denied her friendship with Annalise, saying they were only acquaintances from Harvard Law. The presiding judge overruled Ms. Sinclair’s motion and the trial continued.
Annalise was the first witness the DA called to the stand, and the interaction was hostile from the very beginning. We learned about how Annalise and Nate met and when their affair began. Ms. Sinclair also exposed the fact that Nate was married and his wife was dying of cancer. The DA also brought up Sam’s affair with Lila, insinuating that Annalise’s anger and jealousy was the reason she told Nate to kill her husband. After that point, Annalise snapped; she called Ms. Sinclair petty and incompetent. This ultimately demonstrated the DA’s point that Annalise was capable of murderous rage. The next day, when back on the stand, Ms. Sinclair asked Annalise who she thought killed Sam, and she said that she did think Nate did it.
Nate was obviously upset and refused to lie on the stand and say he got into a fight with Sam on the evening he died. But how else could they explain Nate’s fingerprint on Sam’s ring? Well, Eve needed to figure it out unless she wanted Nate to testify that Annalise was framing him.
When it was Eve’s turn for questioning, she accused Annalise of killing Sam on her own and framing Nate. Eve said Annalise only slept with Nate on the night Sam died to establish an alibi, and then hired someone to transfer Nate’s fingerprint to Sam’s ring. (OUCH! Alas, the truth hurts…) In the end, the judge decided that there wasn’t enough evidence against Nate to go to trial and he was free to go.
Bonnie went to interview the Hapstall’s house manager, who was convinced that the siblings were guilty of murdering their parents and aunt. She and Frank also got a copy of the arrest warrant, which said Caleb’s DNA matched a sample taken from the aunt’s car (YIKES!). Wes volunteered to speak to Catherine and see if she’d share the truth with our resident puppy. Wes pretended to let it slip about Caleb’s DNA at the crime scene. Catherine was visibly shaken and shared that Caleb had left the house the night their aunt died. When Bonnie and Wes confronted Caleb, he said he was only gone for 30 minutes to take a run. With Oliver’s help hacking into the police’s computer system, the Keating 5 learned that the police *did* plant Caleb’s DNA at the crime scene. Annalise was able to get the charges thrown out and the Hapstalls were free to go home (for now).
In other developments:
Bonnie was still on the outs with Annalise for killing Rebecca. But Bonnie maintained that she had done it to repay Annalise for saving her (from what???). But Annalise had a very different perspective on past events. (“No. You needed to be saved from me. And that’s what you all need.”)
Outside of Nate’s trial, Michaela was approached by a very attractive man (Levi), who she later went on a date with. It turned out he was an old friend of Rebecca’s (Wes came across a picture of the two of them in her apartment).
Oliver was upset that Connor told the Keating 5 about him being HIV positive. For Connor, the best way to move forward was for Oliver to hurt him back by sharing how he contracted HIV (a one-night-stand after breaking up with Connor for cheating).
Laurel came to see Frank at his place, hoping for some celebratory sex after passing her exam, but he turned her down. Frank thought Laurel should get to know him for who he is (and not just for the sex).
Asher confronted Ms. Sinclair and refused to give her anymore information about Annalise. But then the DA revealed she was the new prosecutor on the Hapstall case.
Annalise was upset with Eve for getting personal during the cross-examination at the hearing. Eve came to see Annalise and admitted she was still in love with her. They ended up spending the night together. When Eve left the next morning, Annalise said she would think about joining her in New York. As they parted ways, Nate was in a car across the street observing the whole thing.
Flashing back to two months in the future, Annalise was dying and Connor only left after Laurel, Michaela, and Wes came back to convince him to leave. As the four rushed out of the house, we saw another dead body…Ms. Sinclair!
In tonight’s episode “It’s Called the Octopus”, written by Joe Fazzio and directed by John Turlesky:
LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX—When Annalise takes on a new client, the team must investigate a very high end sex club to get answers. Meanwhile, Annalise is still representing the siblings accused of killing their parents, but the case takes a turn for the worse when a new motive surfaces, and Wes teams up with an unexpected ally. (via ABC)
Watch two sneak peeks form the upcoming show. In the first, a loud thumping noise wakes Annalise up in the middle of the night. She goes to the basement to investigate and finds something…
In the second clip, we get details about the case of the week—a woman is accused of murdering a man in the middle of sex. The Keating 5 have a lot to say about it:
Asher is the hottest mess ever! Making reference to his “johnson” in the middle of court, especially given the nature of this case, is disturbing, no?
Also, what in the world does Annalise come across in the basement that shocks her like that? She was more calm when she came across dead Rebecca!
Check out 10+ images from “It’s Called the Octopus”…it looks like Annalise gives the Hapstall Siblings a stern talking to. I wonder what she’s holding up in front of their face?
Tune into ABC at 10:00pm ET|PT for the new How to Get Away with Murder and make sure to come live tweet!
