This week's episode of HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER is "He Deserved to Die." The "he" is clearly Sam Keating, the philandering husband of leading lady Annalise Keating, law professor and head of her own law firm. Viewers are being teased that we're getting close to finding out who actually knocked Sam off with the Lady Justice statuette. As for this week, end up learning more about how close Sam got to the murdered cheerleader Lila Stangard. We also see the courtroom games that place the prosecutor and defense attorneys in a cat and mouse match of wits and guile. We also may have heard someone admit to being Sam's killer - but the promotional videos keep teasing we are weeks away from knowing the truth. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER knows how to build up our expectations and suspense quotient, that's for sure.
The night of the bonfire, Wesley is seen cleaning blood off of Rebecca and they kiss. The scene flashes back to two weeks before and Rebecca is in front of the Keating legal team discussing her drug-induced make-out session with Griffin. She claims when Lila discovered them having sex, Lila was upset and she fled to the roof where Rebecca killed her. That's what she said, but then she laughs it off and Annalise lets her have it and demands she tell them the truth. Wesley comes to Rebecca's defense.
Annalise immediately heads to court to get a gag order so that details of the case are not leaked to the press and ruin the court trial. The judge allows it. O'Reilly's defense attorney presents new evidence that female fingernail marks were overlooked on Lila's body and requests her body be exhumed for a new expert opinion. This evidence, of course, would shift the murder spotlight on to Rebecca and off of Griffin O'Reilly. The judge orders the attorneys to return the next day.
Griffin and Rebecca have a tense encounter outside the courtroom and Annalise is sick to death at having to defend the crass girl. Sam tries to comfort his wife but Annalise says she needs more time to allow him close to her. Frank and Bonnie urge the legal eagles to work on different aspects of the case. Suddenly Wendy Parks, the assistant district attorney, shows up at the Keating office to present Annalise with additional evidence that can help both the prosecution and Rebecca's defense. It is an uneasy alliance, but mutually beneficial - at least for the time being. Keating turns on the juice in the courtroom and works on discrediting O'Reilly's expert witness and present a new expert. She also urges the team to convince Lila's parents to refuse to allow the exhumation.
Laurel and her boyfriend deal with stressful work conditions and he asks to hire her to help his small practice. Plus, they get a little randy in the office. At Wesley's apartment, he and Rebecca work on her defense. She points out that Wes is a very private person; he admits he was a community school graduate who also took night courses to get into law school. And like an enigma, Rebecca abruptly leaves.
Flashing forward, we see Wesley depositing Rebecca in the remote motel room. As he leaves, she confesses she is the one who killed Sam Keating. Her story was that he was going to hurt her so she grabbed the Lady Justice trophy and used it to kill Sam out of self-defense.
Sidebar: Now this begs the question - did she also kill or help kill Lila Stangard? And is this confession to be believed? Hmmm ...
Michaela goes to interview for another law firm's summer internship program - or so she thinks. She is actually there to work out a pre-nuptial agreement, started by her fiancé's parents. Back with the other law students, she pretends it was a job interview. Sam gives Annalise the idea to convince Lila's parents to put a stop to the exhumation. Laurel goes with Frank to convince Mrs. Stangard to stop the exhumation. Mrs. Stangard goes to court to plead her case. Rebecca tells Griffin Lila was her friend and the case is wearing her down. Connor, by the way, is still up to his sex-starved ways and does the nasty with a male hook-up in a bathroom stall.
At home, Annalise thanks Sam for the idea for Lila's parent's to testify. Upsetting the situation, ADA Parks flips in court and presents new evidence that backs up the fingernail theory, perplexing Keating and her team. Annalise goes to Det. Lahey for help, but it seems to backfire on the distraught attorney.
Flashing forward again, Rebecca is left in the motel room filled with anxiety and she calls 9-1-1 in her distress. Wesley calls her from a new phone and tells her the gang will help her. Bonnie sends the young attorneys to find out why the ADA flipped her approach in court. Connor, {Millstone] and Wesley work their mojo in the bar where the ADA's staff hang out, trying to find out information. The guys report back that a plea deal was made between Griffin's defense attorney and the district attorney's office. Annalise says she thinks there is another solution to the problem other than going to the judge and reporting collusion between the parties. Laurel is still considering leaving Annalise's office for her boyfriend's legal aid office. Rebecca, Laurel and Michaela have some pointed girl talk about what they all know about each other.
Keating and Bonnie work with Rebecca on what the next step is. Risking censure due to the gag order, they decide she will leak some details of her night with Griffin. The judge decides to allow the exhumation and new forensics exam. Back at his apartment, Wesley gives Rebecca the cold shoulder and she reacts poorly. Of course, they launch themselves at each other in white hot passion. At the same time, Lila's body is reexamined which was weirdly juxtaposed with the Wes/Rebecca love-making. (Those are images I won't soon forget.)
The last minutes of the episode ran fast and furious. Rebecca and Wesley bond over pillow talk. Connor shows up at Oliver's apartment and meets the new boyfriend, who tells Connor to get lost. Laurel and Frank have a moment on the porch about her possibly going to legal aid and he confesses to be smitten by her. Would you believe Laurel, in spite of her boyfriend, has complicated feelings for Frank, too? Feel free to believe, since they rip their clothes off and ... you know the rest.
Nate Lahey meets Rebecca in a convenience store and pleads with her to help him reveal Lila Stangard's real killer, saying he knows she did not do it. Just as Annalise and Sam Keating share a rare moment of intimacy in their bedroom, a knock at the door interrupts the troubled couple. It's Bonnie who has good news and bad news from the new forensics evidence. The marks on Lila's neck were insect bites, which blows away the female fingernail theory. The bad news is, something important was overlooked from the first exam of the dead coed.
Lila was six weeks pregnant.
Bam! Jaw drops and episode over.
We are sure to find even more revelations next Thursday night at 10 pm (Eastern). What did you think of this week's episode? Let us know!
Follow me on Twitter: @jeffwalker66
Photo Credit: Mitchell Haaseth/ABC
Can't wait for next week? Here's a sneak peek:
Videos