How To Get Away With Murder Review: She Hates Us (Season 2 Episode 11)
I will admit that I have been harsh toward How To Get Away With Murder in the past. Mainly, that’s because the show tries to make us care about so many things that it’s not allowing us to invest sufficiently.
How To Get Away With Murder was never about exploring the cultural fabric of society. It’s about cheap thrills, context via flashbacks, and complex characterizations. Faulting it on these merits is confusing. Especially when it works.
Such is the case with “She Hates Us.”
Bonnie and Frank used to be innocent human beings that cared a lot about Annalise. We know that her influence over ten years affected their decision-making processes and tested their loyalty. We also know that Sam and Annalise had a good marriage in the beginning, and we know that Wes’ mother ends up dead. The “how’s” and “why’s” we don’t expressly know at the moment. But that’s part of the story How To Get Away With Murder is telling, and we just have to be patient to get our answers.
Now I don’t know if Bonnie and Frank will ever kill again. I would say that they did those things out of a sense of loyalty, but we do know that they can’t go back to who they were ten years ago. It’s just impossible at this point and time.
AJA NAOMI KING, CHARLIE WEBER, LIZA WEIL
The weakest part of the episode is the case of the week. But it serves an important purpose of getting Annalise back to work. Also, the case shows a set of characters that have more remorse for what they did than any of the main characters and that shows just how complicated the lives of Wes and Annalise are.
I will admit that I was bored during the episode and got up to do various things during the courtroom scenes, because the B storyline bores me to tears. Give me more dark Annalise and Wes scenes and confusing flashbacks over courtroom scenes that get us nowhere. Expect maybe to impart some moral lesson on to the audience.
It’s ironic that the audience, and not the lawyers-in-training, learns the moral. Could the courtroom morals just be a reminder from the writers that the characters we love so much are morally and ethically corrupt? I’m starting to think that they are yet I’m still oddly fascinated by their every decision and move.
I do want to stress that How To Get Away With Murder is different from other shows. It’s teasing, confusing twists and turns may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you want to have any clue about what’s going on. We have four more episodes to endure. We can do this! We just need to refuel our minds, grab some water and buckle up, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Other Thoughts:
- I wouldn’t mind if mental institution doctor was made a central character. She’s fantastic.
- Thank you, How To Get Away With Murder writers, for giving me the scene I’ve been waiting for: the Keating Five in a car discussing what’s going on instead of ignoring it.
- 2006 Frank was adorakable.
- How does Bonnie know so much about pregnant women?
What did you think of this episode of How To Get Away With Murder? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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How To Get Away With Murder airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.
Jessica Kreamer
Jessica has a degree in History, an MLA is Liberal Arts, and a great desire to consume as much quality television as she can. By day, she's an office worker and caregiver. By night, she's a tea drinking television fanatic. Her current favorite television shows include: Madam Secretary, How To Get Away With Murder, Jane the Virgin, and Veep. Her greatest wish is to make tea drinking into a payable skill. Follow Jessica on Twitter: @pythiaprophet