How to Get Away With Murder Review: Is Someone Really Dead? (Season 3 Episode 6)
Relationships begin, end, and get all the more confusing as we count down to the reveal of this season’s big mystery.
How To Get Away With Murder Season 3 Episode 6 “Is Someone Really Dead?” is another fantastic episode that, while a little light on the Annalise quips, gives us a chance to get into the headspace of the Keating Five’s quietest member, Wes Gibbins.
Case of the Week
Daniela Alvodar Pulls a Sweeney Todd
Character of Focus
- Wes
It would seem that Bonnie’s heartbreak last week isn’t all for nothing. She manages to get a confession out of Frank (I knew it seemed too easy) in an effort to solve one of Annalise’s many headaches.
Unfortunately, this does not go over well with Mama Keating, who is more upset that Bonnie visited Frank behind her back and lets her know as much in the torrent of insults she hurls at poor Bonnie.
What’s worse, if anyone goes to the police with the recording, Frank has equally damning evidence against all of them. Mutually Assured Destruction. What’s a put-upon Mama Bear to do?
Lock it all away, of course.
This scene is where we get to the heart of the matter and the truth behind the last two years of absolute trouble: Wes. Bonnie slams Wes, blaming his crush on Rebecca for every bad thing that’s ever happened to them.
This is the part that makes you go, “hmm. She’s not wrong.” Wes’ moody impulsiveness brought Rebecca into the fray that ultimately ended with Wes murdering Sam (I’m not sure where the Hapstall case comes into play in Bonnie’s theory, but it seems as though everyone’s going to ignore that season two ever happened. Not a bad idea).
In a way, Wes’ story parallels Annalise’s. Both are self-destructive loners, each with a circle of people whom care about them and whom they refuse to let in. Both began their journeys attempting to protect someone and are in a deep psychological mess because of it.
The main difference being that Annalise protects Wes, and by extension, her entire class, from a genuine level of care that exists somewhere inside of her. The same Annalise that rescued Bonnie from her father, the same Annalise that agreed to help child convict Frank, the same Annalise that willingly allowed herself to be shot, the same Annalise that took Wes off the waiting list because she “wanted to be a better person,” is the same Annalise that has endured throughout the series.
Annalise: Since when have I not protected you, even when I hated you?
Wes’ desire to protect people, however, comes from his penis. Rebecca was pretty; she needed help. End of story. After Rebecca’s death, Wes spent the rest of the season either trying to find her or moping about her taking off before, eventually, Laurel dangled before him the prospect of finding his birth father.
Annalise and Wes’ stories have been connected since day one and while he’d undoubtedly be in jail without her, he’s been nothing but grief for her. Hell, his very existence was the reason Annalise’s baby was killed.
Last week, I wrote that the characters of How to Get Away With Murder all made choices that led them to where they are now. While that still holds true (Annalise chose to take on the Mahoney case that started this mess), it doesn’t discount the fact that everyone would be better off if Wesley had never been born.
I’m an excellent babysitter, folks.
So, this episode, Wes took a big, selfless step in the right direction–two, in fact!–by finally breaking things off with the effervescent celestial being that is Meggy and destroying the tape that would have definitively removed him from the NYPD’s crosshairs. For once, Wes is thinking of the team and not just himself.
It’s probably why he’s going to die.
I mean, it’s got to be either him or Frank. All Bonnie’s entreaties to Annalise, proclaiming that Frank simply wants her forgiveness, practically scream “Death Equals Redemption,” and both Wes and Frank definitely have sins for which they must atone.
And with Asher drunk in a dorm room (that’s pretty sad for a grown-ass man, not gonna lie), that leaves Frank, Nate, Wes, and Simon as possible dead bodies.
Speaking of our favorite villain-but-not-really-a-villain, Simon has switched tactics and is going for a friendlier approach. It’s obvious he’s been hankering to be a part of the Keating Five, so maybe his remorse for the flyers might actually get them to like him. Between the fact that he rightfully calls out the other Five and the fact that he has adorable ears, I think he’d ultimately make a good addition to the crew.
Murder of the Week
Second week in a row without a murder. What kind of sick joke…?!
Flushed Potato Chips
- I get that Annalise’s anger comes from a place of love, but all the Bonnie barbs still made me sad, especially because they cut so deep.
- I’m still convinced that President Soraya is consistently giving Annalise googly eyes. Maybe it’s just the way the two actors play off each other.
- Doucheboo is steadily shedding the Douche part of his title. Let him in, Michaela!
- When Annalise says, “I believe we’re good people now,” I actually believe she wants that to be true.
- These judges really do hate Annalise. There’s no way an unbiased judge could have allowed that many objections, right?
- Eating chips alone in a bathroom stall. Ee-yikes. Annalise has gone from one rock bottom to another.
- Oliver finally gets a slice of happiness. Too bad it’s with a [sexy] yuppie acupuncturist. I wonder if he’ll sabotage it because he misses Connor’s intensity and sheer magnetism for danger.
- Meggy drops the L-bomb and receives the response, “you should probably go.” Same, girl. Same.
- Everyone was hooking up while Connor sat on the couch watching his iPad. Joke’s on them! He got the breaking news.
- That solves the Mahoney case rather neatly. Of course, when has anything ever been neat on this show?
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.
James A. Windley
James A. Windley, Writer, Virgo, Loaded couch potato. James' love of television began at the intersection when Saturday morning cartoons met to Xena: Warrior Princess syndications, and his head has been a mess ever since. He loves superheroes, drama (in life, not television), and misses when very special episodes were a thing.