How to Get Away With Murder Review: Call It Mother’s Intuition (Season 3 Episode 7)
On How to Get Away With Murder Season 3 Episode 7, everyone gets a chance to get something off their chest.
Case of the Week
Edith Duvall Swallows Antifreeze
Character of Focus
- Annalise
“Call It Mother’s Intuition” follows the pattern of previous episodes this season in calling attention to a few of the… shall we call them “deficits,” in the prosperous functionality of Annalise and the Keating 5.
Annalise compares herself to the incredibly toxic mother, Edith Duvall, who provides for her children in exchange for an overwhelming amount of self-esteem destroying vitriol.
Seems fair.
Anyone who watches How to Get Away With Murder, however, will know that’s not a direct comparison. Yes, Annalise pushes her “kids” around from time to time. She’ll occasionally berate them for some of their dumb decisions, but with prison time on the line, it’s a bit understandable.
Edith’s children are simply victims of her sadistic humor and manipulation, having been mocked mercilessly their entire lives and made to feel as though everything wrong in their lives is their own fault.
As I said last week, Annalise’s intent has always been to protect her students, but on “Call It Mother’s Intuition,” she realizes that her ends and means haven’t been lining up quite as justifiably as she thought.
Hence, the lemon squeeze.
A “lemon squeeze” (which, having Googled, is not as common a phrase as I thought) is when a close-knit group come together and vent all their frustrations. It sounds healthy in theory, but ultimately, someone goes home crying, and friendships are never exactly the same.
Annalise sits there taking all of their rage and regret in stride, [mostly] silently listening as they call her things that she’s more than likely called herself during her worst moments, especially as a recovering alcoholic.
But this is a woman who has demonstrated a consistent pattern of self-destruction. This voluntary lemon squeeze leaves me to wonder if maybe this is a sign that she’s getting better (having never asked for their opinion before) or a sign that she’s continuing that trend.
Having drawn a parallel between herself and Edith, is Annalise clearing the air so that her children don’t try to murder her, or is she chugging antifreeze?
I’d like to think it’s the former, evinced by her attempt at forgiving President Hargrove and actually being kind to her for once.
But only time will tell.
Now, on to more important matters: Connor and Oliver.
Lord knows no one is rooting for Coliver more than I am, but a drunk hookup is not the way it should have been. A nice coffee date in the middle of the afternoon where the two of them sit and discuss drawing boundaries would have been most ideal.
Connor says to Oliver, “I feel like I’m losing myself,” and Oliver says, “I give too much,” and bada-bing, new boundaries.
But drunk Oliver showing up and saying, “I miss you” isn’t fair to Connor. Connor’s been trying to deal with this breakup in his own way and Oliver coming to him because one guy bailed on him reeks of selfishness and low self-esteem.
Like the Duvall children, the fear that no one will love him with this type of baggage keeps Oliver from moving forward. Whether that forward direction be with Connor—who also has some emotional baggage—or simply going it alone, loving himself is something Oliver needs to work on first.
As for our body count, Enigmatically Erratic Wes is [un]fortunately still alive, leaving Frank, Connor, Nate, and Simon. (I forgot to include Connor in last week’s count because, I sweartagawd if they kill him, I won’t accept the results.)
Murder of the Week
Annalise by the 4/5 of the Keating 5. Wes abstained.
Flipped Duvets
- Annalise continues eating in lieu of drinking. Is Viola actually committing to this?
- Give it up, Simon. If being a good lawyer mattered in this class, you’d be ahead by now.
- Asher: “I choose you, Hack-achu!” Oh, Asher. Never change. But also, change.
- Connor has always been the meanest to Annalise and Laurel the nicest.
- Frank has taken the creeper level to 11, at least he knocked at Bonnie’s house.
- Wes, Oliver, Connor, and Acupuncturist have met the shirtless quota for the week.
- Maybe it’s Lauren (Luna) Vélez’s face, but she could get me fired, evicted, and denied parole, and I would still probably be nice to her.
- Laurel falls in love so easily, dropping L bombs like a clumsy toddler in an earthquake. Defz a Pisces.
- Now that Frank’s back, that throws the matter of Laurel’s true baby daddy back into contention.
- Before, I would think that Wes ratting on Annalise was somehow her plan, but without alcohol, who knows what she’s doing these days?
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.
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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.