How to Get Away with Murder Review: It’s for the Greater Good (Season 4 Episode 3)
On How to Get Away with Murder Season 4 Episode 3, “It’s for the Greater Good,” Annalise wins her case but spirals back to hopelessness, Michaela crushes her first week at her internship, Laurel finds definitive proof that implicates her father for Wes’s death, and Connor continues to waste everyone’s time.
This episode executes Annalise’s story with accuracy and precision but completely misses the mark on exploring Keating 4’s personal damages. Since the Keating 4’s character growth remain stagnant, their resulting stories do nothing but slow the narrative down.
Just when the Keating 4 find a way to not annoy me on How to Get Away with Murder Season 4 Episode 2, they ramp the irritating up a notch on “It’s for the Greater Good.”
Oliver is reduced to taking care of a child once again. Why do we care that Connor drops himself out of Law school? Why is this narrative somehow comparable to Laurel going after her father for killing Wes and Annalise trying to keep her groove by taking down the unjust justice system?
Connor’s character growth dwindles every second this story drags on and slowly chips away at the tolerance I’ve grown for him since the beginning of this season.
Speaking of disappearing tolerance, Laurel finds a way to tap dance on my nerves this episode too.
Her interaction with Annalise in the restroom is maddening. For some unapparent reason, Laurel is still punishing Annalise, even though she knows Annalise didn’t directly contribute to Wes’s murder, and she knows that Annalise let everyone loose to protect what little reputation they have left.
Laurel repeats that she’s glad she’s free of her but purposefully lurks in the restroom, waiting for her to get out and attack her.
Annalise: Laurel, you’re about to have a baby. Maybe it’s time you stop acting like one.
Preach, Annalise. Preach. It’s beyond ridiculous at this point.
Last season, Laurel annoyed me, but I understood that she was grieving for Wes in her own vindictive and angry way. However, this season, she’s in the exact same place.
I understand Laurel and Oliver are still grieving, but their behavior no longer serves as a plot device or characterization tool. Enough is enough. Enough with the child-like behavior, enough with misdirected anger…just enough.
The only thing Laurel has added to this season so far is giving Michaela the tools to take down her father. So in that capacity, I’m team Laurel all the way.
Michaela gets to work at an amazing office, shadow under a less damaged but equally focused version of Annalise, and take down Laurel’s father.
I want to bask in this feeling of triumph for Michaela, but I can’t shake that last scene: Michaela wearing a blood-covered dress and breaking down in front of a nursery that apparently does not have Laurel’s son.
The blood on Michaela’s dress most likely belongs to Laurel from stress-induced labor. Michaela probably has to work as a midwife and help her deliver the child. I get this part. The part that confuses me lies in the missing persons.
Where is the rest of the scooby gang? Why wouldn’t Asher be there when he’s usually attached to Michaela’s hip? This scene definitely does its job by raising way more questions than answers.
I’m still worried about Annalise’s future, while simultaneously worrying about her current state.
She wins herself another case for Ben Carter and his family, but it seems that she’s set on trying to fix everything else but herself. Now she has her eyes set on tackling an enemy bigger than kicking alcohol or getting back her reputation: the Department of Justice.
Annalise is a miracle worker; somehow she always finds a way out of no way.
However, I know this attack on the Justice Department spells doom for everyone. Isaac might have been right to try and dissuade Annalise from taking on that battle, but he’s doing it for all the wrong reasons.
And for the same reasons I explain in my review of How to Get Away with Murder Season 4 Episode 2, I’m loving every minute of Annalise and Isaac’s interactions. Both are still playing mental chess.
Annalise even calls him out for it at the end of the episode, but again, as always, he flips it and explains away his behavior. I absolutely love Isaac’s dynamic in this season. We don’t really know if we can trust him or not.
They keep giving us clues, but nothing shows anything definitive. He’s like the ending flash-forward scene that must be dissected and analyzed in the hopes of figuring out a motive.
Jimmy Smits continues to prove why he was the perfect addition to How to Get Away with Murder Season 4.
If only we could get more scenes with him and Annalise and fewer scenes with the Keating 4’s personal damages. The only stories that pique my interest this season are Annalise keeping her groove and the take-down of Laurel’s father.
At this point, if the story isn’t about these two things, I could not care less.
What did you think of this episode of How to Get Away with Murder? Do you agree with my opinion? Disagree? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and start a conversation!
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How to Get Away with Murder airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.
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Candice Horde
An English enthusiast that watches a couple of shows from time to time. Candice is an honors graduate of Texas Tech University with an English double major in Creative Writing and Technical Communication. She loves the colors turquoise and pearl pink, and binges all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at least once a year. She’s also a huge fan of anime, basketball, and Japanese and Chinese action movies.