Spoilers obviously abound below for Season 2, Episode 13 of "How to Get Away with Murder," "Something Bad Happened."
Well, we at least can't add Wes' mom to his body count. Thankfully.
It's the small things on this show. The structure of this episode was the epitome of a slow burn. Smart pacing and snappy turns made this one of the season's best, along with some returns to classic form (Asher being silly, a chalkboard scene).
All episode long, it seemed like Wes was responsible for his mother's death, and might soon kill himself. As the story plays out, we discover Rose killed herself to save Wes.
Everyone is concerned that Wes will do the same, but no one is doing enough to make sure he doesn't. Laurel's looking out for him, but the issue of her loving, murderer boyfriend is getting in the way. Annalise is too wrapped up in the trauma of it all to reach out to Wes. Looks like we'll find out next week what happened to her baby, but based on the fact we've never seen a child, it's not looking good.
As for the rest of the team, they're all freaking out about being stalked by Philip. But, hey, Annalise reminds us how good she is when she's on her A-game with her kids by her side, and they manage some search-warrant shenanigans to get immunity for the night DA Sinclair died.
We flash back to 10 years earlier -- turns out Annalise called in Eve out of the blue to help her get Rose to testify. Eve, who apparently hadn't seen Annalise in three years, was very unhappy to find out she was pregnant. We're not really sure what to make of Annalise struggling with her sexuality, but the rawness of the fight was a sight to behold. At the end of the day, the two actresses went toe-to-toe, and we're not sure who won.
Back in present day, Bonnie and Frank have a cute bar scene together, which will probably never happen again after Bonnie realizes later that Frank killed Lila. At least they have murdering college co-eds in common.
Connor and Michaela vow not to leave each other for Stanford, which better not happen because they are the best. Mostly it was just refreshing to hear that these kids weren't murdering people and still the top students in their class.
Back to 10 years ago: Annalise goes to talk to Rose to convince her to protect her son. Which results in Rose violently stabbing herself in the neck. We've seen some violence on the show, but that was pretty darn graphic. And Wes running in to find his mom was downright heartbreaking.
Rose's dying request was for Annalise to look out for Wes -- so much good that's done so far.
But in that vein, Annalise goes to check on him in his apartment. We're sitting here on pins and needles thinking that Wes might be using that gun he's kept locked away to hurt himself.
Instead, like the best kinds of surprises on this show, something reaches out from the deep. And in this case, it's a murderer out to get them all.
But at least we can rest easy knowing that this show would never kill Annalise. Right?
Odds and Ends
Oh, how we missed a good classroom/chalkboard scene.
This creepy background piano music is spot on.
"Please tell me you just got fat." Best surprise pregnancy line in a while.
That is quite the short dress on ol' flashback Eve.
"The less you know, the better" is a perfect motto. Eve, on the money again.
Of course Asher has a dino costume.
What's up with Wes creeping in this house where he murdered someone all the time?
Geez, Nate's bajillion pack is a sight to behold.
Bets on Laurel and Frank as "the hottest hookup" next week. Unless it's Laurel and Wes...
And the big question of the episode: does Annalise know that Frank killed Lila?
Before You Go
