‘How to Get Away with Murder’ recap: Motives, everybody has one

Everyone has a motive and this week’s episode of “How to Get Away with Murder” focused on one of the most common motives of all… sex. Is this a little foreshadowing to why Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) was shot? Perhaps.

Despite having their hands full with Caleb (Kendrick Sampson) and Catherine’s (Amy Okuda) case, Annalise and the Keating Five take on a side project of defending a woman accused of murdering her lover at a sex party. However, the women’s innocent act is soon proved false when Annalise finds out that she intentionally gave the victim a drug she knew would cause a heart attack when mixed with Viagra.

At first it looks like Annalise is going to do the right thing and let the woman suffer the consequences of her actions, but Annalise never loses a case. So, instead she brings the victim’s widow to the stand and accuses her of killing her husband by suggesting that she gave him a drug that she knew would kill him when mixed with Viagra, a theory Annalise knows is false but will put reasonable doubt into the jurors’ minds. Like always, Annalise’s tactic worked and the woman was found not guilty.

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It is easy to feel slight joy for Annalise whenever she wins a case, however the fact that even a murderer was flabbergasted by Annalise’s actions and asked her how she sleeps at night makes you really question rooting for this character.

Every win for Annalise is always met with a slight blow, this time in the form of leaked pictures showing that Caleb and Catherine are involved in an incestuous relationship — hmmm… looks like these two had some motive. When Annalise confronts the two, they deny they are involved — not convincingly enough, though — and threaten to fire her after these accusations.

Wondering how that information was leaked? We have Asher (Matt McGorry) to thank. He is being blackmailed by prosecutor Emily Sinclair (Sarah Burns) into giving over all of Annalise’s strategies and notes in the siblings’ case — seriously, what happened at Trotter Lake? Whatever it was it had to be serious, as Asher confesses to cheating on Bonnie (Liza Weil) in order to cover up what is really happening and even seeks out his father’s help.

Asher is not the only one with secrets though, as Wes (Alfred Enoch), who is suspicious of Michaela’s (Aja Naomi King) date Levi (Matt Cohen) after recognizing him from one of Rebecca’s photos, confronts him outside her apartment. Levi reveals that not only is he her foster brother, but he is the person she texted while tied up at Annalise’s house. Apparently the two talked before she was taken hostage. Wes, not exactly sure who he should trust, agrees to help find out the truth with Levi.

With Nate (Billy Brown) free from murder charges, Annalise schemes her way into getting him a job back on the police force by forging the police captain’s daughter’s name onto a sex party ledger — low blow, Keating. Nate refuses to take the job knowing she must have done something sneaky to get it for him — finally you are catching on, took you long enough — and tells Annalise that he needs more time before they can see each other again when she comes to see him. After closing the door on her, he turns to Wes, who was apparently there the whole time, and says, “I’m in.” What is he in on? Who knows, but the final frames of the episode reveal Nate finding the students after running away from a shot and dying Annalise and giving them a ride. To where exactly, we will have to wait to find out.

So what did you think of the episode? Are you wondering about Trotter Lake too? What are Nate and Wes up to? Sound off in the comments and check back for what trouble Annalise and her crew get themselves into next week.

Suspects so far in Annalise’s shooting:

Nate: OK, honestly, he has the strongest motive of all after what she has put him through. Also why is he picking up the students after they run from the house? It is all too fishy.

Wes: He looked awfully guilty running from that house, didn’t he?

Connor: While by her side he kept saying this was her fault and that everything was her fault. Could he have pulled the trigger?

Caleb and Catherine: The shooting took place at their mansion; it looks a bit suspicious.

Best quote:

“Me and Frank, we’ve got a fight club and the first rule is, we don’t tell you knuckleheads crap about each other.” - Bonnie (Liza Weil)