Deola’s Corner: Another Week Of TV (Edition 11)

DISCLAIMER: The following article contains spoilers from TV Shows and Movies, so if you detest spoilers, then I suggest you leave while you can. If you don’t mind spoilers, feel free to enjoy, and by all means read on and lets ki-ki.

REVIEW OF THE WEEK: How To Get Away With Murder – S02E12 (It’s A Trap)

You know how there was a time when most people legit thought that Annalise was Wes’ mother? Lol. Such simpler times. Well, this week, we open with Wes going through the file that Annalise left on his doorstep; and then we of course flashback. So it turns out that the Charles Mahoney person accused of murder, well Annalise is representing him. It also turns out that Wes’ mother, Rose was their cleaning lady and Annalise needed her to corroborate the dude’s story, you know to provide his alibi for the murder of the dude’s fiancée. PS: I think he totally did it.

Anyhow Rose tells her story and we see Mr. Charles in lockup telling his own story too. And they are so in sync, so you can already smell the fish with this two. Something is going on here.

Meanwhile back in the present time, Connor has taken the video that was sent to him to Annalise and I swear this scene is so funny. After seeing the video, Annalise point blank asks, “So what do you want me to do? I’m not in the video.” LOL. She also says Laurel shot her (hmmm, I see we are still sticking with that story). Annalise also makes another observation; Connor isn’t in the video. Connor asks “You think I sent this?” Annalise replies, “Anything is possible with you people.” LMAO. After enough talking, he apologizes, and Annalise like the mother she is says, “Finally you remember your manners.” She tells Bonnie to call the Keating 5 in, except Wes of course. We don’t want anyone shooting anyone tonight!

Oh look, it’s Laurel and Frank arguing over Frank’s confession. Laurel says the only reason what they did – pinning Lila’s death on Sam – was okay was because Sam did it. She doubts Frank did it, because why would he, what’s his motive? Oh don’t worry Lila, with regards to Sam, your conscience can rest easy; he may not have killed her with his hands but he ordered it, so he is still guilty. Frank gets a call, and before he can finish with the call, Queen Laurel has disappeared into the night.

Bonnie sends out the murder signal to all the kids. Laurel ignores her obviously. And so, back at the Keating house, we have 3 out of the 5 Keating kids. This is all falling to shit. Didn’t they just promise each other in the last episode to stick together?

The kids are freaking out as usual. Asher suggests getting Oliver to hack Murder Cousin back. Hey Asher, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO FART SOMEWHERE! Kindly leave sweet Oliver out of your wahala! Annalise calms them down, telling them Murder Cousin didn’t send the video to the cops but to them because it also proves he was there that night.  She says, “So sit down take a deep breath and let mummy take care of it the way she always does.” GBAM!

Laurel has ignored the murder signal from Bonnie and Wes has ignored his from Michaela. She gets to his room and he is neck deep in everything Charles Mahoney. Laurel asks him to tell her about Oga Charles. He says he doesn’t know, that Annalise dropped the files there and he doesn’t know why other than she wants to make him go crazy. LOL, Wes dear, I think we have passed that stage already. To Wes’ credit, he does open up to Laurel, which is nice because that means less chance of him going all crazy on someone.

Just then, at the Keating house, Connor gets another email, from Murder Cousin. Dude wants 1 million dollars in the next 36 hours or he sends the video to the police. The demand comes with a new video too, and this one has Connor in it.

Flashback, and Annalise has bought Frank a suit and wants to take him with her to Ohio for her trial. Shocking stuff really. You mean there was a time when Frank wasn’t the fashionable, smart-dressing, suit-wearing hunk he is today? Wow.

Laurel suggests a trip to Ohio. Wes is all, I am broke blah-blah-blah. Laurel whips out her card and she is like, Sit back bitch, I got this! They get to Ohio. (Side Note: That Ohio librarian though, she just looks like she knows where all the skeletons are buried. I like her already). Ehen, so Laurel types in Rose Gibbins, and Wes is like, No gurl, it’s Rose Edmond. So it turns out he changed his last name after his foster family took him in after his mother’s murder – oops, I mean suicide.

Flashback, and Annalise and Frank are prepping Rose for her testimony on the stand. Frank goes all Harvey Specter on Rose and she freaks out and says she no dey do again. Annalise tries to manipulate her by playing on her maternal instincts. LOL. E don tay wey Annalise dey play dirty. Rose impresses me here, she sees through what Annalise is doing and calls her out. Oh, it turns out that Rose is in the country illegally, because of course she is. Didn’t you hear her accent? *RME* So she has terms, and Annalise takes those terms to the Mahoneys, who all seem like horrible, entitled, horrible, horrible, horrible people. Rose wants assurance that she doesn’t get deported in exchange for her testimony. She also insists on testifying anonymously.

Asher is freaking out. He tells Bonnie he wants to take a plea deal or something, and I am just irritated. So what sort of deal does he suppose he will get that doesn’t implicate the rest of the gang? I swear Asher can be quite the mumu.

Meanwhile Annalise drags Michaela to Murder Brother’s house, AKA Murder Mansion. She needs some money for the ransom and that’s how she plans to get it. They get to the mansion and Annalise tells Murder Brother that it’s in all their interests to find Murder Cousin. But of course she will be needing a $250K retainer – CASH! LOL. Murder Brother buys this bullshit. She also tells him to go pay his sister a visit in prison to find out if there’s anything she hasn’t remembered to divulge about Murder Cousin. He does and – My God! – Murder Sister isn’t looking so good. Remind me again why she is willing to go down for a crime she didn’t commit? Murder Brother tells her he loves her, he asks if Murder Cousin killed their parents, and she replies, “Maybe I killed them myself, or maybe I killed them for Philip, because he is the brother that loved me the way I always wanted.”  Wait! Hold up! Did I hear that right? I swear these three children and the incest vibe they be give off, I can’t deal.

Back in Ohio, Madam Librarian drags in a truckload of trial transcripts on the Mahoney murder for Laurel and Wes. This scene plays simultaneously with the actual trial from 10 years ago. They notice the anonymous witness on the transcript and correctly assume that it’s Wes’ mum, Rose. At the trial, it turns out she didn’t even show up to testify anonymously. The two soon get ready to leave the library. Wes starts to put the pieces together. You see, Annalise needed Wes’ mum as a witness in the Mahoney trial. It gets Rose killed, and leaves Wes an orphan. Annalise feels guilty and responsible for him, so that when he applies to Law School, she helps him get in. She even adds a fifth spot to her team so Wes can work with her, and she protects him even after he killed her husband. I get your mum killed, you kill my husband, it’s all good! Bygones!

At the Keating house, seeing as it’s already late and they aren’t making any progress, Annalise tells the kids to all go home, have sex and do whatever makes them happy. And by God, they take her advice. Michaela goes to the Murder Mansion and gets it on with Murder Brother. Asher tries to get it on with Bonnie but she ain’t interested and waves him away. Annalise takes her own advice, and prepares dinner for Nate and they get into a little argument about forgiveness, before getting it on. Connor is thinking of transferring to Stanford and he tells Ollie it’s because Murder Cousin is stalking them, and he Ollie to come with him, after which they also get it on. And, oh look, it’s Laurel and Wes in a car at night. Laurel bears her heart out about her father and Frank, and how she thinks Frank is just like her father. It’s all emotional and then they are looking at each other, and I know what’s coming and I am yelling for Murder Cousin to somehow show up and stop this from happening. But the idiot doesn’t show up and they kiss. Mtchew!

Flashback, and Annalise goes to see Rose. She obviously doesn’t want to see Annalise and she tells her to go away. And then Christophe shows up all cute, but momma tells him to go to bed. The young lad protests that they are supposed to watch TV and she tells him to gerrarahia! Kindly pay attention to the look on young Christophe’s face as he leaves.

Last stop on the trip to Ohio, Laurel and Wes get the medical examiner and police reports on his mother’s “suicide”. Meanwhile it’s the morning after and Annalise has a glow about her. Looks like she is taking Nate to Red Lobster, if you know what I am saying. She shows him the blackmail tape. He advises her to do nothing and call Murder Cousin’s bluff, and that’s exactly what they do. The deadline runs out and just as mumu Asher is doing his mumu victory dance, they get another email. This time it’s a video of Annalise and Nate just from the previous night. Just then, Laurel fresh from that Ohio trip bursts into the Keating house demanding to speak to Annalise – ALONE! When alone, Laurel asks Annalise if she’s known this whole time? Hian, what is this one talking about? She hands Annalise some paper that it turns out she took from the police report files in Ohio! She points to the paper and it reads: POTENTIAL HOMICIDE, PRIMARY SUSPECT – VICTIM’S 12 YEAR OLD SON. Wait, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!!! Laurel asks, “Is it true? Did Wes kill his mother?” SWEET HEAVENS, I CAN’T HANDLE THIS!

And just then, we see a flashback. Christophe is standing over his dying mother, with a bloody knife in his hand! She really should have let him watch that TV. Just saying.

Other Tidbits:

1.Just as Frank was about to spill his guts about why he had to kill Lila, the bloody phone rang. If I had a penny for every time shit like this happens on TV. Not amused.

2. Frank’s crying was so weird though. He really does love Laurel. Speaking of Laurel, do yourself a favor, honey, and don’t fall for Wes’ puppy dog act. Gurl he is crazy! Go back to Frank in peace biko.

3. Wes really is funny though. He still can’t believe that Annalise doesn’t want to see him. It’s like he has actually bought into the lie that Laurel was the one that shot Annalise and not him.

4. Those Mahoneys though; when the mother started talking, I thought, Damn, she is awful! And then, the father said his own piece, and then I thought, Wow, the mother must be the nicer one in their marriage.

5. Asher was quite irritating and useless in this episode.

6. “My corporate attorneys told me not to hire you, but every judge and lawyer friend I know told me that we would need a woman if we had any chances of winning. And with a jury made mostly of minorities, a woman of color would be best. So I found you. Turns out there aren’t a lot of women like you out there, which is why I went against my instinct and chose to ignore this” – he points at her pregnant belly – “Maybe it’d even make you more sympathetic to the jury, I thought. But now, don’t give your people a bad name.”

Just for this above statement, someone should make it their priority to murder the Mahoney Father. Where is Christophe when you need him?

7. Is it me or has Bonnie been off for a while now? She kinda gives off this ‘I don’t give a fuck’ vibe these days? Where is the Bonnie that murdered Rebecca? Please I want her back, she was fun.

8. They’ve been planting the seeds for a Laurel and Wes hookup, but I seriously hoped they wouldn’t go there. Isn’t it possible for two people of the opposite sex to be just friends on a show? Jeez. Speaking of Queen Laurel, the more she talks about this father of hers, the more I wanna know what he is about.

9. PS: I don’t think Wes killed his mother. I just think he found her and picked up the knife. So I believe that last scene was a fake-out.

Rating: 7/10 – I am really fascinated by the Mahoney case. The Mahoneys are also horrible, which means I enjoy watching them. The Hapstall murders have been drawn out for way too long, so much so that the Mahoney case from 10 years ago is now the more compelling story. Laurel and Wes’ trip to Ohio was also fun to watch. So now, that’s three more episodes to go, guys. This one was a good episode that built on last week’s. Next week, we get to find out who killed Wes’ mother once and for all.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF TV THIS WEEK

1.April and Jackson Character episode (Grey’s Anatomy): Since it’s a show with such a huge cast, every once in a while, we get this character-centric episodes which are mostly cool. This week, the focus shifted unto Jackson and April, and how their marriage crumbled, how what led to the death of the marriage wasn’t just one blow but several accumulated blows over time. The performances by Sarah Drew (April Kepner) and Jessie Williams (Jackson Avery) were wonderful enough to carry the episode. Neither April nor Jackson are characters I particularly like. I have always thought they were an ill-matched couple and this episode only goes to show why. It also tries to balance out the faults in the marriage, but as for who was mostly at fault, I’ll go with April. Last I checked, she was married to Jackson, and they experienced this massive tragedy together – their son dying. But April never once bothered to check with how Jackson was feeling. She even went as far as to say that Jackson’s level of devastation wasn’t as much as hers. LOL, where does she get off? She then decides to abandon him and travel to Jordan, not once but twice, despite him begging her not to. And then after she comes back, she expects everything to be completely okay. If she just once managed to look up out of her selfish ass, she’d realise how much she fucked up. I would have been happy with them just splitting up and moving on, but alas, this is Shondaland and of course, a pregnancy had to be thrown into the mix to cause future complications.

2. Anyone left to root for? (Scandal): There was a time when Scandal gave you legitimate people to root for – Olivia, Mellie, David Rosen, Quinn, Huck, all people who at one time despite their flaws were worth rooting for. Gone are those days, as everyone on this show is simply just irredeemable. It seems the show is now instead on a mission to see who can be the most evil. Take Cyrus for example. He’s always been a monster but – damn! – he took it to new heights in this episode. Killing three police officers and basically destroying that adorable child’s childhood and possibly future just to get some obscure governor some national recognition? And then, there is David Rosen, who is frankly the worst these days. Is the sex with Lizzie so good that it’s turned him into a total idiot? Then, there is Fitz, who still remains a useless character. Point is, a show has to give you someone to root for, and when there isn’t, then we have a problem. PS. Is something going on with Cyrus and Tom, the B6-13 secret service agent, or did he just feel like strolling out in just a towel?

3. They tried it (Madam Secretary): One of the reasons why I love this show is the McCord marriage. It’s slowly become my favorite coupling on TV. Thing is, showrunners often feel like the best way to create drama is to cause some trouble for fan favorite couples. You know, kill one of them off or throw a cheating storyline in there. This is almost always the wrong decision. Take House of Cards for example. The Underwoods have such a unique marriage and that’s always been one of the things that intrigued me about the show. It should come as no surprise that when the showrunners decided to cause a rift between them, the show suffered for it. It’s really simple: If it ain’t broke, don’t even go near it let alone attempt to fix it. Thankfully it seems the McCords are going to be fine. No joke, Madam Secretary, don’t bloody try it!

4. Nail Biting Drama (Suits): Suits keeps upping the ante this season. S05E15 was no different. It’s so good! It’s this way because there is so much at stake! The firm and literally every character that we’ve come to love over the last 5 season. Mike Ross though is trying my patience. If he does take the deal that Anita Gibbs gave him, I believe it would be the wrong decision. I think the Jury will find him not guilty, which will be rendered useless if he takes the deal. May we also all get a bae that is as loving, supportive and loyal as Rachel. That chick is all in and her passionate plea in this episode got to me. It wasn’t shocking to me that Louis would record his conversation with Harvey; he’s that much of a weasel. I am glad he came to his senses in the end though. What is more shocking is that Harvey didn’t see through Louis’ act and suspect that he was wearing some sort of wire. If Mike does take the deal and goes to jail for two years, then I suspect Season 6 will feature a time jump. But we won’t know anything for sure till next week’s season finale. Fingers crossed.

5. Courtney B. Vance comes through! (American Crime Story): Finally someone legitimately impresses me. Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark has been doing a bang-up job, but Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran really was the star of this week’s episode. Frankly, Cuba Gooding Jr. as OJ Simpson, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro and Peter Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian were doing nothing for me. Courtney’s introduction into the dream team is exactly what the show needed, as it’s added some much needed fire. The story is moving on into the trials and I am so ready to watch Courtney in action. This case really was about race from start to finish, and it was interesting seeing the jury selection play out. I mean I know how this turns out, but Marcia Clark and the prosecution needed to stop seeing this case as a slam dunk and take it seriously. They underestimate the power of Johnnie Cochran’s race angle and it’s going to bite them in the ass. PS: Joseph Saviro as Fred Goldman is also one to watch out for. He played the heck out of that angry grieving father role and I want to see more of him. Connie Briton as Faye Resnick was neither here nor there for me, just a meh. Either way, I can’t wait to see how this all unfolds.

6. Too real? Too emotional? (American Crime): If you haven’t started watching the second season of this anthology series, then you’re on a long thing. This show is so nonchalant in the way it deals with issues that I wouldn’t expect to see on network TV, and it does it so well. What I also enjoy is how less time is spent on the actual crime; instead it’s focused on the people the crime has affected. It definitely brings a whole new perspective to how we humans act when hit by adversities. Take Emily Bergl’s character for example. She plays the mum of the accused. She basically finds out her son is accused of rape and her anger is less at the accusation that her son might be a rapist and more at the fact that her son is gay. I find her character to be absolutely fascinating as it gives me an insight on how the homophobe thinks. In one episode, she says to her husband after her son has just attempted suicide, “You know what I keep thinking, I keep thinking, if Peter hadn’t been there when Eric took those pills, if he hadn’t found him – I do, I think that. We could have at least buried him as our son. We can’t even take him to church anymore. We should have been at church more, and you should have been around more, taught him how to be a man.” Her husband then suggests that they need to help their son get better. She replies, “Better how? How does he get better? This – this thing – it doesn’t go away. They don’t get better.” Then she looks at her husband with mounting suspicion and asks, “Did you ever touch him? Because they have to get it from somewhere.”

LOL! This woman would rather her son dies than deal with him being gay. She also thinks being gay doesn’t make him a man. And then what seems to be the most unbelievable thing to her is that her son couldn’t be born this way, he had to have gotten this “affliction” from somewhere. What’s worse? She goes as far as to accuse her husband of sexually abusing their son thus making him gay.

As if that isn’t enough though, she decides to then continue corrupting her youngest son with her homophobia in this week’s episode. She plans to take the youngest (Peter) away from his father and brother; she says to him, “This family is sick, your brother is not well, your father is not well. I don’t want anything to happen to you. When young Peter asks, “What’s wrong with dad?”, she says, “He has got problems, he did things to your brother, he is the reason that Eric is the way he is.”

This thing called ignorance is real. She yet again brings forth this sick accusation without any proof because that is far more likely than her son being gay naturally. What’s sad is that she has implanted the seed of hate in the young one and so the circle of homophobia continues. What’s even sadder, she believes she is doing the right thing. You see the thing is, no one is born with hate in their hearts; someone or society plants the seeds in there and it grows. This week’s episode also interwove interviews of survivors of real life school shootings with the going-ons in the episode to devastating effect. Truly a show worth checking out!

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TV NEWS

Superstore renewal: NBC has renewed the America Ferrera-led comedy for a second season. Superstore is a cute and smart little show, so I am glad and even surprised by this considering the ratings were far from stellar. No word on Eva Longoria’s Telenovela though.

America’s Next Top Model lives on: So after the CW cancelled the show, Tyra Banks obviously went network shopping and VH1 has decided to pick the show up. Although Tyra says she will be producing the show, she will no longer be hosting.

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PERFORMER OF THE WEEK: ENTIRE CAST OF AMERICAN CRIME – AMERICAN CRIME (S02E08)

No kidding! Every single performer was on their A game – Felicity Huffman, Lili Taylor, Joey Pollari, Connor Jessup, Timothy Hutton. Regina King in particular put in her best performance this season in an emotional monologue. This has been going on for the entire season now, but this particular episode highlighted that fact. The strength of this show, besides the writing, is the fact that every single cast member, no matter how small their role is, is brilliant.

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OSCARS ROUNDUP

Hollywood’s biggest night has come and gone. Chris Rock hosted and I think overall he did a good job. This was an Academy Award ceremony with a huge elephant in the room – the diversity controversy. So whether he liked it or not, he had to tackle the issue, and I believe he did so quite well. My main issue with his opening monologue however was that the entire monologue was focused on the #OscarsSoWhite issue. I would have preferred he switched topics and talked about something else after he had touched on the main issue. What was funnier than his actual jokes, which were only decent by the way, were the plastic smiles on the faces of the celebrities. Some of them did pull off the best acting we’ll see from them all year.

At some point, Stacey Dash appeared from nowhere and said something about “Black History Month” and disappeared. I have never cringed so hard in my life. I still don’t understand what her appearance was supposed to be – a bit or what? I don’t get it.

The winners were as expected, with the only surprise being Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies) who won for Best Supporting Actor over favorite, Sylvester Stallone. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) and Brie Larson (Room) both won their first Oscars for Supporting Actress and Lead Actress respectively. Alejandro Inarritu (The Revenant) won for Best Director for the second successive year, after winning last year for Birdman. Inside Out won for Best Animated Feature.

Sam Smith’s James Bond Theme, Writings On The Wall, won for Best Original Song. In his speech, he said he read somewhere that no out performer had won an Oscar before; he thought he was the first. Obviously Sam Smith doesn’t know how to use Google. Just off the top of my head, I know there’s Dustin Lance Black (Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay for the movie Milk, and Tom Daley’s fiancé) and a certain Elton John. Congratulations and nice try Sam. LOL

Ex Machina won for Best Visual Effects; deserved award for a beautiful movie. Ex Machina cost 15million dollars to make. It is proof that you don’t need 140 million dollars (Yes, I am looking at you, Gods Of Egypt) to make decent visual effects.

Spotlight won for Best Picture, and the one the entire world was waiting for, Leonardo DiCaprio won for Lead Actor (The Revenant). I am legitimately happy for Leo, completely deserved, but I’m sad for all the memes that we will never see again.

Mad Max was the biggest winner of the night with 6 awards, The Revenant with 3 and Spotlight with 2.

That Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith/Will smith shade though? LMAO!

And that’s it for the week folks, sound off in the comments!

Written by Deola