Deola’s Corner: Another Week Of TV (Edition 6)

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

REVIEW OF THE WEEK: How To Get Away With Murder – S02E07 (I Want You to Die)

I am writing this recap with complete faith that Oliver is okay, because I am pretty sure Peter Nowalk is just messing with me. It’s either that or I am in serious denial; either way, it’s what works for me! DO NOT JUDGE!

Flash-forward time: The setting is the Murder Mansion, where everyone dies and for some reason everyone is there. We open with Connor and Michaela arguing about whatever, while fleeing the scene. And hiding behind a wall is Laurel and Wes, and Wes is holding a gun, feeling like a hardcore G. Mscheewww! Who does this one think he is fooling?

Anyhow, Eve Rothlow AKA Famke Jansen, the woman with the best hair game on TV behind Quantico’s Pyrianka Chopra of course, makes her return this week. She returns to defend Nate after soon-to-be-dead Madam Prosecutor decides: Hey, why not accuse Nate of killing his wife? This woman sef, someone cannot kill their dying wife in peace without her sniffing around! Sheesh! Stalk much?

We get a case of the week and it’s quite possibly the worst one we’ve gotten on this show. It’s so boring and basic, and it’s the least interesting part of this episode. If anything, it weighs the episode down. It’s basically a creepy-ass, bow-tie-wearing dude who keeps stalking his ex-wife, whose husband committed suicide. They believe creepy dude harassed him into it. Anyhow, Annalise uses her superpowers with the help of my favorite member of the Keating 5, Laurel (she’s just full of surprises, isn’t she?) to prove that it was the woman’s lawyer in fact who drove the man to suicide. SHIKENA! CASE CLOSED! Onto more interesting things…

Say what you will about Annalise’s relationship with Eve, but something about her makes Annalise giddy like a schoolgirl. Annalise is legitimately happy, like smiling-and-laughter happy when she is with Eve. She and Eve joke and Anna says, “You could throw the hearing, Nate goes to jail, we run off together”, and obviously Eve must have a twisted sense of humor, because when the actual hearing comes around, she decides not to cross-examine the witness (one of Nate’s wife’s nurses). E come look like say Madam Eve don throw the case true-true. And so Annalise’s “spy” AKA Wes runs to tell on Eve, and he is basically yelling, “She’s throwing the case!” at the top of his lungs, like the little snitch that he is. *humming Lucious Lyon’s Snitch Bitch*

Annalise in turn confronts Eve about it. And she’s all like, “Person no dey follow you play again?” And Eve is all calm like, “Don’t worry, Anna. I got this.” And indeed she does, because not cross examining the witness was a smart strategy that obviously won the nurse over to their side. So Nate gets her to falsify his wife’s test result and TA-DA! Just like that, Nate is free…again.

To celebrate, Annalise and Eve hook up, but not before Eve tells Annalise she knows that Wes is the person she is protecting. And Eve – like the rest of us – wonders why Annalise would go to such lengths to protect some basic student. Annalise replies, “He’s not just some student. It’s him.” Ghen-ghen! That sound you hear is the sound of the wheels turning. The wheels in the minds of the conspiracy theorists (me included). What could she possibly mean by that though? I wonder.

The other main plot in this episode was of course our case of the season (the first half at least) – the Hapstall’s case. This week had them trying to find Murder Cousin and get evidence against him, and so of course Frank recruits Oliver; at this point, he is basically a member of the firm (Keating 6, anyone?). Annalise thinks so too, because she walks in on Ollie hacking whatever, and she thanks him for constantly saving their asses. And when she’s out of earshot, Ollie says, “She’s nice.” LOL, oh sweet Ollie, do remain sweet, okay?

Seriously though, what is up with Ollie? First it was hacking Murder Cousin’s laptop last week. And then, it was getting in the middle of the action, and then willing to go on a date with Murder Cousin to get his DNA. Ayayai! *bites nails in nervous anticipation*

Also remember that BOMB that soon-to-be-dead ADA dropped on us about Trotter Lake being about gang rape. Well, like I assumed, Asher wasn’t among the culprits, although he might as well be, because he knew about it later on and did nothing about it, letting his father cover it up. Bonnie (Oh, PS: It seems that tape of the little girl getting abused is totally her. *wipes tear*) can’t look at Asher the same way, and Asher, being the big mouth that he is, low-key lets slip about Annalise showing him the tape, setting up the best scene of the episode.

Annalise versus Bonne, Round… I have lost count at this point.

Both actresses bring it. The dialogue is amazing, the writing awesome. It’s intense, and while Bonnie has every right to be mad about Annalise’s way of handling HER secret, I think Annalise really does care about her. They both care about each other in their own weird and twisted way. These are women who are tortured souls; they both have a history of being sexually abused. Annalise should have known better, but she was trying to protect Bonnie, just like Bonnie killing Rebecca was her way of protecting Annalise. So the love is obviously there; they are both just too blind by rage and other distractions to see it.

The date with Murder Cousin is set up with Connor going instead of Ollie #ProtectingMyBoo. It gets called off though when Laurel tells Annalise and she tells them to pack up. Murder Cousin was a no-show anyways. Next, we see Oliver with a bag of groceries singing something that has a lot of “Bye Felicia’s” in it. Whatever he was singing, I want it. As he is walking, I could sense the danger because, well, this is TV, and I was yelling at my screen, “RUN, BISH, RUN!” Alas, he doesn’t listen. He walks into his apartment, and who follows after him? MURDER COUSIN OF COURSE! Ayayai! Someborry help!!!

Flash-forward: As Michaela and Connor flee the scene and we see Laurel and Wes with his gun, he tells them to stop from a floor above them. And just like that, soon-to-be-dead ADA drops like it’s hot and scatters her brain all over the marble floor. Camera pans up and we see Bonnie looking down.

Other Tidbits:

• Isn’t it fun how the Murderous Four have paired up? Michaela is closer to Connor and Laurel to Wes.
• Is it me or was Frank hitting on Oliver a lot? Threesome in the future perhaps?
• Speaking of Oliver, he needs to get over the self esteem hula hoopla like Connor said, because his attitude over the last couple of episodes is of someone who feels the need to prove something, which is what has put him in danger.
• How brilliant is Laurel and her accent? Hilarious! I enjoyed seeing her goof around.
• Liza Weil is seriously coming for that Supporting Actress Emmy. She has been bringing it this season as Bonnie. Amazing stuff.
• Connor going all protective and slightly jealous over Ollie…Cute!
• Who was the random dude that Laurel ran into while calling Annalise? It seemed too out of place to be random.
• Methinks there is no way they make Frank, Wes or Bonnie the culprits again. It would seem repetitive. Bonnie might have pushed the ADA, but I believe she might have been dead already, perhaps at the hands of Asher. As for who shot Annalise? Murder Brother, perhaps? But Frank’s attitude in the previous episode’s flash-forward, his acting for the camera leads me to believe that Annalise orchestrated her shooting and is pulling the strings somehow. And why exactly was everyone at the mansion that night?

Rating: 7/10: Very weak case of the week that the episode could have done without. It bloated the episode and affected the pacing. Other plots were far more intriguing and made up for it. Now, it’s one more episode left till we find out who shot Annalise. Next week looks to be very Connor-Oliver-centric, so I am looking forward to that.

TOP 5 FAVORITE MOMENTS FROM TV THIS WEEK

1. FAMILY BONDS (Madam Secretary): This is not to say that the political aspect of the show is badly written, because it isn’t. The family aspect of this show is just so well written that my favorite parts of watching Madam Secretary is when she isn’t being the madam secretary. This week, Allison McCord rightly called her mum out on not paying enough attention to her. #MiddleChildSyndrome. Middle kids never seem to get the attention that the first or the last kids get. Her mum’s plea for her to be a little patient and understanding with her was so wonderful, and the viewer could definitely sympathize with both parties. This was the first time the show had given a glimpse into Allison, the middle child, and I like what we saw.
2. VP’s CRUSH (Scandal): Isn’t Susan Ross’ crush on David Rosen the cutest thing ever. Sad that she is most likely going to be let down when she finds out that David has been a naughty, naughty boy and his zipper has caught none other than Lizzie Bear! Poor Susan Ross.
3. Better Than The Pilot? (Supergirl): It’s very rare, and as I write this, I can’t recall the last time I saw a show where the second episode was better than the pilot. The pilot is usually where the show pulls out all of the stops to impress the network executives so that they can get a series order to make more episodes, which is why the Pilot is usually always better than the second episode. This wasn’t the case for Supergirl though. It premiered last week, and I honestly found it to be mediocre. Sure, the plane rescue sequence was pretty dope for a something on a TV show budget. But other than that, the rest was pretty meh. With the second episode though, the show seems to have slowly begun to find its footing. The pacing was better, the story was better, the dialogue was massively better than in the pilot, the acting even improved. Here’s to hoping that this continues and the show goes from strength to strength.

In TV News:

• USA’s hit legal drama, Suits, will resume its fifth season (5B) on Wednesday, January 27. Let’s see what Mike is actually in trouble for. If the show has decided to go there and Mike is actually in trouble for practicing the law without actually, you know, being a lawyer, then I’ll be impressed. But I suspect they’ll chicken out and he is going to be in trouble for something else entirely.
• America Ferrara, Eva Longoria and Jenifer Lopez are all back on TV via NBC. Ferrera (Ugly Betty) stars in a new show called Superstore. The show is a sitcom, and she plays the main character (obviously), Amy. It premieres officially on January 4, 2016, but a preview will be available on November 30th. Longoria (Desperate Housewives) will star in Hot & Bothered, a comedy about a telenovela star who doesn’t speak any English. It also officially premieres on January 4, 2016, but previews will air on December 7. JLo stars in Shades of Blue. It’s a legal-cop crime drama. JLo stars as the main character, a single mother who works with the FBI’s anti corruption task force. It will premiere on January 16, 2016.

PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK:

1. Liza Weil (Bonnie – HTGAWM): Liza Weil has been constantly impressive this season, but her confrontation with Annalise this week was something special. It was incredible to see how much this two really do care for each other, but are letting their hurt and anger at the world get in the way of that.
2. Gina Rodriguez (Jane – Jane The Virgin): It’s the second season and I still get impressed by how much range this actress has. They way she nails both the comedic moments and the emotional ones is nothing short of impressive. This week, her breakdown to Rafael about little Mateo being all she can think about and how she can’t think for herself anymore was gut-wrenching. Her moment of dancing with her best friend was also wonderful. Both scenes are the epitome of how the show and actress manages to balance both the heavy and light moments.
3. Lisa Vidal (Kara – Being Mary Jane): This week’s BMJ was a Kara Lynch centered episode. We’ve always known that Kara struggles as a parent. How she struggles to balance work with parenting. How she feels guilty for wanting to have a career while also being a parent. But it was really awesome to get a bigger peak into her life at home, and Lisa Vidal was incredible at portraying those moments where Kara is overwhelmed and freaking out. Her speech to MJ about not being able to have it all broke my heart. Brilliant stuff.

TV SHOW I THINK YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: The Knick.

So I found out this show out on a TV blog I follow. The thread was discussing the various medical dramas on air, and this commenter described The Knick thus: “The Knick (MAX/HBO) is a great show, and has a lot of medical accuracy, but is set in 1902, so there really isn’t a lot of comparison. I highly recommend it. Clive Owen plays a brilliant but drug addicted doctor, who at the end of season one, was detoxing from opium and cocaine with a new medicine from Bayer called “heroin”. He has an affair with Bono’s daughter, who has an amazing WV accent, and injects cocaine into his penis.”

I read this and I was like whaaaaaa? The commenter also described Grey’s Anatomy like this: “Grey’s takes place in a hospital solely staffed by surgeons where everyone has slept with everyone else and there was only an STI breakout once. Main characters almost die at least once a season, and do die approximately every three. It’s basically the only way to leave the show. Everything in the hospital is brand new, all the doctors are geniuses who are the best in their field or soon will be, and also gorgeous. They get cases that explain things about their own lives, and the medicine is all cutting-edge and…okay, the medicine is largely crap, the highlights of weird things from medical journals as imagined by people who don’t actually understand medicine. You just have to let that go.”

And so, I was like, this girl obviously knows her beans. So I decided to give The Knick a look. I saw the first episode, and then the second, then the third, and before you know it, I had finished the entire first season. And I have this to say, The Knick is IMO one of the best shows on air. The cinematography – my God, the cinematography – is absolutely stunning! The only shows that I have seen in recent time whose cinematography match/surpass The Knick‘s are Outlander (Starz) and the recently cancelled Hannibal (NBC).

Next is how real the actual medicine is; like the commenter said, the medicine is accurate, and more importantly it feels real, the operating scenes are not for the faint of heart as they are very bloody and gore-y.

Then there is the writing, which is sharp and smart; then the acting, the direction, the editing all amongst the best I have ever seen on a TV show. And then there is the score/soundtrack which happens to be this electronic music thing that seems completely out of place for a TV show set it the 1900s, but it somehow fits in here and it works.

The show deals with racism, sexism and discriminations all round, and it makes it quite difficult to watch, but I think that’s what makes it absolutely brilliant! So you guys should definitely check it out.

That’s it for the week, folks. Your turn, sound off!

Written by Deola