Deola’s Corner: Another Week Of TV (Edition 8)

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 – S02E09 (What Did We Do?)

So that happened.

Very few shows can manage to continue the brilliance and momentum they captured in their debut season (Empire, anyone?). HTGAWM has not only done that, but it’s built on it and credit must be given to the cast, crew and creator. This episode managed to answer many questions while leaving us with many more unanswered. It was incredibly satisfying to see all the tiny puzzle pieces come together to form this whole picture we saw.

So remember last week when Murder Brother revealed that through his regular searches of the mansion’s heat vents (that’s totally a thing that people do), he found the murder weapon? Yeah, so Michaela calls her BFF Connor, and Connor gives both of them sense and says he wants no part of this; there is only so much illegal crap that the poor bros can handle. He even accuses Michaela of being blind because she just had a side of that Murder Brother beef. Good point, Connor.

Just as they are talking, Murder Sister comes in, sees the situation and then takes off. No, literally, she flees the mansion. And that’s when they finally decide to call in the big guns AKA Annalise. Annalise, upon assessing the situation, decides to dump Murder Sister as a client in favor of Murder Brother.

Oh, and remember Asher’s dad? Yeah, the corrupt judge… Well, the coverage of the corruption charges brought against him was leaked and was all over the news. Who leaked it? Soon-to-be-dead ADA, of course! Also in the news? Papa Millstone has committed suicide, as a result. Asher gets the news from Bonnie, he goes to see his mother, and Mama Millstone all but blames him for the suicide and disowns him. She suspects he had something to do with the leakage since Asher’s name never came up in the news for the gang rape cover-up which Papa Millstone was guilty of.

Following that, Asher breaks down in his car. To be honest, it was a little uncomfortable for me to watch, because I am so used to him being such an unserious douche face. *Sigh* I do miss the times when he knew nothing about this whole situation; that and the fact that Asher is an ugly crier. Thankfully he gets himself together and goes to see none other than very-very-soon-to-be-very-dead ADA, who is in a parking garage. LOL, this is TV, and a parking garage is basically a kill-me zone. I sensed the danger and I started yelling at the ADA, “You is in danger, gurl!” But then I remembered we don’t like her and I went back to not caring.

She goads Asher about his father’s death, saying his father deserved what he got and that the world was better off. And Asher, like every rational person in this situation, does a quick reverse and leaves the parking garage. LOL, just kidding. He does a quick reverse over the ADA’s body! And soon-to-be-dead ADA is now very-dead ADA. Asher does the next rational thing, he calls Bonnie. Bonnie comes along and confirms that yep, the ADA is very dead! Asher then starts making talk of turning himself over to the po-po. And I am like, Ah-ah, what is doing this one? You literally take a course called HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER! Have you learnt nothing in your two semesters? Hian! What are your parents investing in your education for sef? No wonder they are both disowning you left and right. Mtchew!

Bonnie calls Annalise and Annalise heads over to the Murder Mansion. Already at the Murder Mansion is the Murderous 4. Annalise tells them and Murder Brother that she has called the ADA over and they are going to tell the ADA everythang! And even hand the gun over to her. Michaela is then tasked with taking Murder Brother away, but he no wan go, he has a conscience attack or something like that and doesn’t want to betray his sister. *rolls eyes* Michaela convinces him that she will watch over Murder Sister in case she decides to return from her vacation.

Murder Brother leaves and heads to Michaela’s apartment (like we saw in earlier episodes, meaning that when he asked ‘how is she?’ in that episode flash-forward, he was definitely talking about his sister).

Then, a car pulls up to the Murder Mansion. Annalise tells all of them that that must be the ADA, lol, and she tells them all not to move, and like good children, they don’t. So it turns out Bonnie’s was the car that pulled up, and in her trunk is the best thanksgiving present ever – the dead body of the-very-dead-ADA. Asher also pulls up to the Murder Mansion. All three of them drag the body into the mansion –

And that’s when the drama begins.

Meanwhile Annalise had called Frank and told him to find Murder Sister, adding that he use those pills she was supposed to use to kill Nate’s wife to drug Murder Sister. You see, this is why I never throw anything out; you never know when you’ll need it.

So, back to Murder Mansion, we have all the players there, all standing over a dead body. #DeJaVu. Annalise tells them it’s the body of ADA Sinclair. Asher says he is the one that killed her. Bonnie says it was an accident! HA! The other four suggest calling the police and Annalise yells, “Do what I say and ask questions later!” LOL. Someone’s pissed. Understandably, the Murderous 4 aren’t up for another dead body drama; that’s so last semester, been there, done that, #OverIt. Connor is the first to try and bail, but Annalise stops him in his tracks when she blurts out to Asher: “You remember my dead husband Sam, yeah that one, well it turns out Bonnie didn’t kill him, they did it, and we totally helped them cover it up, and now they are totes gonna do the same thing for you.” And just like that, the Murderous 4 become the Murderous 5! And that’s all the convincing they need to kowtow to Annalise’s orders.

The plan to frame Murder sister goes thus: Annalise has already pulled one of her voicemail tricks and ‘called’ the ADA over to the Murder Mansion. The ADA ‘came’ over to the mansion, and that’s when Murder Sister came home unexpectedly, and attacked and killed her. Annalise also makes sure to voicemail Murder Sister, basically telling her to stop running, because the more she ran, the guiltier she’d look.

Bonnie, Asher, Michaela, and Connor drag Sinclair’s body upstairs. Downstairs, Wes calls Nate for help in talking some sense into Annalise. He tells her the ADA is dead, and she is acting nuts in her belief that she’s protecting him. The irony of that statement in the scenes to follow is just hilarious.

So body is dragged upstairs, and Connor has just about had it up to here and he can’t deal biko. He bails, Michaela follows, leaving Bonnie and Asher to deal with the body. Then, we see Connor leaving with Michaela right behind him, then Laurel and Wes behind a wall with Wes holding a gun; and again, all pieces we had seen in previous episodes now come together. The gun that Wes was holding turns out not to be Levi’s, but instead the actual murder weapon.

Like we had also seen in previous episodes, Michaela and Connor are leaving the Murder Mansion, body drops from above and splatters all over the marble floor, camera pans up to Bonnie, but this time, we also see Asher.

Oh, and Murder Sister is at a motel, waiting for Murder Cousin, as they no doubt had prearranged. Murder Cousin comes to the hotel and goes without seeing her, not knowing that Murder Sister is downstairs busy being taken hostage by Frank. Then, Frank uses Nate’s wife’s zombie pills and drugs Murder Sister. And as this abduction is going on, Murder Cousin drives up to the Murder Mansion and leaves a message on Murder Sister’s voicemail. That voicemail never full? Hian.

Also like in previous episodes, Bonnie tells Connor to get with the program, and collects the gun from Wes. But we now see that she hands the gun over to Annalise, who tells her to get Asher out of the Murder Mansion. She does that, and like we saw in previous episodes, she stops at a gas station to ‘pee’. She does that, comes out and Asher isn’t in the car. This time however, we see that he had only just gone to pay for a car wash.

So, Annalise goes full-on crazy. They talk about how the plan, as it is, won’t work, and she agrees. She calls the po-po and shows what a full-blown craze woman she is by pulling the best act since Bonnie’s “I killed Sam” performance to Asher. She tells the po-po she has been shot by her ‘client’, Murder Sister. She also mentions that the ADA is at the Murder Mansion too. Nicely played, Annalise. Nicely Played. But if you thought that was the crazy part, you’d be wrong. So now, she needs one of the kids to – you know, actually shoot her! This here scene is chilling, intense, and basically everything. She takes turns to ask these four to shoot her, goading them at each point. Connor teeters on the edge, Michaela flat out refuses, Laurel flip-flops too. And then, Annalise gets to the puppy-eyed Wes, who we all know is one loose screw away from being a serial killer.

When Wes says no to her, she turns on her goad-o-meter. She tells him Rebecca is dead, and she knew all along and she had being lying to him. Wes then gets some crazy eyes, and after she’d explicitly asked him to shoot her on the leg oh, he moves the gun up and shoots her in her torso. Kids, am I right? Simple instructions, they can’t follow. Wes doesn’t even want to stop there o! He legitimately wants to kill her, and moves the gun to shoot some more, and pauses when he hears her muttering the name, Christoph. And then, we get a flashback (10 years earlier) to what is supposedly a young Wes, but he isn’t called Wes, but Christoph. He is being questioned by some policewoman about his mother’s suicide. Watching behind the interrogation glass is Annalise and – ghen-ghen! – her LUVAHHH, EVE! Who says, “Annalise, what have we done?”

And we fade to black. End of episode. I have so many questions. But in the words of the great Annalise: ASK QUESTIONS LATER!

Other Tidbits:

1. What I have always liked about this show is how each piece of the puzzle you get completely changes your perspective of what the whole picture might look like. Suddenly Asher going to the station that night doesn’t seem like it might be a panic move but part of a larger plan.
2. I have to assume that Murder Cousin was by the mansion when Annalise got shot, and that he witnessed everything else, including all of them running out of there like the place was on fayah!
3. Speaking of change in perspectives, what do we make of Frank’s over-the-top performance at the hospital now?
4. Also where do you think he dropped Murder Sister?
5. It is looking like Murder Brother might actually be a decent human being. So, good for Michaela…although I wouldn’t hold my breath.
6. That Christoph-Wes is one crazy kid o. All this attitude over Rebecca, like, did anyone even like her? I don’t even think Rebecca liked Rebecca. Jeez.
7. I know the easy route will be to assume that Annalise is Wes’ mother, but I doubt its ever going to be that simple.
8. Seriously, Asher’s parents are total douches. Mama Millstone might actually be worse than his father.
9. Serious props to whoever is behind the casting on this show. The actor they cast as a young Wes really does look like Alfie Enoch’s Wes. I remember seeing the young actor as the adorable and mischievous Deion, who was adopted by the Powells in the third season of Devious Maids, and he was really dope there.
10. Let’s not forget the title of the show; surely, the writers have a plan to actually get these people to GET AWAY WITH MURDER?
11. But seriously though, none of the Murderous 4 had Asher’s phone number to call him to offer their condolences? Michaela was right; they are officially the worst.
12. Nate threatening to file a racial suit against Sinclair was funny for me. I hope you’re learning, people. When in doubt, accuse them of racism!

Rating: 8.5/10. This was a crazy whirlwind of an episode. Can we talk about the acting in this episode? Stunning stuff from every one single cast member. Best Drama on Network TV. Simple.

And now we wait till February 11th to catch up with our Murderous clan.

TOP 5 FAVORITE MOMENTS FROM TV THIS WEEK

• I THINK WE ARE OVER IT (SCANDAL): Yeah, it happened…again. Fitz and Olivia broke up…again! After all the drama we have had to deal with not only in this season, but in every season since the beginning of time, they actually broke up. How many people have these two destroyed on their selfish road to being with each other? I can’t count. One would think they would fight for their love like their lives depended on it, but nope, they call it quits at the first sign of trouble. I still get impressed by the chemistry that Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn share and the angst and tension they can create without saying anything. That’s good acting. They have never been found lacking in that department; the acting during their ugly fight was incredible. I think we should be done this time. C’mon, there is no way they are ever, ever, ever getting back together (see what I did there?). Shonda Rhimes, we are over this couple and their drama. #OverIt
• GAY OR NOT GAY, MAKE UP YOUR MIND! (SCREAM QUEENS, QUANTICO): So on Scream Queens last week, Nick Jonas’ character, Boone, in the middle of a rant, mentions that he was only pretending to be gay and that he in fact was straight and had the feels for ZayDay Williams. First off, I call bullshit. These two characters have never interacted on screen together. There has been literally no indication that Boone liked ZayDay, no lingering gazes from afar, no stalking, nothing! He just blurts it out and expects the viewer to buy it?! Hell No! That would be like Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) from Grey’s Anatomy confessing that he has always been gay and is deeply in love with Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams). Does it make sense? So I am questioning what the point was in making the character fake being gay? And all I’m drawing is a blank. Literally no reason. It’s like the showrunners just up and decided, nah, so-so character isn’t gay anymore. Then there is Simon from Quantico. Same thing! What was the point of having this character fake being gay? Both shows are yet to come up with reasonable reasons. And it’s not because Boone needed to get into the fraternity or Simon into the FBI Academy (they would have done just fine without the sexuality lie). I’ll tell you what I think. I think the point is to attract the gay demographic, because before both shows premiered, these two characters were advertised as gay in an obvious bid to get the gay viewers interested in watching. So why then switch it up later and say, “Just kidding, they are totally straight.” Unless both shows offer some reasonable explanation for the flip-flop, it just looks cynical and offensive.
• RIGHT OR WRONG MOVE (SCANDAL): Olivia Pope’s decision to have an abortion in the winter finale episode was one that sparked some controversy. Was she right to go ahead with the procedure without telling Fitz? What exactly was her reason for the abortion? Was Shonda Rhimes right in writing in the abortion scene the way she did, especially to the tune of Silent Night? A lot of viewers took offense. There was a subtle way in which the scene was filmed. No actual dialogue, one would be forgiven for not quickly realising what was going on. There is no confirmation…yet, that she had an actual abortion. So what do you guys think?
• VANESSA WILLIAMS (THE GOOD WIFE): I am a huge fan of Vanessa Williams. Her Ugly Betty character, Wilhelmina Slater, is nothing short of iconic. In the few scenes she appeared in last week’s episode, she seemed like so much fun. Her interactions with Jackie Florrick were hilarious, mostly due to Jackie’s obvious racism. It also seems like they are setting her up to be Eli Gold’s new love interest. The Good Wife itself has been largely good this season, but the Lockhart-Agos side of the story has been underrepresented. Matt Czhury and Christine Baranski haven’t been properly used, and I wish they would be integrated more into the Alicia Florrick storylines, which are the most interesting anyways. And who has seen David Lee?
• MADAM SECRETARY GROWN IN LEAPS (MADAM SECRETARY): I remember when the show premiered, and during the first five episodes, I could hear the rumblings, people calling it a cheap The Good Wife knockoff. The critics were rather harsh on it, but if last week’s episode showed anything, it’s how much this show has grown. In the beginning, the show struggled for an identity, a balance of both family and politics and couldn’t seem to pull it off with one side suffering in favor if the other. Slowly though, the show has mastered how to balance both sides, and seem to seamlessly interweave both sides. How funny was it when Russell entered the limo and interrupted a family moment with Alison McCord and her parents? The writing for supporting characters has also improved as they are fully fleshed out now, unlike the caricatures they were in the beginning. What this has done is create a compelling top notch drama capable of competing with the big dogs *side eyes The Good Wife* Bravo!

Honourable Mention: VAUGELY ENTERTAINING (EMPIRE): So Empire was back to being entertaining last week. Jamal seems to have flip-flopped right back to liking Cookie again. Why did he ever take Luscious’ side over hers? We would never know now, would we? But it was interesting to see mother and son back together; Jamal is, I believe, at his best when he is around Cookie. Anika, after being on the outside for weeks, is finally being involved in the main storylines again. The actress is really good, so that’s awesome. And what was up with the over-the-top dramatics when Luscious was to sign the Swift Stream contract. As for the rap battle, I was legitimately nervous for Hakeem, because that Freda Gats, she is tiny but she knows how to do some karate; just ask the guy she destroyed two weeks ago with one kick. The rap battle itself was the highlight of the episode, and in my opinion, Hakeem got beat. But the “good guy” has to win, so whatever. Vivica Fox shows up at the end of the episode as Cookie’s sister Candace and I already love her. Boo-boo Kitty is pregnant, and tries to tell Hakeem, but the bros has fallen for that Guadalupe, and so Boo-boo Kitty does what every baby mama will do in this situation; she low key kidnaps the main Ho.

Cookie’s real name is Loretta!!!! Like actually Loretta!!! LMAO! I can’t deal.

ABOUT MARVEL’S JESSICA JONES

So the second show to come out of Marvel’s TV (Netflix) Universe was released last week. I was super pumped to check out this show, mainly because I had no idea who the character was and I was genuinely curious. And so I got the chance to binge-watch and I mostly liked what I saw.

Jessica Jones has the same dark gritty feel that Marvel’s Daredevil had, if not more. It’s the most sexualized Marvel TV show, and that took some getting used to. I had my concerns over the casting of Kristin Ritter in the titular role, but all it took was 30 minutes into the first episode of the show, and I was convinced she was the right choice. Jessica is tough and unemotional on the exterior to hide the scars of a very dark past, and Ritter does an incredible job of portraying that, as layer after layer is peeled off as the episodes progress.

A Hero is only as good as the Villain, the saying goes. One of the reasons Daredevil was so well received was Vincent D’Nofrio’s portrayal of the character, Kingpin. And while capable and interesting villains have always been a problem in the MCU movies, the TV (Netflix) division doesn’t seem to have that problem. I enjoyed Kingpin in Daredevil and he became one of my favorite villains in the MCU, until I was introduced to David Tenant’s Kilgrave. Kilgrave is every bit as cold and calculating as Kingpin was; he may not have had the physical strength to match, but boy, did he make up for it many more ways. That is, in large, due to Tennant’s performance, which is nothing short of brilliant. Kilgrave is scary, manipulative, and is a sadist, and yet there are times you feel for him and pity him and even root for him.

What Jessica Jones lacks in impressive choreographed fight scenes, it makes up for in incredible storylines and wonderful performances by the cast, who really bleed in their roles, creating what is no doubt another successful corner in the MCU TV universe.

RATING: 8/10

IN TV NEWS:

1. The Soup, you know, the last remaining bit of decent programming on E! will end after its current season, which is the 22nd. The series finale will air on December 18th. The Soup premiered in 1991 as Talk Soup, and was hosted by Greg Kinnear (1991–95), John Henson (1995–99), Hal Sparks (1999–2000) and Aisha Tyler (2001–02). It was rebooted as The Soup in 2004 with Joel McHale.
2. The pregnant bug, it would seem, has bitten TV. Last week I reported that Candice Accola (Caroline Forbes, The Vampire Diaries) was pregnant and her pregnancy was gonna be written into the show. Well, you can add Megan Boone (Elizabeth Keen, The Blacklist), Emilie de Ravin (Belle, Once Upon A Time) and Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White, Once Upon A Time) to that list. It should be interesting to see if both shows decided to keep the pregnancies out of the show, Olivia Pope style (you know, getting the actresses to shoot with big coats, and shooting from clever angles to hide the bump), or pull a Vampire Diaries and write it into the show.
3. If anyone watched Kurt Sutter’s period drama, Bastard Executioner, well sad news. It’s been cancelled. It was always going to be difficult to follow up his successful Sons of Anarchy. It’s not all bad news though; a Sons of Anarchy spin-off show, based on the Mayans, is still in the works. So there is that to look forward to.
4. Ian McShane was cast in the upcoming sixth season of Game of Thrones, and the character he is to play has been kept under wraps. That is until he said in an interview that his character would be responsible for bringing back a dead character. Conspiracy theorists would say the obvious choice would be Jon Snow, and it may well be. But I think it might be another character who died and was actually resurrected in the books, Lady Catelyn Stark. Another possibility is the Hound; last we saw him, Arya Stark left him for dead. Anyhow, who would you rather be brought back? Discuss. 🙂

PS: Scandal, HTGAWM, and Grey’s Anatomy are all on hiatus to February 11th 2016. Not to fret, there is always the return of Suits, Shameless and the likes to keep you company till Shondaland is open again for business. Suits Season 5 returns January 27th. Shameless Season 6 premieres January 10th and the trailer is already out online.

That’s it for the week, folks! Your turn, Sound Off!

Written by Deola