After the grand proclamations and a history-making crossover event, this episode felt like alittlebitofaletdown. (I said that quickly so Shonda wouldn’t hear me.) Do you want Annalise staring down the Supreme Court, collapsing on the floor in the bathroom, snapping her fingers, and sending Michaela to the archives … or do you want Laurel’s forehead veins popping out all over the place? I’m tired of Laurel and I hope she finds closure so we never have to hear from her damn story lines again. Unfortunately, this episode is very “DID YOU KILL WES? TELL ME!” heavy, even though we do get one tender scene between Jimmy Smits and Annalise. Let’s work our way there, shall we?
The episode starts eight months ago with Wes. Oh, Christ. He heads out to a diner to meet with Laurel’s mom and this is where he records the conversation that he hid on that flash drive. Laurel’s mom offers him $100,000 to break up with Laurel. I mean … I love my boyfriend, but I got bills. Back in the present, Laurel is arguing with Bonnie because she wants Bonnie to ask the DA if he knows anything about Wes’s death. What kind of DA would just straight-up be like, “Oh yes, here’s who killed a person and I knew about it but I’ll tell you because of … reasons.” They argue about who should go to Annalise and tell her, but Bonnie knows that Annalise has bigger issues to deal with.
The Gang wants to celebrate Annalise’s possible victory and Oliver and Connor’s upcoming wedding, but Annalise gets annoyed at their youthful exuberance and blurts out that Simon is awake. They don’t know if he can talk yet or if his memory has been impacted. Bonnie arrives with more information: Nate has a connection with a detective on Simon’s case and Jimmy Smits is alive. It’s a very emotional day for Annalise and the Gang. As if things couldn’t get more tense in Annalise’s sad apartment, Oliver gets a call that Simon wants to see him. Everyone freaks out and wonders if Simon is trying to catch Oliver in a lie. Four seconds ago, you were asking if he could talk. I don’t think he’s springing a trap on anybody. Michaela is more worried if Oliver will trigger Simon’s memory. See, that’s a reasonable fear.
When Oliver heads to the hospital, all he asks is if Simon really came out that night. Everyone is a little relieved because Simon might believe their story, but Connor points out that it might just be his “computer rebooting.” Prepare to hear this phrase about 15 more times. Annalise sends them all home to rest for the night. There’s nothing they can do now.
Laurel goes to confront her mother and I’M SO READY FOR THIS TO BE OVER. I know Wes is supposed to be some sort of “emotional heart” of the show but I could not care less who killed this dude. Was it time? Was it a failed experiment? Was it an anvil? Did an anvil kill Wes? At this point, I’d accept it just to get over this. Anyway, back in the past, Laurel’s mom tells Wes that all Laurel does is try to fix people and when she can’t figure out how, she just throws people away. In the present, Laurel screams, “STOP LYING!” at her mom 72 times.
While the whole gang (except for Laurel) hangs out, Michaela is texting Marcus and Connor sees it happening. He takes her into the bathroom and tells her that she’s got to tell Asher that she cheated. That’s the worst idea. Just live with the lie and die with your secret after being eaten alive inside. Unfortunately, Michaela has to dash off to be interviewed by the police. The police know that Michaela and Simon used to fight all the time and someone saw them arguing at the party before Simon was shot. Michaela does her best Annalise/Olivia Pope impression where she delivers an impossibly fast putdown and says she’s going to leave. Connor is worried that the computer is booting back up and Michaela has the bright idea to deliver Oliver to Simon. Annalise decides that the best use of their time would be to get Oliver to convince Simon to hire Annalise as his lawyer.
Oliver visits Simon and tells him that he likes him … and the first thing you do when you like someone is to tell them to retain counsel. Unfortunately, Simon already has a lawyer and it’s Teagan. Annalise spots Teagan’s plan to try to protect Jorge Castillo.
Laurel remembers that her last interaction with Wes was a fight over Frank. Blah blah blah. Laurel goes to see Frank to ask him why Wes didn’t tell her he met with her mother. Frank gets a notification that someone has been messing with Bonnie’s car. He can’t find any obvious signs of tampering. They debate who is going to tell Annalise about Laurel’s rampage about her mother.
Annalise is poking around the hospital when she finds Jimmy Smits’s room. She tries to sneak away, but he sees her. Jimmy Smits is excited about Annalise’s case, but she tells him that he doesn’t have to tell her things to make her feel better. He tells her that she’s not responsible for him being in the hospital. He tells her that he wanted to die and that’s why he overdosed. She said that she’s the weak one, but he tells her that even after everything life has thrown at her, she’s still trying to fight. They both admit they have feelings and I want them to be together so bad, but Jimmy Smits rolls over in his bed and tells Annalise to go. She breaks down in the hallway crying. I can’t relate, but I relate. Before she can break down too much, Nate calls and tells Annalise that Simon remembers Laurel was at the party.
Michaela goes to pick up Asher and tell him everyone is already furious because he was gushing about her to Connor and Oliver and they exchanged a “look.” Asher put it all together. This is another story line I’m ready to be done with. Mostly because Asher says “obvi” out loud unironically.
Annalise tells Laurel to hide out and not speak to the police until she’s ready to deal with Simon. She hatches a plan where Oliver will slip into Simon’s hospital room while Michaela distracts Teagan, and then Oliver will put a phone to Simon’s head and convince him to say he’s got the Anteres files so he can apply for a visa as a whistleblower.
It’s time for Frank to pick up Laurel, but she’s missing. She heads to Denver’s office and says she’s got proof of her father illegally contributing to his campaign, and she’ll even turn herself in for stealing the files and bringing the gun Simon used to shoot himself if she can find out who killed Wes. She gets her mom’s phone records. The plot thickens. She goes to see her mom and demands to know exactly what she did.
Frank tells Annalise what’s going on with Laurel and her mother. Bonnie calls from her car and says that Denver has the drive and he’s playing both sides. I’m not completely clear on what the other side is, but he’s playing both sides. Also, she calls on her car phone so you know something bad is going to happen in that car.
Laurel confronts her mother and realizes that she only wanted Wes killed because he would have interfered with the public opening and her mother wouldn’t have made a killing. Oh. Poor choice of words. Her mother called Jorge who put the hit out. There. We settled it!
Before we can realize the true magnitude of what happened, Nate calls Annalise and tells her there was a car accident and they need the coroner.
