We’re now three episodes into How to Get Away With Murder, and the show is settling into its format: a case-o’-the-week story, plus flash-forwards to the weekend of Sam Keating’s murder, with additional murder info doled out episode to episode. Given the show’s disjointed timeline and its affection for misdirection, it can be a little bit hard to track. Here’s what we know, what we’re wondering, and what things look like so far:
Which murders are people going to get away with?
So far the show has two important murders: the murder of Lila Stangard, a student at the university, and the murder of Sam Keating, husband of Annalise Keating. So far we don’t know who murdered either of them.
Okay, but who is involved in Lila’s murder?
Annalise thinks Sam was maybe involved with Lila, who was one of his students, and maybe had something to do with her death. At the end of the pilot, when she muttered that she bet the girl’s boyfriend had something to do with her death, it seemed way too ominous to be a coincidence. Sam also, to Annalise’s great suspicion, deleted all of his communications with Lila. (She just wanted an extension on her paper! Or is there more?) She confronts him, he denies it, but it doesn’t seem like we’re supposed to believe him, and it doesn’t seem like Annalise does. Also: Annalise’s hunky-cop sidepiece Nate discovered that Sam’s alibi for the night Lila was murdered doesn’t hold up. Nate did not tell Annalise the truth, though, and instead told her that Sam’s alibi was sound. Was this a favor, or something nefarious? Probably nefarious! It’s a TV show about murder.
So Sam is the only real suspect?
Well, no. Wes’s neighbor Rebecca (better known as Rosie Larsen from The Killing) secretly had Lila’s phone, though it’s not clear why or how. There’s also Lila’s football-player boyfriend Griffin, who has apparently been hooking up with and occasionally arguing with Rebecca. Griffin tells Annalise et al that Rebecca is responsible for Lila’s death, but Wes’s Spidey senses tingle and he doesn’t buy it. (No one buys it. You can’t believe fictional jocks, ever. Haven’t you seen Law & Order?) Also in the murder-future, Rebecca and Wes appear to be a couple.
Okay, but do we even really care about Lila?
Not really.
Who killed Sam?
Unclear! It does look like Sam was bludgeoned to death with the prized Lady Justice statue, though, which appears to change hands week to week, depending on who’s Annalise’s top dog in class. So far it doesn’t seem like any of our law students have much of a reason to kill Sam, but if he were cheating/a murderer, then Annalise has a motive. There’s definitely something up between Sam and Bonnie, who seems totally capable of a rage-induced murder. There’s also mysterious beardo Frank, who is not a lawyer — so we don’t know what he’s doing hanging around a law firm. Maybe he is just a beardo murderer for hire? Plus Rebecca is somehow involved, because at the end of episode two, Wes vows that “it’s over” and that Rebecca’s safe now. “We’re gonna protect you,” he tells Rebecca from a not-at-all-suspicious-seeming prepaid phone. Maybe Rebecca is just a serial killer? I mean, she wears so much black eye shadow.
Why are those four law students disposing of Sam’s body?
Right? Also not clear. Wes, Connor, Michaela, and Laurel were at the Keatings’ home and somehow decided they had to get rid of the body, but we still don’t know if any of them were present for the actual murder.
How is that disposal going?
Not so great. The group couldn’t decide what to do with the body after attempting to ditch it, so Wes flipped a coin — and then lied about which side was up, so he could get his way and return to the body to burn it. Connor is being a weirdly antagonistic douche, and Laurel still doesn’t have much to do except look like Jennifer Connelly. Michaela in particular flipped out — probably a normal reaction to murder — but eventually agreed to help burn Sam’s corpse. She suggested that it would destroy the DNA, but that does not seem accurate, since this is not some insanely hot crematorium setup but rather a campfire in the woods. Is that really going to turn teeth and bone into ash? (Hint: No, it is not.) Adding another wrinkle to the plan of never getting caught for covering up a murder, Michaela lost her engagement ring somewhere in the process of dealing with the dead body, and even if all the DNA is allegedly gone, a diamond is forever. Someone, probably a police officer investigating a murder, is going to find it.
So . ..how do you get away with murder?
Same way you get away with anything else: Be rich! So far, things are not looking so good for the Scooby Gang.
