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How to Get Away With Murder Recap: Mommie Dearest

How to Get Away With Murder

It’s a Trap
Season 2 Episode 12
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
MATT MCGORRY, AJA NAOMI KING

How to Get Away With Murder

It’s a Trap
Season 2 Episode 12
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Matt McGorry as Asher, Aja Naomi King as Michaela. Photo: Mitch Haaseth/ABC

Friendships, I’m not even going to start with a preamble because I am thoroughly shocked — SHOCKED — at what I just watched. I could barely handle last week’s episode and then Shonda and Co. want to throw another curveball at me? It’s too much! My heart can’t take it.

“It’s a Trap” is two scoops of Fruit Loops. What’s going to happen to Flaurel? What’s going to happen to the Keating 5? What happened to Annalise and her baby from back in the day? Let’s talk about all this stuff and more in this awesome installment of How to Get Away With Murder.

We begin with Wes looking through the thick file that Annalise left him at the end of last week’s episode. It’s all about some Charles Mahoney dude and his fiancée Vicki’s death. And somehow his mom Rose is involved? Maybe she was a witness to Charles doing something bad?

Maybe we’ll find out in a flashback to ten years prior. Anna is trying to pump Rose for information on the night of Charles’s fiancée’s death. Okay, I totally get Anna needing this info, but couldn’t they meet in a place a little more discreet? They’re basically at a Panera Bread in broad daylight. The Annalise we know would never meet anywhere where there wasn’t a shadow. Then we cut between Rose and Charles in an interrogation room, each telling their story to Annalise. Charles maintains his innocence and Anna lets him know that Rose’s story matches his and she has agreed to testify as his alibi. Cool … so … lemme guess: Rose is gonna get murdered before she ever makes it to trial. Oof.

Back to the present. Connor is with Bonnie and Anna and showing them the video Philip sent. At this point, and rightfully so, Anna doesn’t give an eff because literally 17 minutes ago, the Keating 5 told her to kick rocks and now Connor needs her help. This why you don’t cuss people out unless you can stand on your own two feet because if Anna does help him out, he’s going to be even more indebted to her than before. Anna likes to hold grudges. Anyway, Connor apologizes and Anna tells Bonnie to call everyone except for Wes and have them come over to devise a plan.

Across town, Flaurel are talking out the huge truth bomb Frank dropped last week when he finally admitted he killed Lila. Laurel doesn’t believe it or doesn’t want to. He says he had to do it and then his phone rings. Laurel thinks he did it for Anna because she found out Sam got Lila preggers. He says, “I’ll explain, Let me just answer the phone.” LOL. Frank, no. You can’t turn your back on someone after you just confessed to a murder. And he shouldn’t have because Laurel dips out the crib the second he picks up the phone.

Everyone else shows up at Annalise’s place, except for Laurel. Anna says to sit the eff down and she is going to handle it. Connor gets another email from Philip. The email says that $1,000,000 needs to be deposited in a specific checking account within 24 hours, or he’ll go to the police with the tape. First of all: Calm your tits, Philip. Second of all: If you think you’re going to get that money without being murdered first, then lemme introduce you to Frank Delfino, my future baby daddy who will pay all his child support on time:

Is this photo completely gratuitous? Of course. Does bae always kill whomever needs to be killed if that person threatens Anna’s livelihood? Yup. So, Philip, Ann, and Co. is not the crew to be messing with. Take your B-Rabbit haircut from when he barfed up his mom’s spaghetti at the beginning of 8 Mile and go sit your goofy behind down.

Before we can find out what they’re going to do, we head to another flashback. Anna and Frank tell Sam they are going to Ohio for a month to work on the Mahoney case. Hmm, Anna is pretty far along. Isn’t it a little dangerous to be working this hard and this much, especially when it’s a stressful murder trial? Anna and Frank do a mock interrogation with Rose. She’s had enough and wants out. Anna comes up with a new game plan. To ensure that Rose won’t get deported, she’ll testify anonymously. Charles and his mom are like, “We don’t like this.” Charles’ dad says STFU. And I have a feeling that if Rose messes this up, his dad will kill her. Eep!

We return to the present. Laurel goes to Wes and he says that Annalise dropped the Mahoney file folder off to make him go crazy thinking about his mom. Wes wants to ask Annalise about the truth, but Laurel says Anna doesn’t want to see him. Then Laurel buys him and herself plane tickets to Ohio so they can figure out this case together. Horrible idea. They will figure nothing out, they will screw something up, and then they will call 1-800-Collect — remember that? I feel old — and beg Anna to help them out of whatever trash situation they have found themselves in. Grr. Anyway, they’re in Cleveland, awaiting to get hard files on Rose and the Mahoney trial.

Asher goes to Bonnie and thinks that maybe he should confess. Bonnie tells him to chill. Meanwhile, Anna and Michaela go to see Caleb to get some money. Caleb is suspicious, but I think he just wants this Philip nightmare over. So, he agrees to her terms: A $250,000 cash retainer, and he’ll get Catherine to tell him everything about Philip. Caleb goes to Catherine, who somehow is still rocking false eyelashes in prison. Love it. Anyway, she’s like, “Maybe I’m the one who killed our parents and I killed them for Philip because he’s the brother who loved me the way I wanted.” Uhhhhhh. She tells Caleb that he was supposed to be the one who had her confused. Right. So … did Philip do it? I kind of don’t care about your hurt feels and Zsa Zsa Gabor eyelash tears. We just need to know who did the murdering. Turns out we don’t get an answer, though, because we return to Cleveland. The courthouse clerk drops off boxes and boxes from the Mahoney trial.

Finally, we get some background on the trial. Apparently Wallace, Charles’s dad, owns a company in which the two men swindled people out of millions. And I guess Vicki discovered the truth and then ended up dead. Hmm, it’s too easy if Charles did it. Maybe it was his mom? We learn that Agent Kain, who interviewed young Wes after Rose died, was also a witness during the Mahoney trial. Wes and Laurel then deduce that his mom was the anonymous witness. That’s when we flashback to see Rose, who is supposed to be giving her testimony from a live feed in another room. But she never shows up. Oh. Wallace is pissed and says that he was advised not to hire Annalise, but since the jury is mostly comprised of people of color, she would “look” better. And then he goes, “Don’t give your people a bad name.”

Ain’t nobody got time for this racist garbage. Wallace, please go handle your trifling son and stop talking down to Annalise like she is a worthless human being. As mad as I am, I love how this show isn’t afraid to dive into racial politics and reflect the real world. The Mahoney family looks down on Rose because she’s a cleaning woman, they look down on Annalise because she’s black, and they see both of these women as little more than obstacles on their way to live corrupt lives. So sad.

That night, Anna calls Sam for his advice. He says to quit because life is more important than saving a crappy rich kid, but he knows that she will regret walking away from the trial. We zoom out and see Bonnie staring at Sam. Okay, so Bonnie has pretty much been creepy since ever. Please don’t tell me she has anything to do with whatever (probably) tragic thing happened to Sam and Anna’s baby.

Back to the present. Bonnie is like, “We could stop running and go to jail because is the alternative — what we’re doing — any better?” Anna starts talking about Sam, and says they never wanted children and that having the Keating 5 as children is the worst experience of her life. She tells Connor, Michaela, and Asher to go home and they will deal with the rest tomorrow. Meanwhile, Wes tells Laurel that he believes Anna feels guilty that Rose ended up getting murdered by the Mahoneys, so when Wes applied to law school, Anna made sure she could protect him even after he killed Sam. Yep, that all checks out. Across town, Michaela and Caleb bicker before he apologizes. He says he doesn’t know what to believe anymore and then they kiss. Aww, maybe these two kids will make it after all! You know who’s not going to make it? Bonnie and Asher. She tells him she’s not his lawyer or his girlfriend, so she can’t protect him. And then when he asks her if things between them will ever change in the future, she says no. Um, eww. That’s rude. I know Bonnie is doing this because she thinks it’s the right thing to do. But wouldn’t being there for her ex-boyfriend and trying to keep him out of jail because she loves him be more helpful than tap dancing on his heart like she’s Mr. Bojangles?

While all of this is going on, Anna invites Nate over and cooks him dinner. Or maybe they should just order GrubHub and figure out how to not go to jail?! Am I on drugs, or are people being straight up Chris “Ludacris” Bridges right now? This whole “spend the night doing whatever” thing is kind of insane. I would be desperately trying to figure out how to stop Philip from going to the po-po. I mean, Connor tells Oliver that he’s applying to Stanford and they should both go to California together. Okay, cool, but Connor is on that tape. It’s clear as day. How the hell does he think he’s going to be able to skip town? Furthermore, has Con gone to any of his classes? What credits does he have to transfer?

We return to Nate and Anna and she gets mad that Nate is just like 3 percent suspicious about why Anna is being so nice to him. LOL. Bish, Nate has the receipts and it’s seasons one and two of How to Get Away With Murder. You are a ridiculously trifling person. I love you, but you are. Nate would be a fool to take anything you do at face value. Anyway, he apologizes and he says it’s hard to figure out their relationship. He then holds her and I’m like, “Maybe they should be together forever.”

Frank is texting Laurel nonstop that he loves her. Still no response. Laurel tells Wes that Frank is not a good person and is just as bad as her father. True, but I love Flaurel, so why can’t they work this out? I mean, it’s Frank. Anyway, Laurel doesn’t know if falling in love with a bad person makes her a bad person too. Wes reassures her that she’s great. Their friendship is mad cute. Wait. THEY’RE MAKING OUT?! Fine. Y’all do that …

Sorry. This is Hor. Ri. Ble. I hate, hate, hate this. I’m not here for this. HTGAWM did not need to do this. Why they do this? Why. They. Do. This?! Thankfully, they stop kissing, but we all know that they’ll probably end up fooling around again. Frank is going to find out and he’ll be devastated because we know the man does not fall in love easily. I’m so pissed right now.

We flashback. Anna goes to Rose’s place. Rose is scared and wants Anna to find another witness. Anna warns her and says, “You said you would do this. Lie. And if you don’t. I don’t know what Wallace will do to you. You promised.” Rose slams the door. Young Wes is concerned and she tells him to go to bed.

Back to the present. Wes and Laurel are hunting around for more clues. They’re looking at the police report of his mom’s death. He still doesn’t remember anything other than finding her. In the report, it’s called a suicide. Wes is defeated. Dang. Maybe Rose did kill herself.

The next morning, Anna and Nate are boo’d up. She shows him the video that Philip sent her. Nate says don’t negotiate with crazy. Just wait Philip out. She then tells the rest of the crew they aren’t going to do anything. Of course, they all question this move. Annalise is down to call his bluff. The 24-hour period passes. They’re feeling victorious, but then they get another email. It’s a video from last night of Nate and Anna. Uh oh. Looks like Philip is now in town. Just then, Laurel storms in and demands to speak with Anna privately. She asks her to look at a sheet of paper. Laurel stole it from Rose’s coroner report. The No. 1 suspect? Wes. We end on a flashback of Young Wes holding a bloody knife as Rose lies bleeding and gasping for breath on the floor.

WHAT?! WES KILLED HIS MOM?!

Alrighty, what did you think about this episode? Anyone else scream when they saw that Wes killed his mom? Also, what is going to happen with this video tape? Philip will have to come out of hiding sooner or later, right?

HTGAWM Recap: Mommie Dearest