HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (S5E4) “It’s Her Kid”: Messy But At Least We’re Going Places

After last week’s hollow episode, How To Get Away With Murder turns the table with a packed but disjointed fourth hour that attempts to be many things at once. “It’s Her Kid” throws a handful of cards onto the table and spends its time shuffling them around a little – but I’m not entirely convinced that we are in any a clearer position as to where the overall season is heading, flash-forwards aside.

We have Nate’s investigation into Bonnie’s missing baby, running in parallel to her current day relationship drama and an attempt to have his father’s murder case overturned with a plea of insanity. Frank’s working for a shadow figure to work out exactly who Gabriel Maddox is and what his aims are. Michaela’s insecurities persist, Connor’s suspicions over his place amongst the Keating Gang intensify and Annalise is trying to maintain a connection with new colleague Tegan (including a rather bizarre dance club sequence) as well as strengthening her relationship with Bonnie.

It’s as if they realised that last week was so threadbare in terms of narrative development that they have to work overtime to catch up, resulted in a cluttered and clunky episode.

“I am Martin Luther damn King!”

Maisha Closson’s script operates well enough in delivering the plethora of information but goodness if it isn’t messily handled; it doesn’t quite come together as well as it needs to, rather fragmented at times and a little heavy going as it pushes through the various sub-plots. It features some terrific monologues for Annalise – and her scene with Connor is a season highlight – as well as some frothy fan service in the form of a Keating Boogie and while the threads work relatively well in isolation, it’s weaker than the sum of its parts. I’m not sure what it is about season five but the troublesome pacing is beginning to hold it back; sure, we are compelled by the flash-forwards but the journey to that point is more slack than usual, and not nearly as compelling.

If I had to point the finger in one direction, it would be towards the arduous Gabriel Maddox arc. With all due respect, he’s not nearly as interesting as he should be. Having been touted as the biggest mystery at the close of season four, he is yet to live up to that promise. They’re pushing his plot strand hard and while we’re beginning to get a sense of where his arc is going, I’m unable to muster a care in the world.

When he goes up against Annalise regarding her morality towards a potential new client, it’s a laughable conceit; as a character, he is yet to earn the (for lack of a better word) balls to go up against the series’ matriarch like he does. Hindered by how the thread completely misuses Frank (constantly, secretly sniffing around and almost being caught each time), it is the most strenuous element of How To Get Away With Murder in some time and is bogging this entire fifth season down.

“You want me to save the world and be nice at the same time!”

Connor’s spiral is much more interested, but sidelined for the seemingly ‘bigger’ arcs. When Jack Falahee goes up against Viola Davis, tensions brew and sparks fly in a way they haven’t this season so far; it’s a fantastically-written and performed sequence with chemistry to spare. It makes you crave for more of these sharper, character-driven moments, which have been lost in the shuffle and sporadically of the season.

Matt McGorry delivers a moment of tenderness at the open of the episode which shouldn’t surprise as much as it did; he’s a great actor but that’s often lost under Asher’s bravado. It’s struggling to know what to do with him as an outcast from the Keating circle and I can’t quite envision a way of them wrapping him back up in the main story – maybe this wedding is looking like a final destination of sorts.

But that’s not what it wants you to believe, at least for the time being. The weekly flashforward reveals that both Oliver *and* Nate are missing from the wedding, with Bonnie in possession of the latter’s phone. With an especially anguished reaction from Annalise, perhaps the victim is more of a lover than a student… Man, this show knows how to reel you back in when you’re beginning to slip from its grasp.

In Conclusion: Murder’s It’s Her Kid

“It’s Her Kid” is another messy How To Get Away With Murder episode but at least it feels like we’re heading somewhere. It’s got a lot of cards on the table and while some of the hands are a little more laborious than others, for every plot strand that doesn’t work, there’s another that compels in the pulpy way Murder thrives with.