HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (S5E8): Love, Tears And Murder!

Love, tears, rewinds and – you guessed – murder define the mid-season finale of How To Get Away With Murder’s fifth season, a solid hour that answers enough questions while providing us with new ones to move forward with. “I Want To Love You Until The Day I Die” solves the overarching enigma of the series – #WhoDiedAtTheWedding – by coalescing the sub-plots into a clumsy but ultimately satisfying hour that see it win its mojo back with the pulpy drama we love.

It goes without saying, but spoilers lie within!

“You’re going to get all of us killed”.

As their marriage awaits, our favourites characters are gathered to see Connor and Oliver finally wed – but with this many characters assembled, disaster surely isn’t too far away. It is revealed that District Attorney Ronald Miller is the unlucky victim bleeding to death on the snow – and worse still is that it’s his girlfriend-almost-fiance Bonnie who puts him out of his misery after a bloody encounter with Nate.

Reacting to the information that he supposedly ordered the death of his father, Nate uncontrollably lashes out, repeatedly striking Miller as Annalise reaches breaking point elsewhere. At least the news is good for some, as Coliver’s wedding goes off without a hitch (minus the dead body, character downfalls and seeing your friend go down on your mom), with the show lands on, perhaps, its most emotional moment to date.

“I Want To Love You Until The Day I Die” really is an episode of two halves. This time, it is the adults experiencing hell as the kids (for want of a better term) escape almost without a scratch and, as it stands, none the wiser to the unfolding crime. Joe Fazzio’s screenplay does an impressive job of streamlining the various plot threads into an episode that works rather effectively: it builds a clear picture and as events fall into place, the intensity continues to grow. Sure, the sporadic time jumping can be a little clunky at times, and you get a sense of where things are going before they happen. But the most surprising element of this episode is not victim, or the culprits, or the other revelations in store. Instead, it’s a moment of pure love.

Carving a moment for tenderness out of the (enjoyable) chaos, the episode – and half-season – culminates in a song. Oliver surprises and serenades Connor with a rendition of John Legend’s All of Me, a gorgeous moment that just lets our characters be: be happy, be in love, be content, be married. For all the twists and turns this series throws at us – and it really does chuck us through the ringer – it is the characters that keep it ticking over and returning for more. Having come to know and love these flawed, complex beings, that these two men get the opportunity to proudly and profoundly express their love for each other in the midst of such a frantic episode is incredible. Shonda Rhimes should be very, very pleased with herself.

Conrad Ricamora sounds incredible and Jack Falahee sells the emotion of the moment superbly. I don’t know how long the honeymoon period will last, but long live Coliver!

Viola Davis brings her A-game once again as Annalise’s story looks to be heading down an all-too-familiar route. That we didn’t see it coming until it was too late is a testament to both the writing and Davis‘ brilliantly nuanced performance, exploring the lengths alcoholics will go to hide their affliction. Personally, for me, How To Get Away With Murder is best when Annalise is at her strongest, not her weakest; but we can hope that as we enter the second half of season five next year that the show will continue to make its observations as astutely and carefully as they have in episodes gone by. With a performer as daring and creative as Davis, I’m optimistic that it will.

“Problem is I never asked you for your opinion”

How To Get Away With Murder has definitely understood this season that Liza Weil is one of their greatest assets and she leaves an indelible mark on the closing moments of the episode. From a technical standpoint, the final ten minutes or so are so expertly crafted, rendered tremendously through strong editing and tight framing – but bolstered by the strength of Weil’s performance, it really succeeds.

As it is left, Bonnie’s adoption storyline really had little to do with things, other than to cultivate an important character relationship that would be pushed to its limit here; feasibly something could still come of that next year but, looking back now, it feels like a waste of time. I’m just relieved that Weil is finally receiving material to sink her teeth into. It has been a long time coming!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Gabriel Maddox is doing nothing for no one. Yet again, he remains the least interesting element of the episode and despite a new-found understanding of his presence, if not his motives, it looks like here’s here to stay. He is Sam’s son from his original marriage before Annalise became “the other woman”; we presume he is out here looking for revenge, but we also don’t really care? At least we finally have some answers though, as the character has been completely shrouded in mystery and so, so difficult to connect with.

In Conclusion: I Want To Love You Until The Day I Die

This fifth season has been a bumpy ride no doubt, but How To Get Away With Murder lands on a suitably thrilling finale in the form of “I Want To Love You Until The Day I Die”. Various narrative arcs come to a head while leaving us with enough questions to sustain the second half of the season when it returns in the Spring. Amongst all the madness, a moment of love outshines all the devastation and revelations and murder, but the overall episode comes together strongly. It’s not perfect – it never is – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How To Get Away With Murder will return to ABC in the New Year for the second half of its fifth season.