How to Get Away with Murder Season 5 Episode 5 Review: It Was the Worst Day of My Life
Whitney Evans
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Well, that was a tricky little hour, wasn't it?
How to Get Away with Murder Season 5 Episode 5 had us thinking one way, only to the pull the wool away from our eyes at the end. Perhaps I should have seen it coming, as things are rarely ever as they seem on this show, but I didn't.
It felt like we were watching Annalise and company lose Nate Senior's case. And for a while we were. But the joke was on us in the end.
This case was always going to be a difficult one, but it ended up being more challenging than I think anyone could have imagined.
Annalise was poised to lose this case from the second the prosecution discovered the letter from fourteen-year-old Nate Jr. It was a devastating blow and shattered his credibility. Sure he was a child, but to state that you're home is safer without your father there is pretty telling, no matter the age.
We've learned more about Nate in five episode this season, then the whole of the last four seasons.
It makes perfect sense now why he chose to be a cop because to him they were the opposite of everything his father was. They were the people he aspired to be like, not the man who continuously put himself and his family in terrible situations.
Related: How To Get Away With Murder Season 5 Episode 3 - The Baby Was Never Dead
At the same time, his father's frustration was justified in his mind, as he saw that letter as a betrayal. Had the letter never been written, what would have become of Nate Sr.? Sure he thinks he would have never been in the position he currently found himself in, but whose to say where his life would have gone?
The cuts back and forth to the clinic team dissecting the trial and the actual trial were a neat trick that played out well once we found out this meeting of the minds was taking place just before closing statements and not after the trial was complete.
Based on the demeanor of the students and everything we were able to see up until that point, it looked like a loss. And it would have been a monumental loss for Annalise.
This was the case that defined her supreme court win. She put all her eggs into this basket, and if it broke, that would have been a major blow for all the many cases she still had in front of her.
We should never count Annalise Keating out though. She's had some moments in the courtroom over the years, but none more powerful than the image of her standing in that tape lined box, silent and alone.
Related: How To Get Away With Murder Season 5 Episode 4 - It's Her Kid
Watching from my couch, I couldn't even move. Is it that impossible to think that minutes, hours, days, months could leave a person so mentally fragile that they eventually snap?
Whether you believe Nate Sr. was insane or not, Annalise knocked that closing out of the park and another park after that. When Annalise is in the zone, she can not be beaten.
Elsewhere, Bonnie was spiraling, and she had every reason to be.
Nate: All I was trying to do was help you.
Bonnie: You ripped open the part of my life that I killed myself to get past. And I got past it. I was good. But now.
Nate: What can I do?
Nate: Well. that's the problem. You did what you did and now I'm left with it. It's always me that's left with it.
Love Bonnie or hate her, she's been to hell and back. And she's finally found a sliver of normalcy and happiness, and it's all blown to bits by a few simple words.
As much dysfunction as there is within their group, it was nice to see Annalise and Frank be the two people there for her.
Related: Get HBO via Prime Video Channels for Addictive Dramas, Hilarious Comedies & Hit Movies
Side note, remember when Frank and Bonnie were a thing for one episode? THAT was weird, and the show pretends like it never happened.
You are the bravest person that I have ever met. I mean it. And I love you. No matter what, I love you so much.
Miller [to Bonnie]
Anyway, Bonnie's willingness to tell Miller the truth should probably be seen as a positive thing, and I guess it is for her. I mean the man did tell her he loves her. But when things seem to good to be true in this world, they usually are.
The flashforward did nothing to move that plot along, and it left me shaking my head. Oliver is still missing, Bonnie still looks guilty as anything, and Asher's and Connor's moms are definitely familiar with one another.
No reason to change my working theory about Miller at this point. He's still MIA in the future, and I still don't like him, so that's enough for me to believe he bites the bullet.
Everything Else You Need To Know
- It's a BIG no for me on any romantic thing happening between Laurel and Gabriel. If they want to be friends and study buddies that's fine, but nothing more. Thank you.
- So Michaela and Asher are back on good terms and more. Asher needs to draw a harder line with her. She did him dirty, and he didn't deserve it.
- Did anyone else catch that Annalise is labeled as "HER" in Gabriel's flip phone? On a show full of shady people, Gabriel may be the shadiest since dear old Frank himself.
- Frank watching Laurel and Gabriel work together was so funny. The jealousy was seeping through his pores.
- It looks like Governor Birkhead and Annalise are coming face to face. And yes Governor, Annalise will say all that to your face and more.
- I swear Bonnie's hair in the flashforward gets more and more disheveled each week.
We are all only a few episodes away from finding out who dies at the wedding, so you guys better get your guesses in soon! I'm not sure they will ever be able to top Wes's death, but we still have a pretty decent mystery on our hands and a lot of people still left unaccounted. At this point, there are quite a few candidates!
Make sure you leave your theories in the comments and also let me know what you thought about Annalise's big win! And please watch How to Get Away with Murder online right now, so you don't miss a thing!
Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.
