'How To Get Away With Murder' Only Succeeds When It Separates Its Cast

Who cares where Laurel's baby is? Give us an episode-long Caplan & Gold trivia challenge.

(Photo by Richard Cartwrighti/ABC via Getty Images)

One of the best compliments I can give to How To Get Away With Murder is that a particular episode or set of episodes is not half bad (that is really the ceiling for this show). Well, the latest few episodes of How To Get Away With Murder have not been half bad! Splitting up most of the main characters has given a boost to the show (this column will contain spoilers through last week’s episode).

Due to the fact that Annalise fired all the interns and her full-time employee Bonnie in the season premiere, virtually every character is off in his or her own story. Connor drops out of law school and receives a visit from his estranged father. Frank is studying for the LSATs. Bonnie blackmails the district attorney for a job. Laurel misses out on a firm job and gets an internship with Bonnie. Asher also misses out on a firm job and is not doing much besides folding laundry. Michaela lands a job at the prestigious firm Caplan & Gold, but is distressed when Laurel asks her to steal documents relating to Laurel’s father’s company. And Annalise attempts to build her practice back up, including by initiating a class-action lawsuit against the government for its negligent handling of cases by public defenders due to lack of resources.

Of all of these, Michaela’s storyline is by far the best. Being How To Get Away With Murder, of course there are numerous inaccuracies, such as the firm’s confusing hiring cycle (instead of the typical summer internship program, apparently Caplan & Gold hires numerous “interns” during the semester itself, so Michaela is basically working at a full-time job while a 2L). But the show does attempt to portray some of the humorous and often absurd events firms hold for their summer assoc- … I mean, “interns.” For example, in one episode, Michaela participates in a firm trivia event against the other interns in which the winner gets to choose his or her preferred partner with whom to work. The trivia challenge is definitely something that would happen in real life, although some of the questions seemed absurdly obscure, such as the largest verdict the firm has ever obtained for a client (even more improbable is that someone knows the answer). Moreover, How To Get Away With Murder warms my heart (the first time I have ever said that) by having the attorneys at Caplan & Gold work at massive computers, as opposed to the unrealistically tiny computers on Suits or Goliath.

After Michaela wins the trivia challenge, she chooses to work with firm superstar partner Tegan Price (Amirah Vann). Tegan is unrealistically young to be a partner with so much business, but nevertheless Vann is a welcome addition to the cast. Tegan and Michaela end up working with Annalise in last week’s episode as co-counsel representing Soraya Hargrove (Lauren Vélez), the dean of Middleton University, in a custody battle. Although I am still not sure why Soraya needs two attorneys from different firms, the show does a great job showing that when paired with other attorneys, Annalise is not always the titan she thinks she is. Tegan looks down upon Annalise, strenuously disagreeing with Annalise’s instinct to file a borderline frivolous countersuit against Soraya’s husband after they receive a particularly bad piece of evidence. Further, How To Get Away With Murder should be commended for having multiple scenes between Annalise, Michaela, Tegan, and Soraya, four women of color, that have nothing to do with being women or being of color. That is certainly a rarity on television, especially on a broadcast network.

Annalise’s putative class-action lawsuit is a mixed bag. On one hand, I appreciate the fact that the show deals with the very real issue of how to fund a class-action lawsuit in which the attorneys typically are not paid until a verdict or settlement. Annalise attempts to get the trial transcript of all cases by the head of the public defender’s office in order to research potential name plaintiffs, but realizes that she cannot even come close to affording them. On the other hand, I seriously doubt Annalise has any chance of getting this class certified due to the individual issues that will surely predominate over class-wide ones.

Connor’s storyline is also relatively strong. Connor has always been one of the show’s best characters, and almost certainly the best of the law students. This season, Jack Falahee has done strong work portraying Connor’s melancholy aimlessness as he quits law school and continually day drinks and patronizes strip clubs. And Connor’s complicated relationship with his father — Connor’s father was inspired by Connor and came out himself, in turn hurting Connor’s mother and upsetting Connor — is fertile ground for character development.

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Finally, I continue to be unimpressed by the flashforwards that conclude each episode, each giving a piece to a mystery I do not care about: the location of Laurel’s baby. Instead of answering that question, wouldn’t it be great if the midseason finale was just an episode-long Caplan & Gold trivia challenge?


Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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