Thursday is such a long way from Saturday that I wasn’t even sure I remembered what happened in “Freakin’ Whack-A-Mole.” But There are some things I want to quickly touch on. In this episode, Annalise and her crew of kids have to save a wrongly-convicted man from Death Row.
The case: I am glad that more sympathetic cases are being portrayed. Last week’s was about physical abuse; this week’s is about America’s corrupt system that continues to thrive on the backs (and deaths) of black people. David, the Death Row inmate, didn’t commit murder, yet he was tried and convicted. Annalise had been working overtime to get him free and to show the courts just how racist America still is. I was actually surprised David got off, since it seemed like the justices weren’t having any of what Annalise was throwing at the senator. But I’m glad he was released.
Character-wise, I like how they nicely tied in the case to their spotlight-of-the-week pattern. Last week’s spotlight on Laurel didn’t do a great job of tying her to the case at hand. In fact, her story seemed to distract rather than help. Asher’s father being the man that put David in jail, however, brought Asher to a new level. Seeing him learn that his father—who was supposedly a judge who made his life on court decorum and ethics—went against everything he stood for to fix a case fueled by racism was extraordinary.
Asher’s my favorite character: If you had told me that Aflie Enoch wouldn’t be my favorite college kid in this show, I would have looked at you skeptically. But, in truth, he is not my favorite college kid. Asher is my favorite.
Asher seems like that guy that can fit in any circle despite his dudebro leanings. In fact, he makes dudebro seems cute. Asher also seems to be the one with his head mostly screwed on straight. The big reveal of him sleeping with Bonnie was a surprise, but if all he’s doing is sleeping with an older woman, then whatever. It’s not like he was out killing people, like his other colleagues. He’s just trying to live his life, focusing on actual college things like being irritated at not being invited to the bonfire by his “friends.”
I still don’t get Rebecca: I don’t think I need to belabor this point any further. Who is she? What is she? Why do we care about her apart from this Stangard case? Why in the world does Wes have the hots for her? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
Seeing Wes half-naked: It was a lot less enjoyable than I expected it would be. As I said on Twitter, Wes/Alfie Enoch just looks so young. It’s like seeing my teenage brother or something. Not cool.
Nate getting back at Annalise: I had forgotten about Nate, actually, so I’m excited to see him work at taking down Annalise, who cost him his job and prestige. Of course, one can say that he did that himself by sleeping with her while his dying wife is at home by herself, so there’s that.
In any case, I’m intrigued to see how far Nate will go and if Annalise will catch him. And if she does, how far will she go to cover her tracks? We know she can employ Frank to cover up evidence, but now that Nate knows that secret, Annalise might be out of options.
What did you think of this week’s episode?
Photo credit: ABC