Stop. Watch the episode before you continue, because spoilers, obviously.
“No more excuses, we know better this time,” says Connor as he exits the Hapstall estate with Michaela following closely behind. The camera pans back out to reveal both Wes and Laurel, hiding in the living room, “What do we do,” asks Laurel. “Stop them,” says Wes, who’s holding a gun. Cut to black, four days earlier… well that’s a surprise! We were recounting the weeks leading up to Annelise’s shooting and now it’s the four prior days. Episode seven, I Want You to Die, features great character moments between Annelise, Laurel, Eve, and Bonnie; but overall it’s a step back from the previous six. The “case of the week” about a man wrongfully accused of murdering his ex-wife’s husband is irrelevant. Throughout the episode we check in with each character’s storyline, but only a few move forward and most within the last ten minuets. Four days prior to being shot Annelise Keating only perceived one threat to her murderous family… ADA Emily Sinclair.
“If you want to protect us, kill Emily Sinclair.”– Annelise Keating
In the previous episode of How To Get Away With Murder, Two Birds One Millstone, Annelise traded Asher’s father for a reprieve against ADA Sinclair’s investigation into her husband’s murder. This amnesty did not extend to a Mr. Nate Lahey who’s served at the beginning of the episode. ADA Sinclair is suspicious of foul play in Nia Lahey’s death. “Did the two of you kill her together? Oh… great, so now I am going to have to defend the both of you,” says Eve Rothlow (Famke Janssen). Annelise’s ex-lover, Eve, is defending her other ex-lover, Nate, against murder charges; Déjà vu anyone? There’s even a similar meet-up scene in a parked car, between the two ladies as they relish in the idea of running away together. This moment juxtaposes with Eve’s passive aggressive court presence as she doesn’t even both to cross-examine Nia Lahey’s nurse, on the stand. “Because we already lost… Nate knows the plan, that’s all you need to know,” explains Eve to Annelise. There are some small, surprising interactions between Eve and Wes, during Nate’s trial. She notices that he’s hiding in the back during the proceedings; Then they square off after the charges are dropped. Remember, Nate and Eve had a plan that includes convincing the nurse to swap out Nia’s blood sample with another one. Back to those strange encounters between Eve and Wes, “He’s the one you’re protecting… all this craziness just for some student?” Wait for it… note my theory in this recap Oh Mother!… “He’s not just some student, it’s him,” says Annelise. Boo
m drop the mic, she just all but confirmed that Wes is her biological son! Eve responds with a knowing look of endearment and a passionate kiss.
“I didn’t convince him not to testify, that was you… you fixed it, like you always do, only this time I was the card you traded.” –Bonnie Winterbottom
ADA Sinclair strikes again, after dropping the Lake Trotter revelation about Asher, in the previous episode. A few years ago, Asher threw a party at his parent’s lake house, four boys to a girl upstairs and they gang raped them. He may not have directly taken part in this horrific act, but he hasn’t done much about it either. “I can’t even look at you anymore,” says Bonnie to Asher, who then runs after her. Asher begs for forgiveness and then drops another truth bomb on Bonnie… Annelise told him about Bonnie’s abusive childhood. The ‘B’ stands for betrayal. After a nice evening with Eve, Annelise returns to the house, where a drunken Bonnie waits to confront her. “Oh, don’t you dare, every good thing in your life is because of me,” yells Annelise. Again, déjà vu earlier on this season we saw a very similar scene between these two, as Annelise confronts Bonnie for killing Rebecca. They fight like a mother does with her rebellious daughter… only this time Bonnie may have a point, “I want you to die, I wish that it was you they had killed in this house, not Sam, because he would have never done this to me,” cries Bonnie and then she leaves the room. A child gained and a child lost, poor Annelise.
“Me not paying attention to you is the best compliment you could ever get, because that means I don’t have to worry about you,” explains Annelise to Laurel. Throughout the episode Annelise taunts Laurel about her inability to take of things on her own; basically giving her some tough love. This motivates Laurel to use her sexuality to secure a material witness for Annelise’s Tidwell case. Meanwhile, Frank seeks out Oliver to assist them in collecting evidence against Phillip Boden, for the Hapstall case. While, Connor anxiously waits for Phillip to join him on a coffee date; Laurel decides to tell Annelise about their plan before someone gets hurt. Too late! Remember, Phillip is creepily spying on Connor and Oliver, after hacking into their webcam. He stood Connor up, in turn for showing up at their apartment to meet Oliver… this can’t end well. Cut to three days later. Conner and Michaela are about the square off with Wes and Laurel, outside the Hapstall estate… oops! ADA Emily Sinclair’s body just fell from far up above. The camera scales the building to reveal Bonnie staring down from up above. Next witness, next suspect, and next victim!