Written by David Oliver
Skanks Get Shanked Plot Summary:
It’s an episode of simmering developments: Nate’s (Billy Brown) wife Nia asks Annalise (Viola Davis) to do the unthinkable; Asher’s (Matt McGorry) loyalties shift; Michaela (Aja Naomi King) receives a special opportunity; Connor’s (Jack Falahee) fighting back; Wes (Alfred Enoch) gets in deeper with Levi (Matt Cohen); and Bonnie (Liza Weil) makes a startling confession.
Starting off this week, I felt like the plot was slowing down and this would be an episode full of filler. And there was a decent amount (see: most of the court case), but by episode’s end, it all proved relevant.
We start off seeing Annalise carted off into an ambulance. Emily Sinclair (Sarah Burns) is presumably the second body, “deceased” (unless there’s another body somewhere we don’t know about…which is entirely plausible on this show).
Nate is in the car driving the Keating 5 minus Asher. Michaela picks up the phone and says, “Everything’s fine,” which of course it isn’t. But who is she talking to?
Four weeks earlier…Annalise is under water in the bath with her eyes closed and hears her phone ring — it’s Nate calling. She picks up, but it’s not Nate. It’s his cancer-stricken wife Nia. Annalise goes to visit her in the hospital, only to have her ask the unthinkable: to kill her.
As if Annalise doesn’t have a billion other problems, she has to defend a teenage girl, Zoe, who murdered her best friend, but Annalise is saying she was forced to by two other girls. Annalise references it in court as a “murder club.” Connor muses it sounds familiar.
Annalise assigns Michaela to prep Catherine (Amy Okuda) and Caleb (Kendrick Sampson), and in the process find out if they’re screwing. When she goes to question Caleb, he hears her tell Levi, “Spank me daddy.” Proves an awkward start. We find out through her questioning that Michaela was adopted, and later, when she doesn’t have much intel, Annalise asks, “What’s the matter? You don’t know how to use your boobs?” Ouch.
Turns out there’s another way to take care of the case: Catherine is a virgin, and a medical test proves it.
As for the case of the week, Laurel (Karla Souza) steals Zoe’s phone and we discover she’s not as innocent as we thought, through video.
The prosecution somehow (see below after this) gets ahold of the video, and Zoe freaks out at one of the other teenagers on the stand, and later blurts out, “You’re next, whore.” Womp.
Connor, not wanting Zoe to kill again, took matters into his own hands and sent the prosecution the video. Annalise figured that out.
He says, “Zoe would have killed again and I cannot deal with anymore blood on my hands.” Annalise cryptically references the blood on his car…um, OK, looks like that’s getting revisited.
As for Nia, she asked Annalise to get her pills and attempts to guilt her into sealing the deal — even asks her not to tell Nate. Annalise admits her suicidal thoughts to Nia toward episode’s end (corroborated by the early scene in the tub), and later says, “I’m not the woman you think I am. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”
As for the Rebecca (Katie Findlay) saga, Wes tells Nate that Frank (Charlie Weber) made calls that night to someone named Sabrina, which Wes tells Levi. It turns out Sabrina’s brother Bruno knows Frank (follow me here), and Bruno works at a cemetery. Wes relays the info back to Nate, who questions how much they can trust Levi. Annalise sees Nate and Wes talking outside the hospital, which means she’s likely piecing it together.
As for Asher, he decides to fake sick and has his father help him make a deal with Sinclair re: Annalise/Sam. Bonnie figures this out and confronts him, only to drop arguably the biggest bombshell of the episode (dramatic irony aside, on our part): she admits to him she killed Sam. Looks like you’re not as perceptive as you think you are, Asher. I wonder if this will affect him listing her as “BONBON” in his phone.
In the future, Nate tells the Keating 5 minus Asher to stop freaking out. Michaela gets out of the car and goes to see…Caleb!
Caleb: How is she?
Michaela: Good.
WHO ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? ANNALISE? SOMEONE WE DON’T KNOW YET?
Side note: Isn’t Wes worrying about Michaela kind of protective, in a friendly way?
Anyway, next week’s promo looks even more insane than the events of this episode. So I’m in, obviously.
Rating: 9/10
https://youtu.be/hRRa9hKOngA
