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"We're Good People Now" is the 31st episode of How to Get Away with Murder, as well as its third season's premiere.
Summary[]
With Wallace Mahoney's murder unsolved and Frank's whereabouts unknown, the "Keating 5" struggle to move on with their lives as they enter into their second year of law school. Meanwhile, Annalise's reputation at Middleton University is on the line, so she creates a criminal law clinic where the students will compete to try their own pro bono cases. Annalise also wrestles with a decision involving Frank that could change everything.[2]
Plot[]
A sheet-covered body is led away towards a police van in the opening scene and it’s not clear until the end of the episode what’s happened. However, we’re quickly brought back to the end of the season two finale, where a curious Wes goes to meet his father, Wallace Mahoney but watches him murdered right in front of him, unwelcome facial blood splatters and all. A skeptical detective is interrogating a suspicious Wes who afterward walks out to Annalise’s car. They discuss sketchier-than-the-margins-of-my-notebooks Frank and Annalise calmly lets Wes know that Frank killed Mahoney to right his wrongs against her . Annalise tries to rationalize the murder while Wes exclaims “how does this make anything right?!”. Annalise and Wes then go on a road trip to the secluded woods and scream at the sky as Frank shaves off the hair on his head, while the audience watches on in horror as the beard of secrets drops to the floor.
We’re brought into September where the Keating Five/Fab Five/Corrupt Clique/Murderous Breakfast Club are back together for another semester. A new guy pops up and briefly insults our Corrupt Clique before the camera follows him as he takes his seat. Annalise tells her class they’re stepping it up now, she tells them “you finally get to be me,” before she turns around to see a picture of her face on the board with the word ‘KILLER’ beneath it. Annalise is clearly shaken but shrugs off the flier before ripping it down while the Corrupt Clique watch with worry. She swiftly moves onto this week’s case: a Middle-Eastern refugee, Karim, who was found with drugs after the police stopped him and face deportation. Two people from the class will be chosen to lead the case in court so Annalise must start her assessment. In the biggest plot twist of the show, Annalise asks people who are not the Corrupt Clique to answer her questions. After class, the Corrupt Clique wait around for Annalise like clingy children because they’re worried about the KILLER flier. Annalise tells them to stop it and says “we’re good people now”.
Back at Annalise’s, Annalise is still worried about being branded a killer so publicly. She opens up a jewellery box and reveals a hidden compartment for a flip-phone.
Throughout this episode, we flash back and forth between the new semester and the summer before. In the summertime scenes, Annalise perfects her stylish wardrobe, does a little bit of gardening and babysits each of the Corrupt Clique, starting with Laurel who is worried about Frank-related events and Annalise. Annalise accuses Laurel of being on Frank’s side showing that the Frank-Annalise bond is truly broken ever since Laurel let her know that Frank killed Lila way back in season one. Laurel restates her loyalty to Annalise before leaving and trying to call Frank on his phone. She leaves him a voicemail.
In class, normalcy has been returned as the Corrupt Clique are back to being center-stage in Annalise’s classes. Laurel shows up late to class with information Annalise deems useless: Karim was covering for his drug-dealing daughter. Annalise picks Wes and New Guy Mr. Drake to head the case. After class, the Corrupt Clique are standing around together and Annalise wonders why they’re stalking her. She realises they’re worriedly staring at tonnes of those KILLER fliers posted over bulletin boards. “At least they chose a good photo,” Annalise says before walking away faking apathy.
We flashback to Annalise’s summertime babysitting adventures and this time she pays a visit to Connor who’s chilling in a chair in a paddling pool as shallow as his trust in Annalise. Connor’s not calling her back and Annalise isn’t happy about it. Connor’s hair has gotten longer but his patience is getting ever shorter – he’s worried she’ll hire Oliver, corrupting him and ruining their relationship. What he doesn’t know is that Oliver is paying Annalise visits in present time, attempting to flatter her into hiring him. Annalise mentally checks her schedule and lets Oliver know that she’s not able to babysit another adult. He blurts out that he’s not so squeaky clean and that he declined Connor’s place at Stanford in the hopes that he’ll win her over and she’ll give him a job.
After meeting with Annalise, Oliver returns back to his and Connor’s apartment where the Corrupt Clique are having a study party. Wes is teased about his new girlfriend, ‘Meggy,’ and Laurel looks annoyed about it. Back at Annalise’s place, Nate is giving Annalise a foot rub while dramatically flexing every muscle in his body. She tells him it’s his turn and he needs to roll over so he does. She gets up to give him a massage before turning around so she can eye the jewellery box which holds her flip-phone.
We’re back to Annalise’s babysitting club. After all his family drama and the death of his father, Asher lets us all know that his white ass is broke and he shows up to Annalise’s begging for a loan. Annalise lets him know that she is primarily his babysitter and that the motherly duties of giving a child money are not up to her. Asher ends up living in a dorm room where we see that the Michaela and Asher sleeping-together-ship is still ongoing.
Michaela’s summer flashback reveals that her and Annalise are at odds – Michaela blames Annalise for the predicament they’re all in and calls her a bitch, which explains the animosity between them this episode. Annalise saves Michaela from trouble after a drunken incident and tells her that the next time she wants to get drunk, she should just go to Annalise’s place. Karim is up in court and Michaela rushes in late with new information which causes Annalise to kick New Guy Mr. Drake off the case. For all their work and tricks, the team end up losing the case and the judge is the worst. Karim will be deported and estranged from his family. The Corrupt Clique look depressed and Annalise significantly highlights that “justice is the exception, you should know that by now.”
Annalise lets Connor know the secrets Oliver told her and confirms that, on the basis of Oliver’s resumé of recent wrongdoings and his growing experience in being troublesome, she’s accepted his persistent application to join the Corrupt Clique. Annalise reassures him she’s only taken on Oliver in order to fill his time with distractions so he’s not a distraction to them. Connor and Oliver face each other in the apartment later and the wall between them is growing ever taller. Oliver’s mad that Connor’s not mad at him for looking for a job with Annalise and cancelling his acceptance to Stanford. We learn that Oliver basically did all this in the hopes that it would make Connor mad enough to break up with him but Connor re-affirms his love for Oliver so Oliver has to be the one to break things between them (for what reason I’m not quite sure).
The new president of the law school invites Annalise in for a passive-aggressive meeting where she lets her know that they’re essentially demoting Annalise, who isn’t having it. The president reveals her basis for removing Annalise as a professor: the Corrupt Clique, Annalise’s chosen ones, are struggling academically. Later Annalise sits home alone before Bonnie joins her. They both wonder if Frank is the one putting up all the KILLER fliers around campus like a student society before freshers’ week. Elsewhere Laurel shows up at Wes’s place and she’s mad and jealous that he won’t return her messages or her flirtatious glances. They’re basically having a lovers’ spat. Wes tells Laurel he appreciates her but all he sees when he looks at her is Frank. Meggy, the hugger, shows up. She senses the tension between Laurel and Wes but keeps quiet about it. Annalise is again using her old-school flip-phone and she seems to be talking to a hitman who’s spying on a leather-clad Frank for her. While he tries to get Annalise to confirm what she wants him to do, Frank hits the hitman before the hitman can hit him as Annalise listens with horror.
The ending brings us back to the opening scene of the body being led into a police van and crowds gathered round. Annalise runs up frantically trying to see who it is and is reluctantly shown the dead body by the police. Painfully, we aren’t shown who it is but, judging by Annalise’s reaction, it’s someone important – she breaks down on the street before turning and facing her burning house.
Notes and Trivia[]
Notes[]
- This episode scored 5.11 million viewers.
- This episode takes place during September 2015 as the Keating 5 are starting their second year in law school, 4 months after the previous episode, "Anna Mae"
- The scene where Frank shaves off his hair and his beard was pitched by Charlie Weber (Frank Delfino) himself. During an interview, Weber said that "Nowalk was a little hesitant, he thought that might be a little drastic. But ultimately, after explaining [myself] and what that meant to the character, and what it symbolized, he let me."[3]
- The first table read for the episode was around July 6, 2016 as mentioned on Pete Nowalk's Instagram.[4]
Important Events[]
- Frank Delfino is revealed to have shot Wallace Mahoney after taking Wes Gibbins to see him in New York.
- He also shaves his beard and hair off after deciding to flee.
- The Keating 5 start their second year of law school at Middleton University.
- Annalise Keating opens a legal clinic where students at Middleton can actually be real lawyers with their own clients.
- Wes manages to get his first client and fight the case in court.
- Wes reveals to the gang that he has been dating Meggy Travers since the beginning of the summer.
- Nate Lahey and Annalise are dating.
- Annalise hires Oliver Hampton for her legal clinic and he tells her about Connor Walsh wanting to leave for Stanford.
- Oliver ends his relationship with Connor.
- Asher Millstone and Michaela Pratt are still sleeping together.
- Asher is poor without his mother's money and has moved into university accommodation.
- The flashforward reveals Annalise's house to be on fire. She is shown a body, someone of which Annalise is close to who died in the fire.
Title[]
- Following the first class with Annalise Keating's Middleton Criminal Law Clinic of the year, the 'Keating 5' along with Annalise, discussed various things including the poster of Annalise with the word 'Killer' inscribed across it. Annalise tried to comfort the others that things would be better than before. "We’re good people now" she told them.
- We're Good People Now - Annalise Keating
International Titles[]
- French: "À feu et à sang" (With fire and blood)
- Spanish: "Ahora somos buenas personas" (Now we are good people)
Music[]
Song | Artist | Scene |
---|---|---|
"My Body" | Perfume Genius | Annalise and Wes let go of their anger at Frank and Wallace Mahoney; Frank changes his appearance; (4 months later) Wes rides to class where Laurel waits outside; the Keating 5 meet up in class; Annalise tells her new students about the class when she finds a message on her chalkboard naming her a killer. |
"Priestess" | Pumarosa | (Flashback) Oliver tells Annalise that he can be bad; (present) Connor makes mojitos for the Keating 5 as they work; Oliver arrives home, he asks about the others dating lives; Nate gives Annalise a massage. |
"The Salt" | Doombird | Asher and Michaela being to have sex when his duties an a RA get in the way; as Asher attends to duties, Michaela watches sight of Asher defense ideas, notes them then leaves him high and dry. |
"Dirge" | Perfume Genius | The Keating 5 lose their case; Annalise tells Wes to focus his energy on their next case; Oliver tells Connor about the job Annalise offered him then the two confront the issues in their relationship and break up. |
"We Are the Ones" | Son Lux | Laurel meets Meggy, who greats her with a hug; Annalise calls her PI who tells her he found Frank, he asks her what she wants him to do when Frank attacks him; Annalise panics; (2 months later) Annalise arrives home to find the police wheeling a body away from her home, she asks to see it; Annalise cries in pain after seeing the body while her home burns down in the background. |