S06.E02: Vivian's Here

[Bort]

Quote

As Michaela, Asher and Connor gear up for their last semester of law school, they take on a weighty case involving an illegal immigrant who wants asylum. Meanwhile, Michaela boycotts going to class after a blowup with Annalise about her father. Elsewhere, in an unexpected confrontation, Annalise learns a shocking truth that makes her question everything she thought she knew.

Airdate: Thursday, October 3, 2019

[Annber03]

Remember when Michaela was the scared one struggling to handle getting rid of a dead body in the first season? My, how she's changed. Curious to know more about just what the hell's going on with her in that flash forward. 

Connor's speech ranting about the detention centers during the trial made me want to cheer. Tell 'em! I also really liked Tegan talking to the little boy and trying to get him to open up :).

I'm hoping Annalise telling Bonnie that you die if you focus on helping others over yourself and all that wasn't foreshadowing for something happening to Bonnie.

The scene with Annalise and Vivian both talking about their history with Sam, and how he managed to lure them both in, was really powerful. 

Annalise's behavior in general this episode just further tells me she's already formulating her getaway plan. She's clearly feeling the pressure. 

[Dancingjaneway]

I don't trust Laurel or her dad. I think Frank was a moron for going to him to try to find her. I'm really going to be upset if something happens to Tegan I just love her. I wanted to smack Michaela for her treatment of Annalise. She didn't give two shits about her dad until she started falling for Gabe. It's not Annalises fault she waited so long to find him. I have a feeling we will be seeing all of the Keating 4 in interrogation because they all handled the fireplace poker. Still don't think Annalise is dead. I'm starting to think Laurel is the informant. 

[Lady Calypso]

So, we officially meet Vivian and we see her interact with Annalise. I thought their scenes were interesting enough. I think that Annalise did need to remind Vivian that Sam wasn't loyal to anyone, not really. He did lure them in. He wasn't a good guy and Vivian needed to hear that. Otherwise, couldn't care less about Gabriel....like, at all.

So, Frank went to see Jorge, who says that he doesn't have Laurel and has no idea where she is. Which...ok? This episode did seem to point in the direction of Laurel voluntarily leaving. It's more of a question on if she has Christopher or not. You'd assume so, but she disappeared at the same time as Christopher, but not in the same location.

So, Connor gets his own case and...well, I did like what he said in the court room but it also shows that he's still inexperienced. However, he still has some potential. Hopefully, things don't go horribly wrong, especially with his promise to the kid. Ah, hell, we all know it probably will.

So, Michaela finds her birth father, who is dead. Well, that sucks for Michaela, and I don't necessarily blame her for thinking that Annalise was lying to her, but these people really love blaming Annalise for things that have nothing to do with her. But Michaela going to blame Annalise was more of her taking out her sadness of the whole situation on someone, and it was hard to see Michaela break down.

Now, with Flash Forward Michaela, what a great subtle acting moment from Aja, when she went from looking sad to her pulling herself together as she calmly asked for a lawyer. 

Tegan is great. I didn't even miss Nate in this episode. 

It's good to see Annalise really focus on taking care of herself more.

[Annber03]

4 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

But Michaela going to blame Annalise was more of her taking out her sadness of the whole situation on someone, and it was hard to see Michaela break down.

This. She may well have some anger towards Annalise specifically, but I agree that most of it is just her needing to unleash in general, and taking it out on whomever happens to be in her general line of sight at that moment. 

[Milaxx]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

The scene with Annalise and Vivian both talking about their history with Sam, and how he managed to lure them both in, was really powerful. 

According to Pete Nowalk, Viola wrote that scene.

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, Milaxx said:

According to Pete Nowalk, Viola wrote that scene.

Wow. That's cool. Thanks for sharing that. 

[Milaxx]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Annalise's behavior in general this episode just further tells me she's already formulating her getaway plan. She's clearly feeling the pressure. 

I tweeted Annalise is trying hard to push these baby birds out the nest and Viola retweeted it. I think she’s definitely trying to plan her get away but wants to somehow make sure they can survive without her.

[Kaiju Ballet]

2 hours ago, Dancingjaneway said:

I think Frank was a moron for going to him to try to find her. I'm really going to be upset if something happens to Tegan I just love her.

Laurel’s dad made Laurel sound a lot more interesting than she was in recent seasons. But I did feel for Frank, Laurel really is his weak spot and Jorge homed in on it. I agree it was stupid of Frank to go visit the dad—did he not know Laurel at all? Wouldn’t the dad be the last person she’d entrust with a safe box?

And Laurel being id’d as the last person to have accessed the box three days ago doesn’t automatically mean that it’s really Laurel – as Frank with a laminator and photoshop posing as Wes should know.

Well, they’re setting it up for Bonnie to go on the run with Anneliese. I felt for her at that moment she lost her job, though.

Ugh, Nate stirring up crap for Tegan. I’m glad this episode gave a nice counterpoint to the bond between Anneliese/Vivian in the friendship between Tegan/Anneliese. I loved her response to Anneliese’s back “I didn’t want an employee, I wanted a friend,” she rushed down at Asher’s call because she thought Anneliese needed her. And of course that showdown in Anneliese’s office!

The only thing that didn’t ring true was her lunch with Vivian. Aside from  making time for that lunch, there was a time when Tegan would have decimated someone threatening her like that in 0.2 seconds. At least they showed her kicking ass for a minute in the courtroom.

Maybe I’m just clinging to my dream of a spinoff staring Tegan, new managing partner at C&G.

[colorbars]

So, we didn't start the episode with a flash forward like usual, so no "X-amount of months earlier" info, and still no time frame on the ending fast forward either. They spliced in shots of the funeral, but it seems like the flash forwards will likely be set around the fire poker killing night, as I expecting - which is likely closer to the current timeline than the funeral is.

I'm curious if the flash forwards will be the typical style of revealing a new character with each episode - in this case, narrowing down the identity of the informant/murdered character (as well as piecing together to killed them). If that's the case, my guess would be whoever Michaela's lawyer is will be the next character revealed - which I'd think would either be Annalise, Tegan or Bonnie. But they'll probably want to continue the fake out of Annalise being dead, so not likely her, and Tegan is most likely one of top candidates for the informant/informant red herring, so probably not her either, which leaves Bonnie as my guess for the flash forward character popping up next week, especially given her getting fired from the DA's office this week.

I've kind of accepted that I expect Bonnie to die or take the fall in the end, but that line from Annalise has me leaning towards dying. I'm hoping I'm wrong, though; I'd love for her to get some semblance of a peaceful ending, if not a happy one.

With all the focus on Annalise wanting to leave and putting herself first, I want to think they're setting up for her to fake her death and leave or something, but that could just be a red herring as well. I'm crossing my fingers it's not, though.

[TigerLynx]

I hope Laurel is the FBI informant.  That would be the most interesting thing she has ever done.

Frank was foolish for going to see Laurel's dad, but he was smart for getting rid of the drugs and not going along with Analisa's plan.  I hope Bonnie and Frank are starting to think about their escape plan to.

I'm glad this is the last season.  It's starting to be like Scandal.  These people have piled up way to many crimes and bodies to keep going like they have been.

[darkestboy]

I found the episode a bit dull to be honest. They need to wrap up the Laurel stuff and give Frank another purpose and Asher some decent material as well this season. And Oliver too.

Not surprised that Bonnie lost her job. I would've been more surprised if she had managed to keep it.

Annalise's scenes with Vivian, Michaela, Bonnie and Tegan were some of the strongest this season. 

Nope, still not buying Annalise being dead or Michaela maybe being her killer. Good try though, show. 

Connor did well with the main case of the week. I'm gonna miss the show for him as well as Annalise.

The writers do realise that if it's between Nate and Tegan, most viewers would side with Tegan, right? 7/10

[Joimiaroxeu]

"Everything dealing with Sam is a thing." Yeah, six seasons worth of thing. He's the gift that keeps on giving. 😑

Wait, what? Annalise thinks Sam went after her and his ex-wife because they were dark-skinned? Sounds like a fetish to me. Meh. The guy must've had a third leg or something.

[Dancingjaneway]

One thing I noticed was that when Michaela went in for questioning at the end they were saying that she killed their informant. If it was related to Annalise wouldn't they have said she was being questioned in the murder of Annalise Keating? So either Annalise ends up being the informant or the two crimes have nothing to do with one another. 

[tennisgurl]

I am definitely thinking that Annalise is already planning on faking her own death and jetting off to parts unknown. She seems like she is pushing her kids to let go of their issues and become more independent, like when she was telling Connor how she wont always be around to help him on cases. She wants to disappear, but she also wants to make sure that all of her ducklings have their wings before she leaves.  

Michaela by the end was clearly pissed at the world, and taking it out on Annalise, as people tend to do on this show. Her breaking down was hard to watch, Aja acted the hell out of that scenes. I also thought she did a good job at the end, she could see her pulling herself together to ask for a lawyer at the end. 

Connors speech was amazing, I admit that I was cheering by the end of it, even if I was also hoping someone would tell him to breath! He did a good job and one of his strengths as a lawyer is how passionate he can be on the cases he works on, but you can also tell that he still has quite a bit to learn. Poor cute little kid, I hope that things work out well for them. 

Tegan was great with the kid, I really just hope that Teagan isnt a bad guy! 

So we finally meet Violet! That scene between Violet and Annalise where they talked about Sam was really powerful, but I will never get the appeal of Sam. He is just some random asshole, I dont get why he is so great that these women are all so nuts about him, even going back to his college student girlfriend in season one!

[helenamonster]

Michaela's finger prints are on the fire poker because she had previously held it during the "beat your feelings out of this pillow" sesh. She knows it, and she's not the murderer. Next.

They're still not showing a timeline on the flashforwards, which is a huge tell. We know that Fire Poker Murder Night (doesn't have the same ring as Night of the Flying Cheerleader) happens on graduation day, which is three months ahead. But I'm not convinced Annalise's funeral is the same day, or even connected.

I feel like this show wanted to be super topical with the case of the week, but sometimes I think in its effort to be topical it forgets when it actually takes place. Each season has only been a semester/roughly half a year. In the HTGAWM universe, it's only early 2017.

I don't even care whether Tegan is an informant or not. She is great and I love her and she deserves the world.

[colorbars]

I hope Laurel's the informant, I want one of the core characters to really turn, and I think she makes the most sense.

And considering Michaela was screaming about Laurel being "dead to [her]" while beating that pillow with the fire poker in the premiere... Well, I do think the Michaela part is probably a misdirect, but it'd be fitting.

[possibilities]

ALL of them touched the fire poker. And since they ALL have plenty of legitimate reasons to be there, it doesn't seem like much evidence to make a case on.

[tennisgurl]

So what I suspect happened was Christopher was actually kidnapped by persons unknown, and Laurel ran off to save him. She didn’t tell any of her friends about where she was going because...Laurel isn’t a super considerate person! 

[Milaxx]

On 10/4/2019 at 12:23 PM, darkestboy said:

........Not surprised that Bonnie lost her job. I would've been more surprised if she had managed to keep it.

Annalise's scenes with Vivian, Michaela, Bonnie and Tegan were some of the strongest this season. 

Nope, still not buying Annalise being dead or Michaela maybe being her killer. Good try though, show. 

Connor did well with the main case of the week. I'm gonna miss the show for him as well as Annalise.

The writers do realise that if it's between Nate and Tegan, most viewers would side with Tegan, right? 7/10

Bonnie should have known better than to make such a sloppy move with the FBI breathing down their necks. She gets reckless when it comes to protecting Annalise.

I worry that  Connor passion when it’s a case he believes in will be his downfall. He needs to reign it in so it doe he get in the way of how professionalism. He needs to find a bit of balance. He did it with that woman who killed her husband in season 3. 

On 10/4/2019 at 1:07 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

"Everything dealing with Sam is a thing." Yeah, six seasons worth of thing. He's the gift that keeps on giving. 😑

Wait, what? Annalise thinks Sam went after her and his ex-wife because they were dark-skinned? Sounds like a fetish to me. Meh. The guy must've had a third leg or something.

AK was pointing out that same tended to go for women that typically were not viewed as desirable.  He went for women with low self esteem (Annalise, Vivian, Lila), those who were broken inside whether that be due to drug addiction(Vivian), history of sexual abuse (Annalise), questioning their sexuality (Annalise, Lila), etc... in Annalise and Vivian’s case also because they were dark skinned women in a world that favors lighter skin, but that wasn’t the sole reason he chose them. In essence Sam chose needy, vulnerable women who he could manipulate.

On 10/4/2019 at 9:33 PM, helenamonster said:

Michaela's finger prints are on the fire poker because she had previously held it during the "beat your feelings out of this pillow" sesh. She knows it, and she's not the murderer. Next.

They're still not showing a timeline on the flashforwards, which is a huge tell. We know that Fire Poker Murder Night (doesn't have the same ring as Night of the Flying Cheerleader) happens on graduation day, which is three months ahead. But I'm not convinced Annalise's funeral is the same day, or even connected.

I feel like this show wanted to be super topical with the case of the week, but sometimes I think in its effort to be topical it forgets when it actually takes place. Each season has only been a semester/roughly half a year. In the HTGAWM universe, it's only early 2017.

I don't even care whether Tegan is an informant or not. She is great and I love her and she deserves the world.

Someone mentioned they graduate in 3 mths. They aren’t showing the timeline on the flash forwards, but when know the scene this week 3 mths in the future because Micheala is in her cap and gown.

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

ALL of them touched the fire poker. And since they ALL have plenty of legitimate reasons to be there, it doesn't seem like much evidence to make a case on.

Exactly. I think that’s what made Michaela gather herself enough to demand her lawyer. It wouldn’t be unusual for any of the K4, Oliver, Bonnie or Frank to have fingerprints on that poker or anywhere else in AK’s house.

[Milaxx]

On 10/4/2019 at 2:12 AM, Kaiju Ballet said:

  On 10/3/2019 at 11:32 PM, Dancingjaneway said:

I think Frank was a moron for going to him to try to find her. I'm really going to be upset if something happens to Tegan I just love her.

It probably was the thing that tipped Laurel off and made her clear out the safety deposit box. If she working with her dad, he could have told her. If Xavier had her, Jorge could have told him and Xavier made her go empty it. Either way it was a dumb move on a Frank’s part

[secnarf]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

ALL of them touched the fire poker. And since they ALL have plenty of legitimate reasons to be there, it doesn't seem like much evidence to make a case on.

But she was the last person to touch it - so her prints are probably the most visible and rubbed off the rest.

[Happytobehere]

So far, I'm liking this season and hope the series goes out on a high note.  I like how even as it ends, Wes remains in the mix.

I hope those of you predicting the Annalise is not really going to die, but will instead fake her death are right; I would hate for that to happen.

My hope is that she, Bonnie and Frank escape and wind up somewhere happy together and far away from the awful Keating 5.  Although both Frank and Bonnie are murders, so maybe Annalise needs to get away from everyone while somehow letting the two who would care the most strongly suspect she is still among the living, ala House.

I still don't like Gabriel, so his relationship with Michaela only increases my intolerance for her.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

in Annalise and Vivian’s case also because they were dark skinned women in a world that favors lighter skin, but that wasn’t the sole reason he chose them.

I understood that but that's not the way Annalise's dialogue was written, IMO. I think she made it sound like he keyed on dark-skinned women the way some men key on, for example, blondes or Asian women. The issue would not be the woman's self-esteem, but rather, his. His attraction would be superficial and based on objectifying someone for attributes they may not have any control over. Likely because of some quality of his own that he similarly may or may not have had any control over.

Quote

In essence Sam chose needy, vulnerable women who he could manipulate.

Yes, and the skin tone thing I think was just a convenient place for Annalise to put blame. It could just have easily have been her body type or hair texture or eye color or whatever. The guy was a simply a predatory POS and she and Vivian had the misfortune of becoming two of his victims.

[Milaxx]

1 hour ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I understood that but that's not the way Annalise's dialogue was written, IMO. I think she made it sound like he keyed on dark-skinned women the way some men key on, for example, blondes or Asian women. The issue would not be the woman's self-esteem, but rather, his. His attraction would be superficial and based on objectifying someone for attributes they may not have any control over. Likely because of some quality of his own that he similarly may or may not have had any control over.

Yes, and the skin tone thing I think was just a convenient place for Annalise to put blame. It could just have easily have been her body type or hair texture or eye color or whatever. The guy was a simply a predatory POS and she and Vivian had the misfortune of becoming two of his victims.

I think she was just focusing on the things that she and Vivian shared. At this point in the conversation AK was trying to deescalate the situation and get Vivian to leave