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S01.E02: It's All Her Fault


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To me, Connor and Michaela have "chemistry" due to the often used television trope that a guy and girl who snark at and seemingly can't stand each other, eventually end up hooking up because all the fighting is to hide their attraction to each other. So it doesn't surprise me that some see chemistry between them but far as I can tell and based on interviews with the actor and the creator, Connor is gay, not bi-sexual. And I for one hope they don't change that just because some see chemistry between the actors because that will be disappointing in my opinion. 

 

That's not it for me.  I won't bother watching the pilot again, but there were a couple of times when Connor said something or shot Michaela a look that registered flirty. I don't think the two shared that many lines in this episode, but the actors are playing against each other in a way that is not the "we hate each other because we're attracted to each other" vibe. It's not even that I think the two should be a couple, or that Connor should be bi-sexual.   But even though Connor and IT guy are both attractive men, are getting hot and heavy with the sex, and I should see the heat between them...it's just not there to me.  But it's just a part of a larger issue with the cast chemistry that seems off to me.  I only speak for myself on this - mileage varies and all that.

 

Also, I generally don't read or listen to what showrunners and actors say about a show.  What they say, and what can come across on screen can be different.  Sometimes very different.

 

This is just my theory, but I assume this main murder mystery of the Lila girl will have many, many more twists and turns, and I don't think Rebecca or Wes are in any way guilty of killing her (or Viola's husband, for that matter), though they are involved in the coverup.  My guess is that Bonnie might be behind it?  I don't even know why exactly, but there's something about Bonnie/Liza Weil that is coming across as creepy to me.  I think she has totally had an affair with Annalise's husband in the past, and maybe he was also sleeping with Lila, and she killed Lila (and possibly killed Sam too?).  Just a guess, but there's something off about her character, and I could see her being expendable by the end of the season when they will need to resolve the mystery.

 

That, or some yet-to-be-introduced character did it.  I'd prefer the latter because I'd like to see Liza Weil, and her character Bonnie, continue on the show.

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I agree that there is something off with the chemistry on this show. I'm not really attached to any character, except for maybe Wes and Annalise. The one person I don't like is the neighbour, Rebecca. The only side they've shown of her is bitchy and distant. Whatever issues she has in her life that cause her to be this way, they better be explained soon because I'm tired of her character already and I definitely don't want Wes to get together with her. I also see chemistry between Connor and Michaela, but I'd also be fine with them just being friends. I do wish Connor was more of the fluid sexual type, where he'll sleep with anyone to get information, instead of being gay right off the bat. Yes, it's cliche for some guy to sleep with people for information, but it still could have been a lot of fun, especially if his reasoning is still 'well, I did sleep with them for info, but they're also hot so why not?'. Also, imagine him sleeping with Michaela just to get ahead with information and in Annalise's good graces. 

 

Also, there's a lot of inappropriate relationships on this show, aren't there? Annalise and her hottie boyfriend Nate, Frank and Laurel seeds being planted, the case this week with the cheating husband, Sam and his affairs with students, Bonnie and Wes. At this point, should I be surprised if Annalise tries to plant a kiss on Wes? 

 

I'm sure that whatever we're being shown in the flashforwards is not as simple as it looks. I don't think Rebecca will be the one to kill Sam, just like I don't think Sam killed Lila like they're implying. There are always twists and turns, especially for a Shonda Rhimes show, so there are many more questions that will need answers. I would be surprised if Rebecca is the murderer, and I would also be surprised if one of the mains did, in fact, kill Sam. But I like the flash forwards because it gives some details to what will happen by the mid season finale, it's a fun mystery for the audience to put together as well, and it's not like they shove these scenes in our faces every five minutes. They're used sparingly, which is what I like. I mean, I could make the guess that Sam was killed by a female, due to him probably being smashed in the head by that immunity idol and that could have killed him, but we also don't have enough information to determine if that's what really killed him. It's just a little fun thing that I think the show is giving us so we're not completely bored by the predictability of the COTW. 

 

I am curious to what's going to happen to the fifth student who's not present in the flash forwards, though. Asher (I think) seems to either be some sort of red herring for the audience, or he's going to also end up dead/missing. He's actually one I'm kind of intrigued about. Either he wasn't there for the murder and it's just that simple, or he did get involved before the other main four and he's in some trouble. In a way, because of the flash forwards, his character becomes 80% more interesting than without the flash forwards, just for the fate of his character alone.

 

Steven Weber is brilliant and creepy; I know he'll never return, but it was great seeing him in yet another show in the past few months. 

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We're two episodes in and so much has happened already. My head is spinning...

 

I don't trust Rebecca the neighbour. I feel like she could be playing Wes..

Edited by Chas411
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Annalise's ex side piece is hot to death.

He doesn't do anything for me, and I can't pinpoint why. I'm mentally going through my list of Fine TV Brothers: Idris Elba of course, Morris Chestnut, Blair Underwood, Boris Kodjoe, Adam Rodriguez, Don Cheadle (don't laugh!). Maybe when it comes to TV hotties, I'm more into the male model type. In real life, I'd probably be all over Rugged Cop Dude. If I weren't married, that is.

 

 

I am so lost, and based on what I am reading here, I missed a big plot point -- did the daughter kill the second wife to frame her father?  Was that revealed after the verdict or before?  I completely missed that.  And I really have no clue about anything else that is going on.  I have no idea what is going on with the Girl Next Door and arrest and the cell phone underneath the boards.  Was the final scene a flash forward, or the present?

Yeah, me too.

 

My favorite line of the night was when Annalise and her assistant (Amanda Tanner?) needed the supplemental police report for the murder. And they both said "send the puppy," meaning Wes. He is quite puppy-like. Both in looks and personality. But the end of the episode suggests that there's more to Wes than meets the eye.

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I don't understand why Annalise and her husband live in the same building as Annalise's law office, which also happens to be on the university campus.  Why in the world would Annalise have her cop boyfriend come over and, err, service her in her house in the pilot if her husband also lives there?  I at first thought that it was just her office, but if it's her home, and there are a million people coming in and out of the house all day, it makes no sense as a place for a rendezvous.  She seemed to be annoyed at Frank at not locking the door before leaving in the pilot, enabling Wes to walk in on her and her boyfriend, but her husband would have a key to his own house, so does it even matter that Frank didn't lock the door?  This makes no sense.

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Thanks for mentioning their names now I know all their names thanks to you guys lol. So right now I like Anni, Michaela, and Connor and not Laurel, Creepy Frank or Douchebag Guy. On the fence about Wes especially with that coin flip and lying about it.

I hope Michaela and Connor are just snark buddies and nothing more. Character is gay keep them gay. Mist shows go for making gay male characters feminine and flamboyant and Connor isn't that which is a nice change and Douchebag Guy couldn't tell if he is or not.

Blonde bitchy woman Olivia right?? She comes off as someone who might do something bad with the evil bitchy looks she gives everyone. She might have something to hide.

Wes' neighbor can exit stage left right now. Right now she doesn't add anything nor does she entertain me.

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Annalise & her associates never looked into whether or not Steven Weber's (I like SW, but this performance was parody) story of his first wife's death checked out?  That pretty much ruined the whole episode for me because it was just so stupid and unbelievable.  She is supposed to be this master defense attorney, but she doesn't even look into her client's background for possible landmines that the prosecution might throw at them?

 

And obviously VD is a great actress, but I really don't get what she is going for sometimes.  Annalise is quite the mystery herself.

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Annalise & her associates never looked into whether or not Steven Weber's (I like SW, but this performance was parody) story of his first wife's death checked out?

 

 

While I actually agree with you, the way the show explained this was that Weber's character changed his name and identity after the incident in Sweden and when he moved to the U.S. Now yeah I guess you could also argue that since he changed his identity, that would mean there wouldn't be much about him from when he was living in Sweden which should have been a red flag but I guess maybe not. It also a key note that the Prosecutors didn't uncover the whole thing themselves either but rather the daughter, after going to Sweden and asking questions and doing some background checks found out the truth and she emailed the Prosecution the details. 

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And obviously VD is a great actress, but I really don't get what she is going for sometimes.  Annalise is quite the mystery herself.

It's difficult to an actor to portray a character as pretending to be vulnerable or weak or hysterical unless we as the audience know who the character really is. And I'm afraid we don't know yet with Annalise. At least, I don't. Mark me down as confused by her weepy reaction to her cop ex-boyfriend and her tearful interaction with one of her first-year law students, which was just weird. Annalise could be running the long con on everyone, but she also could have a mental illness like bipolar disorder or histrionic personality disorder. I just don't know yet, and because I'm so confused, those seemingly out-of-character scenes make me question Viola Davis's acting. Which is crazy because VD has been amazing in everything I've seen her. I think the show's writing needs to improve.

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This is just my theory, but I assume this main murder mystery of the Lila girl will have many, many more twists and turns, and I don't think Rebecca or Wes are in any way guilty of killing her (or Viola's husband, for that matter), though they are involved in the coverup.  My guess is that Bonnie might be behind it?  I don't even know why exactly, but there's something about Bonnie/Liza Weil that is coming across as creepy to me.  I think she has totally had an affair with Annalise's husband in the past, and maybe he was also sleeping with Lila, and she killed Lila (and possibly killed Sam too?).  Just a guess, but there's something off about her character, and I could see her being expendable by the end of the season when they will need to resolve the mystery.

It makes sense to me. I can't think of many other reasons for her character really existing. 

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I think part of the problem is that, so far, the show isn't primarily shot from Annalise's perspective. I also think it was a mistake to use the in media res technique right from the jump. I think it can be used effectively. But on TV, where you presumably want viewers to care about the characters as much as the story, I'm skeptical of using that technique to reveal things about people we don't know or generally care about yet. But I guess that's part of the larger writing issue.

And I still think the cast chemistry is off. Thinking about Scandal, I never questioned OPA's loyalty to Olivia, even before I got their backstories. Cyrus and Olivia's first scene in the pilot really conveyed a sense of friendship, of history. The actors seemed to gel early on. Versus this show, where it wouldn't surprise me if Frank and Bonnie were to betray Annalise in some way before mid-season. And I'm not even referring to a Sam/Bonnie affair.

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But that doesn't mean the actors' chemistry is off and rather it could be what the show is going for. I don't know about anyone else but I never got the impression from the Pilot that we're supposed to believe Frank and Bonnie are super loyal/forever and ever/ride and die with Annalise. If anything and this episode's dialogue during Annalise's lecture further confirmed this for me, the show seems to be a portrait of how you never really know anyone and every single person is capable of horrible actions, especially when it comes to looking out for themselves. 

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Except that Wes' actions seem to be for Rebecca's benefit. Though that could change as more is revealed.

As for me, my feelings on the cast could change as things are revealed. As it stands, things feel off to me and not just the story related things mentioned by others.

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...where it wouldn't surprise me if Frank and Bonnie were to betray Annalise in some way before mid-season. And I'm not even referring to a Sam/Bonnie affair.

 

Forgive me, I'm trying to like this show but I'm confused by the characters much of the time.  Is Frank the husband and Sam the guy who likes to sleep with students?  And thanks to this forum, Mr. Love and I now have an answer to: who is the girl hugging Wes at the end of the show?  She didn't look to either of us to be the neighbor girl (no eyeliner and different hairstyle maybe and why is everything shot so dimly?) and hubby thought it might be the murdered college girl who (surprise!) wasn't really murdered after all. LOL.  We're so lost we're making up our own twists.

 

Geez, I always feel like I'm straining to see what's going on with the (to me) dim lighting, struggling to figure out WTH bag Annalise is going to be popping out of next (controlled and in-charge or weepy and desperate), while trying to keep track of which tense we are in, as well details of the COTW.   Remembering the names of the avatars who aren't named Viola Davis (because they're sure not real characters yet) is next to impossible for me.

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It's all so disjointed with the changing flashbacks/forwards/whatevers that it's hard to follow the story they are trying to tell.  It feels off because we have a puzzle with only a few pieces filled in here and there, scattered, so there is no clear picture of any part of the whole.  That may be what they're going for as far as the main murder mystery is concerned, but it really hurts with the characters and character development.  By the time the story makes any sense, I might not care because I haven't connected with any of the characters and their stories, or won't know who the characters really are until the very end. 

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LoveIsJoy, Frank works for Annalise and Sam is her husband.

I don't watch this show live, but a day or so after and online. That way, I can rewind immediately when I miss something. It helps me keep the thousand pieces together, ha.

I like you and your hubby's twists though!

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Is Frank the husband and Sam the guy who likes to sleep with students?

 

 

Frank is the male lawyer working for Annalise and has a reputation for sleeping with the female students that come to work for her. Sam is her husband who she thinks may have had an affair with the dead girl whose body was found in the first episode and Nate is the police officer she was sleeping with in her office when Wes walked in. 

 

As for the rest of the show, I can do a quick summary:

 

There are two main mysteries going on in the show right now. There was a missing blonde sorority girl whose body was found in the first episode. She was one of Sam's (Annalise's husband) students and Annalise is convinced he was having an affair with her. She searched Sam's phone this episode and found emails from said dead girl but nothing too incriminating. When she checked the phone later in the episode, all the messages were erased. So she went to Nate to ask him to help her find proof that Sam is either telling the truth about not having an affair with this girl or that he is lying and he was. Meanwhile, Wes' neighbor Rebecca has some kind of relationship with the football player who was the dead girl's boyfriend. She and the boyfriend were both arrested at the end of this episode. She also placed a phone under the floorboards of Wes' sink when she came to use his shower because hers was supposedly broken (at least he assumed so. We didn't actually see her put it there). We don't know yet whose phone that is and why she put it there. 

 

The second mystery is what looks to be the murder of Sam and this is what there have been a number of flash-forwards to. The show moves between the 3 months before the murder of Sam and the night where Wes, Connor, Mckayla and Laurel are trying to get rid of Sam's body. So far we don't know what happened, who killed Sam, why the four are covering it up, etc. This episode used the flashforward to show other POV's of the current night. For example in episode 1 we only see Wes flipping the coin and his claiming heads. This week we see a closeup that showed he lied. Also this week we saw what happened inside the store while Connor and company were waiting in the car. He apparently called Rebecca who he's clearly gotten involved with at some point and is protecting her.

 

And that's essentially the show so far. There's the usual murder of the week scenarios, there is a question mark about Bonnie and whether she is having an affair with Sam or just clearly wants him but he's not interested. 

Edited by truthaboutluv
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I think the hysterics were fake and that she's using Nate to compromise any future case that might be made against her husband. The thing is, Nate already let her play him like that once so why would he do again unless her coochie is just that good. But it won't matter anyway since we know the husband ends up dead. Maybe she's trying to compromise any case that might be made against her (or one of her students, say, Wes?).

 

I'm sure the coochie is just that good.

 

But I took it that we're supposed to believe that is a real breakdown. Which doesn't make much sense. As an established and expensive defense attorney, Annalise would have access to various investigators who could check something as simple as "was Sam at this public function when he said he was?" Heck, she could probably check it herself, or get one of her students to do it for her. Her sleeping with her husband while suspecting him of having an affair and murdering his partner in the affair is pretty ew.

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It is farfetched, among many things presented thus far.  Still, it's possible that, because it's Sam, she doesn't want anyone else to know of her suspicions.  I can only assume she went to Nate because of their relationship and she trusts him.  But even then, it doesn't make much sense, as he has no reason not to turn over any evidence he might find against Sam. I assume he's on desk duty based on their courthouse conversation. So what incentive would he have to help her out, unless there was a way to get him back in the good graces of his department? And yet, he was sent to warn her about making the cops look foolish, so it doesn't seem like she would have a positive influence. Guess we'll see.

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Ok I'm going to go with a real out there theory. Wes isn't who he says he is. He's a wait-listed student who happens to get a seat in this probably highly sought after class so late that his professor wasn't even given his email and he just happens to move next door to this annoying bartender chick who knows the dead girl everybody has been looking for for months? I smell too many coincidences. I think Wes has some connection to the dead girl case (friend, PI, undercover cop, something...) and he is only pretending to be a student for his own purposes.

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FozzyBear, not so far out--at least, not to me. I was suggesting something along those lines too, upthread.

And although the idea of Wes being Annalise' love child was just a joke on here, it could be true. Maybe he's out for revenge or something (in spite of looking sweet and innocent).

While I actually agree with you, the way the show explained this was that Weber's character changed his name and identity after the incident in Sweden and when he moved to the U.S. Now yeah I guess you could also argue that since he changed his identity, that would mean there wouldn't be much about him from when he was living in Sweden which should have been a red flag but I guess maybe not.

Hmmph. Goren and Eames would've sussed that out long before it went to trial.
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I'm hooked!  Really enjoying this show when I thought I wouldn't.

I have to admit, I do have a crush on Frank!


 

 

I'm probably in the minority, but I find myself liking Laurel. Though I'm preparing to be disappointed in her when she starts boning Frank.

 

I like Lauren's character and I hope they delve into her background more.  She doesn't seem as cut-throat as the others.

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Ugh, why does every single person on this show have to be completely dislikeable? With the exception of Wes, but even he is evidently stupid if he hooked up with the heinous Rebecca bitch - WTF?

 

And I know Viola is doing her best, but the way the character is written and directed - hard as nails with her students, weepy and pathetic in her personal life - is just not convincing me at all. I know people can be competent in their professional lives but messes in their personal lives, but not to the extent of having a split personality, as we're being asked to buy here. Well, unless they are mentally ill. Are we supposed to think Annalise is mentally ill? I don't think we are, in which case, the writing is extremely poor, and the direction amateurish. She's not written as a layered character, which is what I expect they're going for, but as a disfunctional nutcase.

 

I can't see me lasting much longer with this show.

Yeah...I don't think so.   Law shows are always going to be unrealistic, but Shondra already has me ignoring bizarro world over on Scandal and I don't have anything left for a supposedly amazing criminal defense attorney who goes to trial (repeatedly) before she's fully investigated and prepared.  

 

And I don't mind a flawed lead character, but this is some boomerang shit Viola Davis is being asked to play.  She's an amazing actress who can convey anything -- so why are they writing Annalise as though she's appearing in panels of a comic?   In fact, the whole thing plays that way.  I can see the "stills" in my mind: Wes' wide-eyed surprise at something in the center of a panel focusing on the courtroom observers, insecure Laurel shrinking into the shadows of one early panel, then winner Laurel coming to the forefront in a later one.  The focus on Annalise's face as she questions a witness in one panel, her tear streaked panic face in another as she rats out her husband.  BOOM!  AH!  NO!  WHYYY???

 

Maybe I can only watch one show like this and I'm already watching Scandal.

Totally agree with you.  I wanted to like this show so much but it's not doing it for me.  I'll give it one more week.

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Count me in as someone else who doesn't like Rebecca, but I think it has something to do with seeing her act like a jerk to him in past, and then seeing him betray his friends for her in the future with no in between. Kind of a "what has she done to deserve that?" sense.

I think Connor is just flirty in general, like he knows he's cute and I think he's not above using it to screw with people's heads. And I agree that there isn't too much heat between him and IT guy so far, but they haven't exactly had a lot of scenes together either.

I wouldn't say he's settling down with IT guy as much as he wants to continue using him and if dangling a carrot of romance smoothes it along, why not? I think he was genuinely hurt when the door was slammed in his face though.

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  Another good one. The show is still finding its feet, but I'll cut it some slack, for now. Viola Davis continues to rule. I don't care about her character's hair, wardrobe or looks; it's her character, the writing and the performance that matters to me. Annalise is ruthless, but her ruthlessness does have consequences, professional and personal. On the professional front, while the team did prove that Maxwell St. Vincent, the Client Of the Week, was innocent of one murder, they also proved he's guilty of another and the only reason he's not in prison is because of double jeopardy. Steven Weber's Maxwell St. Vincent was creepy, to say the least. Everything about him made my skin crawl, whether it was his reenactment of his second wife's murder with Connor, his attempt to hook up his daughter Eloise with Wes because they would "make beautiful babies," his blasé confession on the witness stand that he killed his first wife or his threat to "punish" Eloise for killing his second wife as revenge for his killing her mom and getting away with it, pun intended.

 

  Speaking of murder, Sam's looking more guilty of Lila's murder, as shown by his deleting his phone calls to Lila that Annalise found. My question-and apparently Annalise's-is that if Sam's relationship with Lila was "innocent," then why did he delete the calls? Plus, Sam has cheated on Annalise before, probably with Bonnie, Annalise's associate (my theory), so that's a motive for murder and Annalise apparently agrees, otherwise she wouldn't have asked Nate to investigate Sam. Re the team, they're starting to grow on me. Michaela's still annoying, but I was impressed by the way she put Asher, the douchy rich boy on blast for his assumption that Wes is on the team because he's Annalise's son. That scene proved, to quote Poetic Justice, "When you assume, you make an ass out of you."  Laurel's connecting Maxwell's being a hunter to his killing his first wife was clever on her part. About Connor, despite his skankiness, he is somewhat likable sometimes. As for his sexuality, my vote- keep him gay. Starting a character as straight or gay and them making them bi has always been annoying to me. I don't mind bisexual TV characters if they have been bi all along, but establishing them as one thing and then changing them to another without rhyme or reason has always reeked of a cheap ratings stunt, IMO. Romance-wise, I think that Connor is definitely using Oliver the IT guy, but I think that it could eventually develop into something more. At least Oliver can see through Connor's bullshit most of the time, which is why I can see Connor falling for him against his will.

 

  Wes continues to intrigue. At first, Wes seemed naïve, but he's getting more complex, as shown by his tricking the other students into doing his bidding by lying about the coin toss that determined their fates, which was stupid on their parts. No way in Hell would I let someone gamble with my destiny without seeing the end results for myself. The others underestimated Wes and it could, should and probably will backfire. By the same token, Wes could be making the same mistake re Rebecca. Not only do I not think that Wes is playing "Captain 'Save-A-Ho,'" if anything, I think that Rebecca's playing him. Rebecca's letting Wes help her when she was busted seemed nice, but when Wes checked under the bathroom sink, I expected to find drugs. When Wes found Rebecca's phone instead, while I'm impressed that Wes would think to look there, I'm also concerned that he let Rebecca in in the first place because she could have very easily framed Wes and squealed to the cops. However, I'm also starting to believe that in his own way, Wes can be quite manipulative and that maybe the reason why he and Rebecca are together is because he gets her. Rebecca seems to know how to use peoples' perceptions of her to her advantage and apparently, so does Wes.

Edited by DollEyes
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My DVR failed me last week, and because I have the evil Direct TV, I couldn't watch this episode on ABC Go until today.  Best part of the episode by far was when Frank was picking two students to go dumpster diving with him and said he wanted Prom Queen (Michaela) and Douche Face (5th guy whose name I don't know but truly does have a douche face).

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I hope Michaela and Connor are just snark buddies and nothing more. Character is gay keep them gay. Mist shows go for making gay male characters feminine and flamboyant and Connor isn't that which is a nice change and Douchebag Guy couldn't tell if he is or not.

 

I like Connor and IT guy's relationship for a number of reasons:  Neither is the over-the-top I'M GAY!!! character, neither is the "top" or the "bottom" and they kiss just like het couples do.  That, and the fact that race is handled so well (rarely mentioned except for obvious things like "Douche-Face" thinking Wes is related to Anna because they're both black).  Yeah, it's silly and over-the-top, but such good fun.

I'm in for the ride.

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Liked the second episode. Connor is my favourite character. He might not be the nicest person in the world but he's interesting to watch. Whether it's his scenes with Oliver or sniping at Michaela, he's a great character.

Wes and Rebecca seemed convenient. Not really keen on her but I am intrigued with her involvement in two different murders though.

The case of the week was actually interesting too and a bit odd as well. He killed one wife but not the other one.

Laurel and Asher don't really stand out yet but neither do Frank and Bonnie really. Hopefully that won't always be the case though.

The Annalise scenes were great between her and Sam and her and Nate. I don't think Sam killed Lila but he was definitely sleeping with her though, 8/10

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