S01.E11: Best Christmas Ever

[Chicago Redshirt]

Can you cite some legal authority on that?  From what I've seen online, a person can be drunk and still give legal consent.  It apparently depends on how drunk she/he is.  e.g. Law.com says, "What constitutes lack of consent usually includes saying "no" or being too drunk or drug-influenced for the woman to be able to either resist or consent, but a recent Pennsylvania case ruled that a woman must do more than say "no" on the bizarre theory that "no" does not always mean "don't," but a flirtatious come-on."

The way the show portrayed it, Bonnie had some drinks, certainly, but she was nowhere near the threshold of too drunk to give meaningful consent. I suppose she could counter the fake "I was sexually harassed" with a fake "I was sexually assaulted," but trying to escalate things in that manner would be counterproductive.

 

I liked 90% of this episode, but the thing that bothered me, is that Annilise completely dismissed her client as a loose cannon and deliberately tripped her up, when it was so obvious that woman needed psychiatric care, and yet in the first episode, she represented a calculated killer and got her exonerated even though she knew she was guilty as hell.  

 

No one ever said Annalise (or any character) would be 100 percent consistent. That said, I assume everyone has lines they won't cross. Allowing a 4-year-old child to be at risk is something I would hope would be beyond the pale for anyone. I can easily see someone thinking "I'm going to defend this stone-cold murderer for any number of reasons -- the challenge, the philosophical belief that everyone deserves the best defense, the money, etc."  and yet thinking "I am unwilling to continue to defend this other client."

 

I think that Annalise would be in big trouble with the bar association, if nothing else, for her conduct here.  The defendant will likely be granted a PD for the rest of her case, and she will likely blurt out her entire story to the PD, who is then bound to report the misconduct to the bar association.  Or at least the PD should be.  Regardless of the provability of the accusation, the bar would investigate and it's quite possible that news of that would become public, leaving Annalise with a big huge scarlet letter.  Based on her previously evident no holds barred but always within the law courtroom behavior, I wonder if this is meant to show the start of a downhill slide for her, from crackerjack lawyer to "How to Get Away With Murder" suspect as the season goes on.

I wasn't watching very closely, but I don't see there being that great a likelihood of an investigation or an issue. For those who were interested about the ethics of all this, here's a link to the model rules of professional responsibility for lawyers.

 

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_table_of_contents.html

 

And here's a link to an article explaining when an attorney can withdraw:

http://research.lawyers.com/when-an-attorney-must-or-may-withdraw-mid-case.html

 

It seems to me based on a quick scan of these that Annalise acted reasonably with regard to Client of the Week.

[kikaha]

The way the show portrayed it, Bonnie had some drinks, certainly, but she was nowhere near the threshold of too drunk to give meaningful consent. I suppose she could counter the fake "I was sexually harassed" with a fake "I was sexually assaulted," but trying to escalate things in that manner would be counterproductive.

 

I watched the scene again.  Bonnie was the aggressor, from calling Asher, to inviting herself over, to beckoning him to sit next to her, to him wanting to back off, to her saying words to the effect that she is "a grown-ass woman" who knows what she wants, to practically jumping him physically.  Asher was the one who said 'no'.  If that's the threshold for rape, Bonnie might be guilty. 

[rubyred]

I didn't expect it, but this last episode makes me think that Laurel may be a good candidate for holdover for season 2. Before I thought maybe they'd clear out the cast, except for Asher, but now I'm thinking Laurel is shaping up to be Bonnie 2.0. She's been pretty cold and calculating, even in her dealings with her family, and yet she ran up to Wes and hugged him -- I was like, who are you and what have you done with blank old Laurel with the horizontal eyebrows, hugging up on people and shiz? She ran back to the dysfunction of the K5 relationships, and actually seemed relieved to be there.

 

Now that Rebecca has been exonerated she really seems out of place in this group. Wouldn't surprise me at all that she has more info or secrets that are going to doom her relationship with Wes -- never understood his blind faith in her anyway.

 

Really liked the way Jack Falahee played his scenes with Oliver, Connor is not used to caring about his hookups so seeing him tentative but determined is probably devastatingly attractive to Oliver. I also love how Oliver has gotten cuter and cuter; in the pilot he was a plot device stereotype, but now he's adorable.

[jhlipton]

I didn't expect it, but this last episode makes me think that Laurel may be a good candidate for holdover for season 2. Before I thought maybe they'd clear out the cast, except for Asher, but now I'm thinking Laurel is shaping up to be Bonnie 2.0. 

 

Guh.  This might make me bail, since I cant stand her, and the family dinner didn't help.

[KaveDweller]

I think that the point of the diamond ring was not to test property law at the state level, but to be a plot device in the coming discovery of body parts.

 

Well, yeah, definitely.

[penelope79]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds Rebecca to be shady. I never really trust her and I don't see why Wes is so into her. I mean, I got it, she probably reminds him of his mother, but is that enough? And maybe I missed something, but where was Rebecca on the night Lila died? Do we know? I realized I focused on Sam's whereabouts (because, at first, I was 100% convinced he was the killer... or maybe I wanted to believe that so that the K4 could feel less guilty) but I completely missed Rebecca's. That said, I don't know if she's actually involved in Lila's murder, but I always had the feeling that she's involved with whatever happened to Rudy, since day #1.

 

On a shallow note, Dean Thomas really grew up into a beautiful young man.

 

Does anybody know about a possible renewal for season 2?

[truthaboutluv]

I'm pretty certain it's already been announced that the show is renewed for a second season.  And if I'm mistaken, I don't see any possible way it's not, with the ratings it has.

Edited February 11, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[KaveDweller]

It hasn't officially been announced yet, but it will definitely be renewed. It is one of ABC's stop rated shows.

[Beezella]

A couple thing have been nagging at me. I don't remember which episode it originally occurred, but it was shown as the "previously on" catch-ups at the beginning of several episodes where Nate says to Rebecca, "I know you didn't kill Lila, because we both know who did." So how does Nate know? And who was it?

 

Annalise carefully says that Sam's PHONE was all those places. Someone could have transported it around to frame him. They would have had to have his phone then without his knowledge, but I am beginning to suspect Annalise had Frank murder Lila when she found out about Sam's affair with Lila and her pregnancy. I am having a little trouble with the time frame with all the flashbacks. When exactly did Analiese find out about the affair and the pregnancy? Was it before Lila was murdered?

 

(edited for spelling Annalise wrong)

Edited February 12, 2015 by Beezella

[truthaboutluv]

but it was shown as the "previously on" catch-ups at the beginning of several episodes where Nate says to Rebecca, "I know you didn't kill Lila, because we both know who did." So how does Nate know? And who was it?

 

 

He was referring to Sam. Remember at that point, Nate already knew Sam had lied about his trip to Yale when Annalise asked him to check it out for her. And she did that while confessing to him that she found out Sam had been sleeping with Lila. So he went to Rebecca to help him get more proof of Sam's guilt which would save her. The reason Rebecca was in the house in the first place, the night Sam was killed, is because she was trying to get evidence off Sam's hard drive, onto a USB that Nate gave to her. 

 

When exactly did Analiese find out about the affair and the pregnancy? Was it before Lila was murdered?

 

 

Based on what  the show has shown and told us, she found out after Lila was murdered and in fact after she took Rebecca on as a client. Wes gave her Lila's phone that Rebecca had hidden in his apartment and on it was a nude picture Sam had sent to Lila that he took in their bathroom - Annalise recognized him on the picture. That said, with shows like these, you can't always trust the narrator, so it is entirely possible that Annalise knew very well about the affair long before Lila was murdered and this has all been one long con on her part. Me, I'm still going with Rebecca's the real snake in the grass but then again I hate her so it's entirely possible I'm biased.

[discoprincess]

Weird and scary episode. Is Rudy still alive? Where is he? Money from Granny in a Christmas card, so we know he's not home for the holidays. I think Wes thinks Rudy was murdered in that room.

They ID'd the body pretty quickly, because they hadn't even notified Annalise yet. That didn't make sense to me for some reason. Why announce it to the media before notifying next of kin?

 

 

Does Asher have no family? Why was he spending Christmas in a bar with Frank?

 

I doubt Rudy is still alive either. What was up with Rebecca opening the Xmas card from granny and swiping the $20? That was obnoxious. (Also, who still sends cash through the mail?)

 

Re: identification of the body - I've heard in other reports something along the lines of "police is withholding the identity of the victim pending (family) notification".  Speaking of which, what was up with the Philly PD notifying Annalise of the discovery of Sam's body right in front of Hannah? Why not ask to speak to her privately?

 

We saw Asher learn the hard truth about his daddy in an earlier episode when it was shown that his daddy allowed that innocent man (who happened to be black) be railroaded and sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. It wouldn't be surprising if Asher didn't want to spend the holidays with his dad. We didn't see Asher's mom on his visit home. (I assume she's dead by this point.) Yet, we did see the maid. 

Edited February 17, 2015 by discoprincess