The Summertop vs. Fabstinent Season (Season 5)

New season, new drama, new hottie! And no, I am not referring to guest star Timothy Hutton. The cute guy, Rome Flynn, who we briefly saw in the finale of season four. He may or may not play Bonnie's son. On this show, who knows?

Annalise was kind of right about Asher. Goofballs don't win court cases she's interested in. Bummer though because he is much needed comic relief on the show.

So someone's getting murdered at Connor's and Oliver's wedding? And the baby is out there in the cold crying? That's some hardcore shit.

Who gives a shit. We need more shirtless Maddox.

My guess is Laurel's mother in the snow. She tried to steal the baby.

R1 Maybe so, but after all they've been through, she could have at least been nicer to him.

Annalise was never a nice and cuddly person. Especially when it comes to straight, white guys. When she's done fucking with their lives they better exit without a fuss or she will berate them some more.

He plays a thieving hustler on The Have and Have Nots, if anyone here is interested.

So is this Maddox guy the new Wes?

That was my first thought, too since they both had similar introduction scenes (Wes driving to Annalise's seminar on his bike and Maddow strolling and getting eye fucked by the female extras on his way to Annalise's seminar).

I completely forget last season. Do we know who the father of Maddox is? Now that we know who his mother is.

Annalise looked stunning in this episode.

All roads (should) lead to Rome.

The looney legal challenges that the students wanted to take to the SC was pretty heavy-handed propaganda, and ridiculous that all the regular student characters had far left views. It would have been more believable if they had some variety.

Bonnie in love with the acting DA? Ew.

Asher gets fatter every season. What happened to him? He used to be so in shape on Orange Is The New Black.

Asher gets fatter every season. What happened to him? He used to be so in shape on Orange Is The New Black.

Will Viola get naked in this season too to force us to acknowledge that she is a middle-aged sexual being? I don’t recall Cagney or Lacey feeling the need to bare skin to portray accomplished and powerful older women.

What's with Connor being all flirty with Gabriel in front of Oliver

Oliver: She (Annalise) likes me better than all of you. And honestly I like to see my boyfriend again. *looking past Conner and checking out Maddox*.

LOL

Oh-oh! At their wedding Connor has a busted face (like he was seriously punched in the face) and Oliver is nowhere to be found (doesn't show up when the DJ calls his name).

Call me crazy, but something tells me the DA either dies, or completely turns on Bon-Bon. Asher will probably be there to pick up the pieces.

I thought the DA was going to be revealed as transgender. He looks transgender.

He does and I think that's why he has a full beard.

But he could still be revealed as transgender. Maybe that's the big twist.

Given that it's How to Get Away With Murder the DA may turn out to be ... dun dun duuuun! Bon-Bon's twin sister (who apparently stole the baby)!

R7 was in Bold and Beautiful for 2 or 3 years. He looked too good and delicious for daytime. It looks he did right decision. He can always go back if soaps are still there. He looks so good.

Is it true that it is impossible to hack / clone flip phones?

Yeah, I found that tidbit to be interesting.

Sad to see Joe Gideon’s fuck buddy in All That Jazz (Deborah Geffner) and Cassie in the film of A Chorus Line (Alyson Reed) look so old and frumpy in the last few episodes.

This show was once great but I am afraid it has jumped the shark.

Season 3 was all shark jumping, havinging Viola do theatrical impressions or being an alcoholic and a prison convict in order to try to snag her another Emmy.

R29 yes, that’s the hacker appeal. It’s not the hardware itself that makes them uncloneable (not unhackable) but that they are on proprietary hardware/operating system platform. When these are just androids in flip phone drags, they’re just as cloneable as any other phone.

Annalise dancing (or being remotely relaxed ) is scarier than the whole The Haunting of Hill House series. The male Salsa dancer was hot.

That's so funny about the DA possibly being transgender. He was the son on Nip/Tuck. I used to think he looked like white Michael Jackson or some elf kinda guy with the pale skin and caterpillar brows.

I had to LOL at the drama moment of Annalise crying and falling to the ground of her apartment. That was some prime scene chewing.

Is it too obvious a red herring that Maddox is Bonnie's or her twin's son? Are they going to kill off Oliver? I couldn't stand him at first but he's grown on me. I really like this show but damn it's all over the place.

I think Oliver’s firmly entrenched in the show. This is probably its final season, anyway.

Tonight's episode was really good. My favorite so far this season.

r39, I agree.

The scene where Oliver came out to his mom as HIV+ was heartbreaking.

I am surprised about Nate's father. I thought he would die after he sent the letter and the relatives of the victim off him while living with Nate. No way did he kill himself.

The side plot with Bonnie and her child is so messed up.

The actress who played Oliver’s mother (Mia Katigbak) was really wonderful. Both funny and touching.

Fall finale is Thursday-wowza.

its Miller, it all adds up to him.

So who do we think the dead person is? The governor? From the way Bonbon is acting I don't think it's Miller. Oliver's mom? We wouldn't be lucky enough to kill Laurel off so it's not her. The new student with the space between her teeth?

It's a guy and they said "him"

She's kinda sad when she suffocated the dead guy, you see her almost breaking down. The person he talks too afterwards is 100% Nate. You can read her lips say Nate and it also explains why she has his phone.

Call me Mary! but I imho Liza Weil (Bonnie) deserves at least an Emmy nomination for her work this season.

I shouted out loud "Oh Shit!" when Bonnie found Annalise's secret stash of liquor bottles.

Again, Mary! but I totally so able to relate to the Keating 5 (and Oliver) and their struggle with trying to have fun in such dark times. And then Connor beating up the hater.

I wonder if Maddox is a hired goon who is supposed to infiltrate the group to kidnap Laurel's baby and bring it to Laurel's mom?

I forgot all about the Laurel mom plot. They totally dropped that hard after the christening dress thing.

I think they dropped it because Lolita Davidovich was so fucking awful. They should recast the role to tie the story up.

The whole show is so fucked up. Now the show's governor is killing people to get back at Annalise and destroy her effort to get justice for those falsely imprisoned?

Annalise: Look, you're a great lawyer but you don't keep Michael Jordan on the bench when the game is on the line.

Miller: Ok, that line might work with your students but I'm the friggin' DA, so stand down.

LOL. That guy is so going to die.

Is this a colored television show ? Like Julia or Get Christy Love?

they gave away too much from the flashbacks

Yeah the finale was boring predictable shit. Why am I supposed to care that Gabriel is Sam's son and she's AK worst nightmare. Just awful.

I am confused: is Gabriel the result of an affair Sam had while married to Annalise, perhaps during the period of their infant's death? If so, who adopted Gabriel and what is it that Gabriel wants from Annalise & Co.?

I have been a big fan of the show from the start, and hope it's not heading towards a shark waiting to be leapfrogged.

Aw, the wedding and the grand gesture of Oliver (damn, great voice) was so cheesy and yet so heartwarming.

So, are we going to find out that Bonnie killed another wrongfully accused person (Rebecca being the first one)?

r58 yea the cheesiness is actually the most unpredictable part of the episode.

Conner was SHAKING when he and Oliver exchanged rings. I don't know if that was supposed to be cute or something but Connor came off as like he already thinks he made a terrible mistake (terrified of getting hurt or hurting Oliver?).

The brief exchange between Oliver and Connor's dad was quite ominous. Is Connor's dad hinting that Connor has more inner demons than we already know of?

Oliver is soooo gonna be the murderer next season

Was it even firmly established that Miller was behind Nate’s dad’s murder? Even if it was Nate is a cold blooded murderer and he’d better not escape justice.

Nate only beat the shit out of Miller. Bonnie was the one who actually killed him.

That didn't even make any sense.

No it wasn't established that Miller had Nate's dad murdered, just that Nate and Bonnie think he did. They will probably find out who really did have him murdered and then realize they killed an innocent man.

I'm not understanding why Gabriel is such a huge threat to Annalise, causing her to dramatically scream and fall to her floor. I get that it's a big deal, but but don't understand why she is so scared of him.

I spoke to soon-I do understand. Annalise mentioned that she was the other woman. So Gabriel is the son of Sam and his first wife. Annalise had an affair with Sam and broke up his marriage, so Gabriel is back for "revenge."

[quote]So Gabriel is the son of Sam and his first wife. Annalise had an affair with Sam and broke up his marriage, so Gabriel is back for "revenge."

Am I the only one disappointed/confused by this revelation?

I could have sworn they were previously setting it up that Gabriel was *Bonnie's* long-thought-to-be-dead son, who was stolen by her sister and then, presumably, sold by Bonnie's father and raised by some other family... no?

And as someone upthread mentioned, even if Gabriel is the son of Sam's first wife, would he really be HOMICIDAL (or so threatening/dangerous that Annalise would freak out to such an extent)?

Also, what's all this about an "adoption"? Again, I thought they were referring to some unknown party adopting Bonnie's abducted son... or is this adoption mystery going to be the storyline that drives the second half of the season?

You can imagine why this would tear at her.

Sam never told her. She and Sam had multiple miscarriages. Sam cheated on her with Lila.

She’s drinking again.

Why is Sam’s son stalking her?

It doesn't make any sense. They definitely set it up that he was supposed to be Bonnie's long lost son, but then, all of a sudden, Bonnie seemed in on the secret so that obviously wasn't the case. And the way Frank and Lauren interacted, I kept wondering if I had missed something because it seemed like we, the audience, were supposed to know what they suspected.

What college age kid even has a copy of their birth certificate? And so what if he is Sam's son? Why should that affect AL at this point? Also, no one cares about either Nate or Bonnie as characters so who cares if they get caught for killing someone who they have very tenuous evidence of really being the one who had the old man killed.

[quote]I kept wondering if I had missed something because it seemed like we, the audience, were supposed to know what they suspected.

DITTO! I thought maybe I'd missed something in a previous episode, or somehow missed an ENTIRE episode, because I still have no idea what this hugely damaging adoption secret is, and what (if anything) it has to do with Gabriel -- yet the GOVERNOR knows what it is?!

So, obviously, it's not just that Annalise was "the other woman." Surely there must be something more serious to the secret... or the adoption... or both.

[quote] And as someone upthread mentioned, even if Gabriel is the son of Sam's first wife, would he really be HOMICIDAL (or so threatening/dangerous that Annalise would freak out to such an extent)?

Maddox says to Annalise, in the chapel, that he can spot the signs of alcoholics since his mother was one. Which, as it turns out, was Sam's first wife. So Maddox saw, and took care of, his mom who was so devastated by getting dumped that she became an alcoholic. And here we have Maddox sneaking his way into "the other woman's" inner circle. Drama!

Son of Sam. Get it?

I've wanted Tom Verica deeply inside me for many years.

Who is going to save Annalise? Is it going to be Frank?

R73, I worked on a set some years back with Verica and he was a great guy. Man, did I fantasize about him being my boyfriend.

R75, was it during his "American Dreams" years? I loved that show.

Not to hijack the thread, but what was Gail O'Grady like, R77? (Hoping she, too, was lovely.)

Annalise said she was the "other woman", seducing Sam into cheating on his wife. (I know Annalise being someone that a man would leave his wife for requires a lot of suspension of disbelief.) Gabriel wants to get revenge,

[quote] (I know Annalise being someone that a man would leave his wife for requires a lot of suspension of disbelief.)

LOL. Have you SEEN her walk at the beginning of the show? Of course no guy could resist a woman who walks through the room like a linebacker in full sports gear ready to tackle the opponent.

Little Gabriel really did look like Rome Flynn.

Also, does anyone else think that Eve kinda looks weird?

It looks like Eve got a shit ton of filler.

But over all, good episode.

Sam is a cunt.

So it looks like Miller was a good guy, but not really because of whatever connection he has to Gabriel. Is that how things are going to turn out? I had a little trouble following this episode.

Looks like Bonnie now killed two innocent people. Rebecca and Miller.

Rebecca had it coming. Good for her

I enjoy the Tegan character and would love to see her get a relationship (however twisted it would no doubt be) on the show.

They all pretty much have it coming and I hope that's how they end this series. i still haven't forgiven them for the hottie who went out the window in Season 1.

I hope they revive Paxton and just say, there's conveniently a trampoline on where he fell off to.

I hope Nate gets what’s coming to him. Beating someone to a bloody pulp isn’t cool.

Nah they're going to find out that Miller was actually in on the hit on Nate's dad. Oh sorry, his "Pops."

That phone call Miller placed to the Warden did have an artificial tone to it.

I think storywise it would make more sense that the Govenor set Miller up and Nate and Annalise are coming for her next. Of course Bonnie will keep doing crazy shit trying to get over her guilt.

I wonder if Tegan and Annalise get it on tonight.

The blonde actress playing the FBI agent isn't very good. And I don't believe for a second Tegan would legitimately be interested in her, no matter how vulnerable she feels.

R95 What are you talking about? I thought the show made it clear that she essentially whored herself out just to protect Annalise. She doesn't care about the FBI agent.

The "Whoa Is Me" Bonnie is starting to become a joke. Snap out of it, bitch!

Tegan set the FBI agent up so she'd be taken off the case, because she was going after Annalise and not after Annalise's intended target, the govenor. Tegan did that to show Annalise that she's an ally and can be trusted. I guess Tegan has her own agenda why she's trying so hard for Annalise to trust her.

D'oh! Yes, spoke too soon, before that final scene w/ Tegan and Annalise, and the agent's reprimand from her boss.

That said, I still think the actress playing the FBI agent is weak. I'm hoping her tenure on the show is now complete.

Man, no other show does these crazy cliffhanger twists like HTGAWM. Now the focus is on the Castillos being responsible for the murder of Nate's dad. And that right after Annalise screamed at her boss about white privilege.

It was a great build up to the reveal and then it's.......Laurel's brother...what a let down

How many other characters are going to go bisexual before this show is over? I'd like to see Nate start boning Frank.

[quote]It was a great build up to the reveal and then it's.......Laurel's brother

It was telegraphed from early in the episode. As soon as Laurel delivered the line about needing to get in touch with her brother, it was clear he/the Castillo family were going to be thrust back into the middle of things. Since her dad's in prison, the obvious (male) Castillo at the prison would be her brother.

I’d rather see Frank bone Gabriel.

Laurel is boring. Who cares about her? But her brother and Papa are hot.

The actor who plays Gabriel is good looking and has a nice body but is so boring. I fall asleep every scene he's in. Why are we supposed to care about him aside from the fact that he's Sam's son?

The show needs to wrap it up. They are running out of ideas.

I do love Laura Innes, though. I've missed her on TV. She plays a great bitch and she and Viola are dynamite in their scenes, but she's been underused (I think Laura prefers to direct).

Are Michaela and Gabriel (half) brother and sister? The guys were not happy when they saw her adoption papers.

Why the hell was the judge played by Denise Crosby named Chandha Singh? A name like Ellen Norquist would have made a lot more sense.

This show is way too fucking convoluted now.

Why do Falahee and McGorry both sound like they were held in CIA black sites that blasted gender studies lectures over the PA system 24/7? Is Ricamora really in love with Falahee or is that fanwanking? Further, who did Ricamora rim to get bumped to series regular?

Karla Souza has bulimia fingers (burned red from stomach acid, left hand, middle and ring). Is she cool with this supposedly stereotype destroying show making every single Latino into a homicidal mobster?

What the fuck was the deal with Charlie Weber and Liza Weil? Were either of their marriages real? Isn't he gay? Were they just coke buddies, explaining her nose and severe weight loss and his sudden aging?

Has Famke Janssen been replaced by someone wearing a "Famke Janssen" mask?

Would the stories be at all compelling if they were told, you know, just start to finish, without all the editing gimmicks? Why didn't they just report Sam's murder as self-defense way back in season one?

Tangential: do studio shows like this ever have the time/budget to recast a guest spot if the actor winds up giving a totally garbage performance or do they just have to trim around it as best they can?