Recap/Review: How To Get Away With Murder's 1x10: Hello, Raskolnikov

I was going to leave the remaining six episodes of this first season to Universal but impatience got the better of me and here's a recap for the mid-season premiere I guess.

Written by Marcus Dalzine
Directed by Michael Offer

The Mastermind: Never underestimate Annalise Keating. Back in the opening episode she talked about how to get away with murder to her eager and impressionable students and this episode, she put that to the test. Is it wrong that I was both impressed and a tiny bit scared in which the lengths that Annalise was willing to go in order to protect herself and make it look like Sam went missing? Probably but at least we had Wendy Parks to return and be openly disgusted and sceptical about Sam's actions and Annalise's general stance while everyone else did exactly as Annalise wanted them to, whether they knew it or not. That being said ...

Sister Trouble: Let's be honest, didn't we all assume that when Marcia Gay Harden's casting was announced back in November that she would be Sam's first wife? It wasn't a wrong assumption of sorts but Nowalk and company nicely wrong footed and instead Hannah is actually Sam's sister and she doesn't believe for a second that her brother is a murderer (making her and Wendy have something in common then). The show has been calling out for a proper threat for Annalise and it seems like for the remainder of this season anyways that Hannah might just fit that bill. Works for me.

Band Together Or Fall Apart: It seems that killing and disposing of your professor's husband can be something of a trying experience for anyone. The one thing I loved about this episode is that both Connor and Michaela had very human reactions to what they helped do to Sam and the fact that both of them wanted to go to the police before anyone else could turn them in was something to be commended. Of course, Wes, Laurel and Annalise banded together and managed to stop Connor and Michaela in their tracks though. As for Connor, he really does seem to be falling to pieces and even Oliver is seeming less convinced by the drug addict line Connor fed him in the last episode.

Quiet Ones Are The Worst: This episode continued to be something of an eye opener for me in relation to Laurel. If anyone could give Annalise a run in the manipulation stakes, it just might be her. The cool way she told Connor in no uncertain terms that she'd throw him under the bus if he blabbed to the cops and the way she got Wes and Annalise to stop both Connor and Michaela from turning themselves in. Not to mention that little stunt she pulled at the cop shop as well. No wonder Frank (and even Khan to a degree) were so pissed off with her this week. By the way, how much did Annalise let Frank in on? Clearly enough for him to be annoyed with Laurel anyways.

The Innocent Ones: Which at this point in time, both Asher and Bonnie are. The latter might not have been thrilled the former blabbed to the police that they had sex but right now, they're the only two characters more in the dark about what really happened with Sam, though I suspect that won't be the case in the remaining five episodes and especially now that Hannah will undoubtedly pose quite the thorn to Annalise's side. Oh and the case of the week involved proving that Sam had motive for killing Lila by forcing her to go to an abortion clinic, which also managed to ensure that publicly Rebecca is no longer a suspect in Lila's death. That being said though, I still don't believe for a second that Sam killed Lila either. Oh and Annalise keeping Sam's ring will probably be her undoing as well later in the season.

The show returns to Universal in the Spring. The next episode takes in parts of Christmas and of course Hannah making her presence very much known to Annalise and the Keating Five.