My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x04: "Was She Ever Good At Her Job?"

Written by Michael Russo
Directed by Mike Smith

Tegan (to Michaela, re Annalise): "Was she ever good at her job?"

For those of you wanting an episode where four incredibly strong female characters got to show their true brilliance, well this one was for you and everyone else. Annalise and Michaela this week were forced to put their differences to one side in order to work with Tegan and help Hargrove get custody of her kids from her estranged husband.

Having Caplan & Gold more central to the episode seemed appropriate by the end flashforward but within the episode, it was about Michaela finding her place in the new firm while at the same time feeling threatened that Annalise's presence would also disrupt things. Not that Michaela wasn't entirely wrong to be worried but Annalise was more interested in helping Hargrove than she was antagonising Michaela though.

I did like seeing all four women banding together as they worked out the best way to help Soroya while at the same time, we got more of an insight into Annalise's effect on Dr Isaac as well. The fact that she's some kind of trigger for him intrigues me a lot and then there's also the fact that Bonnie is also one of his patients under the name of Julie Barden.

I'm not sure I like Bonnie trying to ruin Annalise and even Nate this week told her to back off but at the same time, I did like the end flashforward where both Bonnie and Oliver were at Caplan & Gold with investigating police and a bloody mess. Right now, that's two more people we can assume are still alive but there's still the issue of where Annalise and Laurel's baby have gotten to.

Speaking of Laurel, that scene with Frank in the car did not come across as particularly pleasant for either of them. That along with her own dogged determination and she's starting to attract the wrong attention. Denver certainly looked suspicious of her this week and by roping Oliver into hacking at Caplan & Gold as well, other people are clearly going to be suspicious too.

Of course when the show wasn't adding more to the future, there was also a focus on the present with Connor's dad, Jeff and the latter's husband, Ted. I liked Jeff and Ted as characters and I do hope we see them again and while Jeff made some fair point that clearly Connor took to heart, I don't really like the idea of Jeff's words also causing some potential damage to his relationship with Oliver. I'm guessing another break up might be imminent now.

- While Connor might be heading somewhere story wise this season, Asher is still in something of a funk. Just get him an internship somewhere already.
- Bonnie seems to be convinced that Annalise sabotage Virginia in the previous episode to get the latter's job. Tegan on the other hand actually offered Annalise a place at Caplan & Gold.
- Are we going to be meeting Oliver's father now that he's been mentioned?
- Chronology: A month and a half from whatever is going to happen in the mid season finale.

I really liked this one. Was She Ever Good At Her Job? certainly had it's moments with the Hargrove plot and the meeting of Connor's fathers and I'm still invested in the main mystery this season. Despite his absence this week, is it possible that Simon will be the Caplan & Gold death or someone else (not Tegan though)?

Rating: 8 out of 10