Written by Joe Fazzio
Directed by Rob Hardy
Annalise (to Laurel's baby): "Live. Live. Live."
And that was a mixture of madcap intensity, near morbid comedy and a tiny bit incomplete as well. For a mid-season finale, this certainly had all the ingredients that previous other ones did but this time, it also felt a bit different.
In the past we've had the likes of Sam, Sinclair and Wes all killed as well as Annalise being shot and Laurel nearly killed herself. This time around, we had Annalise put under the least enviable task ever as she had to revive Laurel's prematurely born son while Simon managed to accidentally shoot himself in the head during another volatile encounter with three of the Keating lot.
Simon has been a mixture of being something of an annoyance for the gang with his constant putdowns and former one man smear campaign against Annalise but at the same time, he's also been the butt of the jokes and something of a contrast to the more privileged members of the Keating crew, so his resentment towards has had some merit to it as well.
In this episode, he snarked with Connor because the two of them couldn't help themselves while at the same time actually admitted that he had romantic feelings for Oliver. The gang wanted to use that in order to frame Simon for stealing Tegan's key card, only for Simon to actually figure it out and get into it with the gang.
A part of me was relieved that none of the gang actually shot Simon but at the same time, the scene where he inadvertently shot himself did come across as a bit silly. Now he's on an operating, tethering between life and death. Personally, I think he might just make it, if only because him being alive will actually serve more of a thorn in the Keating gang's side than him being dead.
Of course before Simon's current fate, the episode had Connor doing his best trying to get the rest of the gang to see sense, only for Frank to nearly strangle him and cause Laurel going into labour. I liked that Connor actually went to Annalise when he realised the plan was going south and without Annalise, things could've went a lot worse for Laurel to be honest.
The elevator scene where Laurel was giving birth and Annalise had to revive the baby was one of the hardest scenes the show has pulled off. Some genuinely gripping acting from both Viola Davis and Karla Souza during those particular scenes, though no one in this episode slouched at all.
As for the rest of things, we had both Bonnie and Nate dealing with their Annalise obsession along with Isaac and his ex-wife arguing over the former's fixation on Annalise as well. I am surprised with everything she knows that Annalise wanted to keep Isaac as her therapist but seeing as there are still some flashbacks to be seen, we should see how that pans out a bit more.
- The show returns with it's final seven episodes from January 18th and we'll see the rest of the flashbacks then.
- Connor was being watched by Dominic, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's just inadvertently put himself in danger as well as making Laurel's father aware of her plot against him.
- Asher ended up being arrested for Simon's possible death as well while Michaela was trying to get everyone else in order.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.
Live. Live. Live delivered as a mid series finale with everyone on the edge (Oliver's first reaction to a dead body, everyone) even there are still flash forwards that need to be seen in order to complete the rest of the story. I'm guessing in the second half of the season, Laurel's father will be coming after them all.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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