Friday, November 16, 2018

My Review Of How To Get Away With Murder's 5x08: "I Want To Love You Until The Day I Die"


Written by Joe Fazzio
Directed by Stephen Cragg

Connor (to Oliver): "I wanna love you until the day I die and you better not die before me, because life would not be worth living without you."

Good news people: Oliver doesn't die. I mean, despite some of the flashforwards earlier in the season, I didn't think he was going to but two seasons ago, the writers did pull a similar fake out with Wes and we know what happened there.

It's amazing that out of everything that happened in this episode, Connor and Oliver's wedding day by comparison was the least dramatic thing of the bunch. Now, that's not a criticism. They're one of the few couples I actually ship these days and wedding wise, we got lovely vows from both guys, a great reception and of course, Conrad Ricamora's beautiful vocal chords. For Coliver fans like myself, this episode was a treat. For everyone else, less good things happened.

Starting with Bonnie first - I really thought she landed on her feet with Miller and after spending a good portion of the season portraying him as a decent guy who genuinely cared for Bonnie, I have to admit I'm disappointed if he genuinely played a role in Nate Sr's death. I am however not surprised that Miller ended up being the one who died at the wedding. Didn't we all see this coming to be honest?

What did surprise me a little was the red mist that descended with Nate, following him learning about Miller did. Nate has never been the most interesting of characters to watch and five seasons in, a part of me is still surprised that he's actually there, so I don't know if making him a killer will suddenly make him a more compelling character or possibly just shorten his time on the show.

Though technically, it wasn't Nate who did Miller in. Bonnie, having learned nothing from Rebecca was the one to finish her boyfriend. I actually felt sorry for Miller in this episode, which is odd if he really was responsible for Nate Sr's death. As for Bonnie, this will inevitably put her back into a dark path that she was just about getting her out of.

As for the other big reveal of the episode - that one was a disappointment for me. Having Gabriel be revealed as Sam's son might have had more impact about two seasons ago but now, it really does feel like the show should be past Sam at this point. I like that the show doesn't forget him but I do wonder if sometimes they're too beholden to the character as well.

I did find Gabriel's scenes with Annalise at the church and then her apartment at the end a bit chilling, so I guess it'll be interesting to see where the second half of the season goes with the character I guess. Gabriel might be out to get Annalise but he also might not be. I do wonder if he should've been Bonnie's son though.

- Is there a bit of a mystery with what Oliver's father actually does? I'm hoping we see him in the second half of the season.
- I had forgotten that Annalise wasn't Sam's first wife. I guess that means Gabriel's mother might have been.
- Standout music: Gotta go with Oliver's version of John Legend's All Of Me. Cheesy as hell but it did work though.
- Chronology: Clearly in December at this rate.

I Want To Love You Until The Day I Die might not have packed a punch compared to previous winter finales and at times, it did feel like Asher, Michaela and Laurel had bugger all to do while Frank was the one to break the Gabriel news to Annalise. Saying that, I did enjoy that Connor and Oliver's wedding mostly went without a hitch and there should be interesting consequences for Nate in the second half of the season, now that he's joined the murder club.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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