My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 6x12: "Let's Hurt Him"

Written by Daniel Robinson & Matthew Cruz
Directed by Janice Cooke

Nate: "So you ready to lose your father?"
Xavier: "He deserves it."
Nate: "I agree. Let's hurt him."

I swear if there was an award for the dumbest character on this show as we head into these last few episodes, then Nate would get the damn prize. And yes, I'm aware of other character stupidity but Nate really made things more complicated for everyone.

Let's talk about Xavier Castillo for a moment though. He's cute, the actor playing him is decent enough but he's also an insecure man with severe daddy issues and a father who will always prefer Laurel over him.

This episode alone Frank had kidnapped Xavier and got him to confess about working with Agent Pollock (who seems to have escaped her just desserts for the time being). Frank also managed to do that without doing too much damage to Xavier, which I guess was different for Frank. Maybe Bonnie has been a good influence on him after all.

Then Frank made the mistake of getting Nate involved. By giving Nate access to Xavier, it was a way to get him back onto Annalise's side and take away another obstacle in her upcoming trial. Nate got the answers about his father's death that he needed (we knew it was going to be Birkhead on that one) and should've left Xavier alive. I think Nate was going to until Xavier opened his mouth about his own father and therefore sealed his doom at the hands of Nate.

With another mess for Annalise to clean up that could get her sent down, this week also saw Deanna Montes (that lawyer who has been in the last few episodes) try and get the death penalty on Annalise. The team up with Tegan and Annalise wisely recording her conversation with Connor and Michaela managed to spare her that fate along with a much timed television appeal for good measure.

As for the likes of Connor, Michaela and Oliver - they went from disbelieving Gabriel to trying to sell him out to Annalise (who spared outing him to the FBI) while also admitting their own transgressions to Annalise as well. Either way, things are probably not too great for them.

Last but not least, I wasn't really expecting a return from Vivian but between her trying to protect Gabriel again, she did leave a hell of a creepy hint to Annalise about Sam and Hannah. Did those two actually have an incestuous relationship? That last moment seemed to imply it.

- A few flashbacks to scenes from the first two seasons with the show, mulling over the Hannah bits. I'm guessing we will see her before the show ends.
- Tegan's reference to Game Of Thrones was cute but clumsy. Robert wasn't wrong about her feelings for Annalise but even then, Tegan proved that she was the best person to help Annalise.
- This is the first episode of the series not to feature Asher at all.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Let's Hurt Him took the need for justice and revenge to a new level with Nate's swift killing of Xavier. It also saw Annalise get out of one big problem, despite her trial continuing to loom over while setting up another plot I'm not entirely sure we need this late in the game.

Rating: 8 out of 10