Discover Top Posts Tagged with #2x10

May 24

HTGAWM rewatch blog "What Happened to You, Annalise?" (2x10)

Just like season premieres, mid-season premieres (of S1-3 at least) tend to be very Wes/Annalise-centric. This episode was a lot slower and really focused on the aftermath of the shooting in the previous episode.

(Trigger warning: talk about suicide)

The night of Sinclair's murder We don't really see the continuation of the Hapstall cover-up play out, but we know enough thanks to the flashforwards of 2x01-2x07 and the first few minutes of this episode, to piece it all together.

After Wes shot Annalise and Annalise called him "Christophe," Laurel pulls the gun out of Wes's hand. I love the disgust in her voice when Wes asks for the gun back to throw it in the pool. Wes ends up taking the gun outside, which is also why Wes was separated from the others. After throwing the gun in the pool, Wes runs into Michaela and Laurel outside, and the three of them convince Connor to leave with them.

Annalise is found by the paramedics and rushed to the hospital. Frank drugged Catherine at her motel, drove to the hospital, pretended to be worried about Annalise and took a bit of her blood, planted it on Catherine's pyjamas, and placed her in the woods close to the crime scene.

Nate was on his way to the mansion after Wes's desperate phone call and saw the students running away. So he drove Michaela back to her apartment, where she told Caleb everything was all right (with Annalise). That's also when Caleb gets a phone call from the police department about Catherine.

Two weeks later: how everyone is coping This week was very character-driven, so before heading into the main plot, let's take a look at how everyone has been doing two weeks later. On a scale of perfectly fine to a complete mess:

Nate has just been doing his job.

Frank is fine, just a bit worried about Annalise.

Connor is surprisingly doing well; he's even looking after Asher.

Bonnie is also holding up fine, but is also taking care of Annalise and worrying about her.

Laurel is also holding on fine and looking after Wes, but the cracks show when Wes doesn't pick up his phone. She breaks down in front of Frank, admitting that she's feeling guilty for not calling Asher that day, because if one of them had talked to him, none of this would've happened. Frank tells her to let it go because from now on, they all have each other's backs.

Michaela tends to put up a mask around others. She did it in season 1 post Sam, and she's doing it again in this episode. She seems fine when she's surrounded by others, studying for the exams and working on Annalise's witness statement. But when she's alone, she is beating herself up over framing Catherine and letting Caleb believe that his sister shot Annalise.

Asher is basically drunk this entire episode. He kind of keeps it together, but he's somewhat detached and keeps bringing up his father.

Physically, Annalise is in the worst state: she's recovering from her gunshot wound and high on painkillers. Mentally, she's hallucinating a baby and somewhat haunted by the shocked face of Wes moments after she called him "Christophe," but she's well enough to take the stand.

Mentally, Wes might take the crown though. He hasn't left his apartment in two weeks and keeps unraveling throughout the episode, eventually leading to a suicide attempt.

I'll get back to Wes and Annalise later, because I have a lot to say about them.

Relationships The dynamics have somewhat changed in the last two weeks: Connor has been looking after Asher, despite his frustrations with Asher's drinking. Oliver isn't thrilled with Asher crashing on their couch.

Meanwhile, Laurel has been looking after Wes to the point of paying him unannounced visits and dragging him out of his apartment. She has even taken the fall for shooting Annalise, because she was scared Connor and Michaela would blame Wes even more than they already do.

Michaela is somewhat left alone, and not dealing well with that:

Michaela: You two [Wes & Laurel] had a slumber party last night, and you two [Connor & Asher] had a three-way with Oliver. And no one thought to call me and see how I was doing?

Her relationship with Caleb is also in a very bad place. Caleb is angry with her, doesn't believe that Catherine really shot Annalise, and tells her that they all belong in hell.

There's some friction between Connor and Bonnie. Connor is annoyed with her for letting Asher talk to the police about his father, so Bonnie throws Connor some shade when she tells him, "he isn't the type to betray the people who protect him." Says the woman who tries to sabotage Annalise's class action in S4, even after Annalise protected her when Bonnie killed Rebecca...

One big happy family Now that Annalise is sick at home, Frank's apartment has become the hangout spot for the group, so the students have been studying there for their exams and enjoying Frank’s cooking skills. It's like one big family, minus Wes and Annalise.

Wes is so depressed that even Connor, Michaela, Asher, Frank, and Bonnie give him an awkward warm welcome when Laurel finally gets him to join her at Frank's apartment (and literally has to push him inside). I love their reactions:

Frank: Look who's back from the dead. Michaela: Hey, there you are. Asher: Hey bud. You don't look too terrible. Connor: Hey, Wes. Whole vibe's been off without your adorableness. Michaela: We were about to barge in on you at your apartment. [Gives him a hug]. Hey. Bonnie: Wes, you're back. [...] Welcome back.

I wonder what the others thought of his depression, since they didn't know Wes shot Annalise. I guess they all realized how close they were, so maybe they suspected that was why Wes was more affected by her shooting?

(Btw, Connor's comment about Wes's adorableness sums up my feelings on the show in S4-6, tbh).

Catherine's preliminary hearing Annalise is discharged from the hospital, just in time for Catherine's hearing. Poor Catherine faces charges for the murder of Sinclair and the attempted murder of Annalise, while there's an ongoing manhunt into Philip.

When Bonnie sees Annalise high on Vicodin, she tells Frank she's not able to testify, so Frank tells the K5 that they are going to write down a witness statement. DA Denver isn't pleased when Bonnie hands it to him, so Bonnie tells him Annalise can't take the stand, and he just has to convince the judge to accept it. Annalise is furious when Laurel lets it slip that Bonnie said she couldn't testify, but Bonnie convinces Annalise when she brings up the baby Annalise had been hallucinating.

On the day of the hearing, Denver plays Annalise's 911 call and gives the judge the witness statement, but the judge doesn't accept it. So Laurel calls Annalise, who drags herself to the courthouse. She testifies that Catherine didn't seem like herself when she pointed the gun at Annalise, and that she and Sinclair yelled at her to stop. At that moment, she notices Wes and starts hallucinating the baby crying again. The judge suggests taking a break.

After recess, Catherine's lawyer confronts Annalise with Sinclair's body, which shows inconsistencies with a death from a fall. Annalise eventually admits she didn't see Catherine chasing Sinclair, so the lawyer brings up that Annalise's statement that she didn't see anything that night is the only honest thing she said. (Btw, it's so weird to see Denver standing up for Annalise in court...)

Catherine's lawyer asks Annalise if she's not lying, Annalise says she doesn't know, and then starts mumbling that Catherine didn't do it. As Frank, Bonnie and the K5 are all getting restless, Annalise says that Catherine didn't shoot her parents, and she told Annalise that when she was still her lawyer. With that, Annalise has broken privilege, and as a result, her entire testimony is invalid.

Later in her car, Annalise manages to convince Caleb that Philip was behind it, and Catherine really shot her, so Caleb gets Catherine to confess to shooting Annalise because she was drugged by Philip. So Bonnie tells Annalise that the D.A. will offer Catherine a deal: five years in a minimum security prison if she testifies against Philip.

Annalise, Nate, and her two Bonnies Annalise is finally back from the hospital. She's doing better, but not able to walk the stairs, yet. "Old Bonnie" looks after her, but Annalise sends her away, desperate for peace and quiet in her house.

When Bonnie realizes Annalise is hallucinating a baby while high on pain killers, she refuses to let her testify, and drugs her ice cream with a secobarbital pill to get her to sleep. Btw, when Annalise wakes up in her hallucination and hears the baby crying again, she yells "Bonnie! I can't trust you to do anything." That was pretty uncalled for...

When Annalise asked about Nate, Bonnie gets Nate to drop by. Nate tells Annalise about his own experience getting shot. Annalise is a bit hostile, but also tells him she never wanted him involved.

Nate: I know, we can blame Wes for that. Annalise: You could've just drove them to the station that night. Nate: You protect me, I protect you.

Nate also asks her what happened. I'm not entirely sure what Nate knows about the Hapstall cover-up, but he knows that Catherine didn't shoot Annalise, and that Sinclair was already dead. I guess he also thinks that Laurel shot Annalise, and that Annalise orchestrated it.

What happened to you, Annalise? I've known some unhappy people in my life, been one at times. But what you did... did you wanna die?

Nate tells her he wants to know her, but not like this. He tells her he'll check back in with her later this week, and to get better. I think he meant the latter in more ways than just one.

After the hearing, Bonnie approaches Annalise in the parking lot and is done with Annalise pretending to be fine.

Bonnie: You don't know what it's like to see you this way. [...] You wanted to die that night. It's why you sent me away. You knew I wouldn't let you do it if I was there. Annalise: Well, you left anyway. It's what you wanted, isn't it? Have me gone. Bonnie: I was angry and upset. You know that. Annalise: I don't know anything anymore.

Annalise is still incredibly nasty to people even when she's hurt... But that's also two people bringing up her suicidal ideation. I think she wanted to die, until Wes actually shot to kill.

Meanwhile, Annalise is also talking with her "New Bonnie" behind old Bonnie's back. The Hapstall-coverup really marked a change in their relationship, as Annalise starts to rely on Laurel more. Laurel visited Annalise in the hospital one week earlier and asked her about Rebecca, so Annalise lied that she had just told Wes that Rebecca was dead to provoke him, and she asked Laurel to keep watching him.

So back in the present, Laurel shows up with a Wes-update, but Annalise is pretty harsh. Laurel tells her she came as fast as she could, but Annalise doesn't care and immediately asks how Wes is.

Laurel: He's good. Better. Annalise: Better how? Laurel: He left his apartment this morning. Annalise: And you think that makes him better? Laurel: I don't know, I just -- Annalise: Then don't make things up! I need you to tell me how he actually is, not how we want him to be.

Annalise knows Wes well enough to know he's not okay, especially since she knows that her confession about Rebecca and him shooting her isn't the only thing he's dealing with right now. In 2x11 Laurel accuses Annalise of blaming Wes, but I don't think she does.

Annalise's hallucinations and the Mahoney trial We got a taste of the Mahoney plotline through Annalise's hallucinations. She's desperate for a drink, but Bonnie got rid of the alcohol in her house, so she starts taking painkillers. When she wakes up from a nap, she hallucinates Wes's mother, Rose, showing up with a baby. Rose tells her:

Rose: I saw you on the news. You survived even after you were shot, because -- because you are strong. And he needs you. He needs you. Annalise: Stop this! Rose: I'm n-- I'm not okay. I'm not okay. Annalise: No. No. No. We'll call the police. Rose: No. No. They'll send me away. You can take care of each other. Annalise: Don't leave! No, don't leave! I can't! I can't! I can't!

I always wondered whether the baby was supposed to be Wes or her own son, but in this particular moment, I think it was Wes.

This interaction perfectly mirrors Rose's suicide: she tells Annalise in 2x13 to "take care of my boy," and in this hallucination, Rose once again places Wes in Annalise's hands, literally even. There's also some foreshadowing of Rose being detained by ICE. I find her line of "You can take care of each other" especially interesting. This is Annalise's hallucination, so even though she's tasked with taking care of Wes, in a way Wes has been taking care of her, too (like in episodes 2x02-3 and 2x08-9).

Annalise calls Bonnie over and hands her the baby an empty blanket and starts talking about the Mahoney trial and that she has to prepare her opening. I love the subtle foreshadowing where Annalise is talking about the eyewitness Rose Edmond and that she's a cleaning lady who has a son she's protecting, while the camera shows us Wes.

Annalise wakes up and hears the baby again. She asks him what he wants, because she's not his mother. Is that still about Wes? When she's in court, she hallucinates the baby crying again the moment her eyes meet Wes's, so I think so?

But then we see the flashback of Annalise meeting Rose on a playground in Ohio, while young Wes/Christophe is playing with friends. Annalise is pregnant with a boy. So at the end of the episode, when she chases after Wes but once again finds the baby on the floor and hugs him, this seems to be a hallucination of her own baby son. The son she lost.

That baby can represent both Wes and her own son, and I think that in Annalise's mind, that is certainly the case. On a rewatch, we know how intertwined her son's loss and Wes's mother's death are, and in a way, she lost Wes too when the adoption fell through.

On that note, Bonnie tells Annalise that there was no baby, but she was hallucinating, "like last time." This is the first time that the show will hint at Annalise's suicide attempt by taking a full bottle of sleeping pills. We'll see it play out in 5x09, after she not only lost her baby in a car crash, but then Wes's adoption also falls through. She was hallucinating a crying baby then, too.

About Wes's slow unraveling and suicide attempt While episode 2x07 was planting seeds towards his suicidal ideation, in this episode (as well as the next few episodes), it was front and center.

Wes has been holed up in his apartment. He's severely depressed, feels guilty for shooting Annalise, but also resents her for lying about Rebecca and his mother. Laurel is looking after him and manages to drag him out of his apartment for apparently the first time in two weeks.

Wes may have joined everyone at Frank's apartment, but he's just sitting in the back, distracted and clearly not okay. Laurel tries to cheer him up, but he walks away. That night, Wes is sitting on his bed with Levi's gun in his hand, ready to end it all, but Laurel shows up just in time so he quickly stuffs it away in his drawer. The music, and then the moment we see Wes looking at that gun, seriously gives me chills. Laurel says he missed taco night, implying he left home earlier and has once again been isolating himself. She ends up spending the night at his place (off-screen).

Wes is sitting in the back of the courtroom the next day, and he once again doesn't seem okay, especially when Annalise walks in. He is barely holding it together when he confronts Annalise in the hallway. Annalise's expression is pretty vacant as she walks past him, but Wes is close to tears at that point, and by the time he finally returns to the courtroom, it looks as if he has been crying somewhere.

I just want to point out that Alfie did a fantastic job showing Wes quietly unraveling throughout the episode.

Wes has been holding off on confronting Annalise, but after she took the stand and got Catherine to confess, Wes heads straight to Annalise's house and basically raids the place looking for information on himself and his mother. He can't find anything, except the secobarbital pills that Bonnie had put in plain sight (and Wes knows exactly what those pills are, since he attended Nate's hearing in 2x07 where Sinclair brought those pills up).

Sinclair mentioned that it takes about 1,5 hours for a lethal dose of secobarbital to kill someone. Based on how empty that bottle is when Annalise sees it next to Wes on her nightstand, I suspect he took a lethal dose, but Annalise found him in time and woke him up before his body could shut down. He didn't respond when she called his name, but her pulling him over was enough. (I don't think it makes sense he was that clear-headed moments after waking up, though, or that Annalise didn't take him to a hospital like Bonnie did with Annalise after her attempt, but let's just call it TV magic).

That final fight between Wes and Annalise In every interaction Wes and Annalise have in this episode, the music is so incredibly eerie. First when Wes waits for her in front of the bathroom at the courthouse, and again during their fight.

Annalise has been clearly worried about Wes throughout the episode as we could see in her interactions with Laurel, and the moment she sees him unresponsive in her bed, she immediately rushes over. Annalise knew Wes hadn't been okay, and Wes admits it.

Wes: I get it now. Why my mom did it. I never did before, but she just needed to make it all stop... So do I.

Puppy :'(

Annalise doesn't really seem surprised by his confession. I think she may have been scared of this for two weeks now, maybe even longer.

But when he confronts her about calling him "Christophe," her fear takes over. Not so much her fear of him hurting her, but more her fear of having to come clean to him. That moment infuriates me, though. Wes, at his lowest, is desperate for answers, but she's just standing her.

I get that Annalise was scared of telling him, out of fear that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. I also get that she was scared of him hurting her, especially when he got more desperate and stepped closer. He did shoot her, after all.

But Wes's reaction when she raises a statue in self-defense, and the shock on his face as he asks her, "You think I wanna hurt you?" are honestly heartbreaking. He never wanted to hurt Annalise, and I also don't think Annalise ever blamed him for shooting her, but I do think she might resent him a bit for it. Just like how he's resenting her for hiding the truth about Rebecca and his mother.

It's an incredibly complicated situation, and both of their reactions are pretty valid imo. The one thing that really bothers me, though, is when Annalise tells him, "I think you ruined me. Get out." Up until this point, whenever Wes opened up to her or was at a low point, Annalise would convince him she wasn't going anywhere:

Annalise to Wes: - "I got you into this, and it's my job to get you out of it." (1x10) - "I promise you, Wes. I got you." (1x15) - "You can tell me anything. I'll protect you, always." (2x01) - "I'm here for you, Wes, alright? I'm never leaving you." (2x06) - "You protected Rebecca, and now I'm protecting you." (2x08)

Annalise is the only person he has, and she knows that. But here, she's telling him (moments after a suicide attempt!) that he ruined her, and sends him away. She chased after him, briefly, but then gets distracted by another hallucination, and as far as we know, she doesn't reach out to him again, or ask Laurel or anyone else to keep a close eye on him. She just lets him go. The next time we see Wes is at the health center, determined to get more pills...

A few more random Wes/Annalise observations Wes's instincts are right once again: he knows Annalise was telling him the truth when she said Rebecca was dead. He also knows Annalise has a history with his mother and took him off the waitlist because she knew who Wes was.

In previous episodes, Wes brought up Stockholm Syndrome (1x01) and Patty Hearst (1x03), and this episode had another Patty Hearst remark when Annalise talks to Caleb:

Annalise: Everything I just said on the stand is gonna make Catherine out to be the victim. She was disoriented, out of it... all because of Philip. [...] No prosecutor wants to take down Patty Hearst. They want to take down her kidnapper.

Just let me get this Patty Hearst comparison straight:

Patty Hearst = Annalise's shooter = Catherine... but really Wes.

Kidnapper = manipulator/drugger = Philip... but really Annalise.

I kinda love how this Patty Hearst = Wes parallel has already been hinted at in the very first episode when Wes presented a Stockholm Syndrome defense, and if I jump ahead to the final two episodes of the show, this is basically the FBI's strategy in court. I've mentioned it before, but I think Wes did slowly develop Stockholm Syndrome throughout the show; it's especially present in season 3.

I also loved the opening parallel: Bonnie takes care of Annalise, while Laurel takes care of Wes. One thing that keeps popping up in the back half of season 2 is that Wes and Annalise deal with trauma very similarly, and episodes 2x10-2x14 all start with Annalise and Wes mirroring each other's behavior.

Another, much darker but similar parallel, is that Wes tries to commit suicide through pills, and ten years ago, Annalise tried to do the same (5x09). Not only that, but Annalise wanted to get shot in the last episode, and in this episode Wes is contemplating shooting himself.

Avoidance of trauma I'm not really sure in which blog to mention this, since it's not something that happens, but rather something that doesn't happen. I guess I'll just do it here. So Wes and Annalise never properly talk about Wes shooting her, or about Rebecca's death. Initially, that has always frustrated me a bit, but the more I think about it, the more I actually think it's very in character for both of them. I've mentioned it before, but I think both Wes and Annalise had complex PTSD, and avoidance is a core PTSD symptom.

The back half of season 2 forces them to face their deepest trauma, which both of them have tried to avoid dealing with for almost ten years now. For Wes, it's the loss of his mother, and for Annalise, it's the loss of her son. But by doing so, they also start avoiding the more recent trauma of Annalise hurting Wes by lying to him about Rebecca, and Wes hurting Annalise by shooting her. In this episode, it was still present since Laurel brought up Rebecca to Wes, and the shooting was brought up in court. But those topics are rarely brought up after this episode.

Annalise only mentions the shooting to Wes once, when she's completely wasted (3x05). Wes immediately deflects into wanting to protect her. She rarely brings getting shot up with other people too, and when Isaac asks her to fill out a form in S4, she doesn't circle "assault with a weapon." Meanwhile, Wes only brings up Rebecca when the police confront him with her body so he can't avoid it any longer (3x09). But whenever people remind him of Rebecca in earlier S3 episodes (like Annalise reminding him how they chained her in the basement, or Laurel reminding him how he fell for her because she was some "broken bird" he wanted to save), he kinda shuts down.

Although I don't think it's purely avoidance. They need each other, and on a deeper level, trust each other more than anyone else. So maybe they also won't bring it up because actually talking about it might threaten their relationship, and neither of them wants to lose the other. Wes grew up alone and unloved, but now there’s someone who actually seems to love him unconditionally, despite all the horrible things he thinks he did to her. Annalise sees Wes like the son she lost. They are in a very good place in season 3, so they avoid talking about harder topics to avoid fracturing their bond.

Random thoughts That contrast between Frank, Bonnie, and the K4 happily celebrating their victory (= framing an innocent person for shooting Annalise), and then the immediate jump to Annalise finding Wes unconscious in her bed, is incredibly jarring.

When Frank tells the K5 that Annalise can't testify, Asher asks him, "Why doesn't she get her lazy ass out of bed." Dude...

Michaela tells Caleb that she's at the hearing to support Annalise. Despite the events at the Hapstall Mansion, Michaela is still team Annalise in this episode.

Michaela and Wes have been pretty much on opposite sides this season, but Michaela is also the one who gives him the sweetest welcome, including a hug, even. (I ship it xD). I really don't understand why people often say Michaela only thinks about herself. In this episode, we see her feeling guilty for framing Catherine and lying to Caleb, and she's clearly worried about Wes.

There's a guitar in Frank's apartment. Just had to mention that.

Final thoughts I love how deeply the writers flesh out the relationship between Wes and Annalise. It's not just through their scenes or interactions, but also through voice-overs, parallels, hallucinations in this episode, and other subtextual things. Those small clues are so much fun and interesting to look forward to.

One criticism people tend to have with this episode is that it's "slow," but I don't find that a weak point at all. After an incredibly high-paced episode, it's good to slow down and really see how everyone is unraveling. I don't get how this is the lowest-rated episode of season 2; it's one of my favorites, especially because it's so character-centric (and especially Wes/Annalise-centric).

Rating: 10/10

#htgawm rewatch blog #s2 rewatch #2x10 #love this episode #rating: 10/10 #spotlight: annalise #spotlight: wes #spotlight: annawes #meta: annalise #meta: wes #meta: annawes #meta: (complex) ptsd #meta: stockholm syndrome #plot: sinclair's murder #plot: rebecca's murder #plot: 2005 flashbacks

dana-watches-htgawm