This is another one of those episodes where the case of the week ties really well together with the main storyline of the episode. What I love about this episode in particular is that the interpretation changes upon rewatch (at least for me it did).
(Trigger warning: talk about suicide)
Wes, Annalise, and the case of the week
Let's dive straight into the heart of the episode, which was the case of the week, and in particular how it connected to Wes and Annalise's incredibly fractured relationship. They may not have interacted in this episode, but this episode really showed how both of them are slowly picking up the pieces again after they both reached their lowest point in 2x10.
In the case of the week, the client (Jason) shot the son (Tyler) of an incredibly compassionate mother (Joyce). Jason had already agreed to a plea deal of 15 years, but Joyce wants a lesser sentence. So the judge orders Annalise and the D.A. to have a restorative justice hearing.
I love how this case of the week relates to Wes and Annalise. During the restorative justice meeting, Joyce says:
Joyce: I have looked up everything there is to know about you, Jason, and I get it now. Your father's in jail. You didn't have a mother like me. You didn't have anyone. You grew up alone. And I can't blame you for that. I blame a world that lets you own a gun and that lets you grow up without love.
This draws the parallel that Jason (shooter) = Wes, the orphan who grew up alone and unloved. The son (victim) = Annalise. The camera focuses on an emotional Annalise when the mother says that she can't spend the rest of her life being angry at Jason, implying Annalise feels the same about Wes.
But then, the roles start to flip. The camera again focuses on a very emotional Annalise as Jason tells Joyce:
Jason: For the first time, I had hope that I can try to be better. That's because of you. [I want to do everything I can to earn your forgiveness.]
On a rewatch, it's pretty clear to me that this isn't about Wes shooting Annalise, but about what happened to Wes's mother. Annalise had hope that she could be a better person because of Wes. He's her second chance at motherhood, and looking after him is a way to redeem herself for the part she played in Rose's suicide.
The camera focuses on Annalise again when Jason tells Joyce, "I let him die." This again mirrors Annalise and Wes, because Annalise let Rose die. So actually, Jason (person behind someone's death) = Annalise, Tyler (victim) = Rose, and Joyce (person who lost a loved one) = Wes.
There's another parallel between Annalise and Jason when she tells Joyce in the hallway, "Jason lied to you. He stood there over your son while he bled out." Annalise stood over Rose as she watched her bleeding out, and lied to it about Wes.
I love what Joyce then tells Annalise:
Joyce: It might be easy for me to go through life hating Jason, but that only destroys me, and I wanna feel better. And my feelings are what's important here, not the D.A.'s, not yours. Mine. Because I lost my son. Me. And I don't want an eye for an eye.
Annalise just can't comprehend that Joyce actually wants to forgive the person who's responsible for her losing her son, and I think she also has been scared that Wes would hate her and possibly even leave her if he ever found out the truth about Annalise's involvement in his mother's death.
But when Jason tells the judge he wants to take a worse deal to pay for his crime, and Joyce keeps insisting and even promises Jason that she'll be there for him, Annalise realizes that maybe Wes would also be able to forgive her, but he can only do that if he knows the truth. Wes lost his mother, so it's his feelings that matter, not Annalise's. It's up to Wes to decide to forgive her, and their relationship can only begin to heal if Annalise comes clean to him.
So once the case is over, Annalise places an envelope with case files in front of Wes's apartment. I don't think she's ready to face him, but she's taking the first step in coming clean to him. (Although I also suspect that a reason why she gave him files is to buy herself a bit more time until she has to face him, and also distract him from his suicidal ideation because she knows he'll get obsessed with those files.)
Anyway, I really love this case of the week. It really helps give a peek into Annalise's mindset, especially on a rewatch. Just like how Wes hasn't been okay, Annalise hasn't either, which Bonnie and even Frank have also picked up on when Frank approaches Nate:
Frank: Something's off, Nate. I've known her a long time. I've seen her go through bad stuff, but... A visit might do her good, is all.
The stuff with Wes has impacted Annalise more than Sam's death. Annalise calling Wes "Christophe" when he was about to shoot her again hasn't just triggered Wes (as I'll get to a bit later in this blog, because Annalise is not the only one whose mindset we dive into); it has also triggered Annalise. As we see through the flashbacks, both of them are reliving that trauma they experienced in 2005.
Wes's involuntary psych ward hold
Wes visits the health center, determined to get sleeping pills. When the resident on call (Melanie) refuses to give them, Wes makes a 'joke' about shooting himself, so he's placed on an involuntary psych ward hold.
I doubt Wes was joking. Last episode ended with a suicide attempt through pills, and Annalise sending him away because "you ruined me." So Wes showing up at the health center just because he can't sleep? I doubt it. I got the feeling he was still determined to end his life, but taking pills seemed like a nicer way to go than using Levi's gun, so he tried to get more pills...
Laurel is immediately worried when Wes doesn't show up to court. I wonder if she realized he was suicidal. She suspects it in 2x13, but even if she suspected it in this episode, she's downplaying it. Anyway, Wes calls her for help because he's locked up in the psych ward. When she visits him, Melanie doesn't buy Laurel's lie that she's his girlfriend and asks her:
Melanie: If I had a boyfriend of eight months joke about committing suicide, I'd want him to get professional help.
Laurel: No, I do.
Melanie: You don't. And I very much question the health of your relationship if you can't see this is for Wes's benefit.
I'm with Wes's therapist on this one; Laurel is more concerned with Wes cracking than the reason why he got admitted in the first place. Laurel starts throwing threats around, but Melanie points out that she can't do anything until the 120-hour involuntary hold is over, so Wes is stuck at the psych ward for now.
Btw, Wes honestly does a fantastic job of lying under the amount of pressure he's in. Even I started to wonder if he really was just struggling with insomnia. Maybe he was dealing with insomnia again too, but I still have a strong feeling his main reason for getting sleeping pills was to finish what he started at the end of the last episode.
Anyway, during a therapy session, Wes tells Melanie:
Wes: What do you want me to say? That I grew up poor, was bullied, that my mom killed herself. 'Cause all that's true, but I've gotten through my whole life knowing it, and it's never caused me to lose sleep.
Wes mentioned to Rebecca in 1x07 that he was the only black kid in his town, and although we do see him happily playing with a few kids on the playground in the 2x10 flashback, I wouldn't be surprised if he was bullied a lot in school. Especially after he was placed in foster care and probably had to change foster homes and schools regularly.
As for Wes saying that he never lost sleep due to his mom's suicide... We obviously don't know that since we don't see Wes in foster care, but Wes was dealing with nightmares and insomnia after Sam, so I think he was lying.
Wes blames his insomnia on law school, but his therapist knows that he's not telling the truth and brings up Annalise getting shot. He says that has nothing to do with his insomnia, but she doesn't buy it. So Wes has to spend the night in the psych ward.
During another therapy session the next day, he tells her about how he came home after school:
Wes: My mom worked a bunch of jobs, so I usually let myself in after school. Did my homework, sometimes watched TV at our neighbor's. But that day... all I saw was blood. I didn't know what was going on, so I just stood there. I knew I was supposed to go over to her... help her. They took her to the hospital, tried to save her, but... she died in the ambulance. I was twelve.
In S1, Wes was barely able to talk about his mother's suicide with Rebecca, but Annalise has ripped that wound wide open when she called him "Christophe." He opened up a bit to Annalise in the last episode about finally understanding why his mother committed suicide, but in this episode, we see him actually talk about what happened for the first time. Which is probably a good thing. Wes had been pushing that trauma so far away, so this might've been the first step towards healing.
Interestingly, Wes's recollection of what happened doesn't add up with what we actually see play out in 2x13. He describes it as a regular school day, but Rose was detained by ICE on that day and tried to run away with Wes. Maybe that's just a mistake on the writer's part, maybe Wes is lying, or maybe Wes has pushed that memory so far away that he doesn't remember anymore. I'll talk a bit more about that in the 2x13 blog.
Melanie: You've been triggered, Wes. Your boss was shot. She almost died. And it may seem unrelated to you, but... it's making you remember.
Oh, seeing Annalise, a somewhat maternal figure to him, bleeding out is pretty much related to seeing his mother bleeding out, and I'm pretty sure that Annalise calling him "Christophe" played a huge part in that, too.
I've mentioned it before, but I suspect Wes had complex PTSD and has been avoiding dealing with his trauma for years now. But now that he knows Annalise knew his mother and possibly had something to do with her suicide, he can't avoid it any longer. I think Melanie was spot on when she said he was triggered. We've seen him getting a bit triggered before, like way back in 1x02 when he walked into the client's bedroom and saw the blood on the bed, or in 2x07 during the suicide case. But this time, he can't push his trauma away anymore.
Wes successfully manages to convince Melanie that he's really just tired though, so she lets him go home.
The Keating Five's attitude toward Annalise
It's been more than two weeks since Annalise begged them to shoot her. Besides Wes and Laurel, no one has really interacted with Annalise, so they are all afraid that she hates them. Annalise is indeed in a very crappy mood, completely ignores them in court, and is incredibly annoyed with them for working at her house.
The hatred is mutual. Connor's image of Annalise was already shattered a bit after 1x03 when she took the trophy from him and he's been a bit wary of her ever since, but Michaela has been pretty much craving Annalise's validation and has been grateful to Annalise for protecting them after Sam. Until now. Laurel was also on team Annalise, until Annalise refused to help get Wes out of the psych ward and fired her "new Bonnie" because old Bonnie is back.
Annalise does tell the students to get her client a lesser sentence, and starts to manipulate the students once again to get them to help. But no luck:
Michaela: If Catherine deserves to go to jail, then an actual murderer definitely does.
Annalise: Your guilt about Catherine is not about her. It's about your feelings towards Caleb.
Michaela: No. It's about the fact that I actually have a conscience, and don't tell me there's something wrong with that.
That was definitely some gaslighting on Annalise's part, so I'm glad Michaela saw through it and stood up for herself. So Annalise continues:
Annalise: We've all done terrible things, the worst things, all of us. And none of us has spent one day in jail, but we all seem fine with that. Why? Because you all think you're good people, that your lives are worth something. Then what's Jason's life worth?
That's a guilt-trip. But Laurel isn't having it:
Laurel: What about Wes's life? He's in a psych ward, and you don't care. [...] He went for some sleeping pills, and they locked him up. [...] Annalise knows, and she won't do anything.
Connor: He could crack in there, tell them everything.
Laurel: Yeah, if he hasn't already.
Kinda sad that Laurel and Connor care more about Wes cracking than the fact why he was even locked up in the first place, though...
Asher: Why haven't you done anything to get him out?
Michaela: 'Cause she only cares about her damn naps.
Annalise is used to pushback from Connor and Laurel, but not from Michaela (although I don't think she cares enough about Asher to be bothered by him). Btw, I do love how fiercely Michaela stands up for Wes, and how they all walk out in protest to support their classmate.
I love love love that scene in the car. Wes knows that Connor just wants to know if he didn't crack, so he tells them he told his therapist something about his childhood, which got him out. Asher confronts Connor with only looking after him out of pity. Connor admits that he wanted to tell the truth after Sam, and only got through that because of Oliver. Michaela admits she's scared of having feelings around them. Only Laurel doesn't really share anything.
Btw, about this moment:
Connor: Look, I'm just saying that we clearly don't have Annalise to look out for us anymore, so that's our job from now on.
Wes: Why can't we count on Annalise anymore?
I love the awkward silence that follows. No one has the heart to tell Wes they walked out on Annalise because she refused to help him. I mentioned it in my 2x10 blog too, but I think they all knew Wes was close to Annalise, and they also noticed he was a mess.
We don't really know how Wes feels about Annalise in this episode, but seeing how he's genuinely surprised, I actually don't think it's that negative. When Laurel in 2x12 tells him that Annalise didn't want to help get him out, he also doesn't seem angry. He knew that Annalise knew he was suicidal, so maybe that's why.
Anyway, they just tells Wes:
Connor: Today, she showed her true colors.
Michaela: Or we finally opened our eyes.
Laurel: She's sick. She just needs time to get better.
Connor has been pretty much anti-Annalise since the start of the season, and Michaela joins him in this episode. Interestingly, Michaela says she finally opened her eyes, but it won't be until the second half of season 6 for her to truly open her eyes... Laurel, despite walking out, does stick up for Annalise somewhat.
The group has been incredibly divided in season 1, and even though this episode also showed the first signs of the Wes/Laurel and Michaela/Asher/Connor/Oliver split, they are also somewhat of a team here.
The students' and Annalise's reaction to Wes's psych ward hold
I love how layered this episode is. The way that the case of the week tied into Wes and Annalise's dynamic has multiple readings, and so does the fact that Annalise leaves Wes in the psych ward and the reactions the students have to her 'betrayal.'
As far as Laurel is aware, Wes shot Annalise, fell into a depression, has been skipping their study groups and work, went to the health center for sleeping pills because of his insomnia, and got admitted to the psych ward for making a joke about committing suicide. When Laurel asks Annalise for help, Annalise wants to leave Wes in there, so Laurel accuses Annalise of punishing him.
So from Laurel's POV, Wes did what Annalise asked when he shot her, and now Annalise blames him. Laurel also sees Wes unraveling and is scared he might crack, so she wants to get Wes out ASAP. It makes complete sense that Laurel and the other students want Wes out and are angry with Annalise.
But the students don't know what Annalise knows.
They don't know that Wes found out Annalise knew his mother. They don't know Wes took a possibly lethal dose of secobarbital in an attempt to end his life and Annalise found him. They also don't know that Annalise once tried to commit suicide by taking an entire bottle of sleeping pills, as we'll see in a 5x09 flashback.
So Annalise knew that Wes was suicidal, and now hears from Laurel that he got admitted to the psych ward for trying to get sleeping pills, the same pills she had used herself ten years ago. There's a very brief moment where Annalise looks away and seems restless/worried when Laurel tells her Wes is in the psych ward, before she turns back to Laurel and acts as if she doesn't care.
I think Annalise didn't want to help Wes because she knew he needed help (which she was unable to give), and he couldn't hurt himself in the psych ward. I'm not sure why she didn't just tell the students about Wes's suicidal ideation, but I'd like to believe it was out of respect for Wes, just like how she never tells anyone about Connor's suicidal ideation in season 4.
I also wonder if she would've even been able to do anything about Wes's admittance, because he was on an involuntary hold, which is only reviewable by the court after the 120-hour hold, as his therapist pointed out to Laurel. Annalise gets a lot done, but would she be able to override this? I doubt it.
A part of me loves how the K4 all come to Wes's "rescue," but it's also a bit sad because the main reason why they helped Wes was because they were scared he might confess. An involuntary psych-hold is very serious, so it honestly baffles me that they don't question the reason why he was admitted.
The only person who truly cared about Wes's well-being in this episode was Annalise, even risking him cracking. Or maybe she trusted Wes enough to know he wouldn't. But even Annalise might've had a more selfish motive, because I think she was also scared to face him, so Wes being locked up in the psych ward helps her with putting off their inevitable confrontation a bit longer.
Flashbacks to the Mahoney trial
We got to see a bit more of what happened ten years ago. Back in 2005, Annalise was pregnant, Bonnie was a 1L student and part of Annalise's K4, and Frank was Annalise's secretary, although he preferred the term assistant. He was also hitting on the interns. Sam was all happy and enthusiastic about the baby.
After meeting with Rose on the playground, which we saw in the 2x10 flashback, Annalise flew back to Ohio to meet up with Rose again. I hate what Annalise is doing... pretending to be interested in a friendship and meeting up for a regular coffee, and then confronting her with case files... Annalise tells her, "I won't let you get hurt, or your son," but we know that Rose is dead and Wes an orphan, so...
To be honest, even though some of the flashbacks are very interesting, others feel a lot like filler (and I'm not only talking about this episode, but about episodes 2x11-2x15 in general).
Stalker Phillip
By far the least interesting part of the episode was whatever the Hapstalls were up to. The back half of season 2 revolves around what happened in 2005 between Annalise, Wes's mother, and the Mahoneys, so the entire Philip plot just feels like a huge filler to give everyone else something to do while Wes is digging in the past. At least it was only a small part of the episode.
Anyway, Caleb visits Annalise because his new lawyer won't tell him anything about the status surrounding Philip. Annalise sends him away. Frank checks with Nate if he has heard anything. Nate hasn't, but Connor unfortunately has, when he gets an email from Philip with a video of Wes, Laurel, and Michaela at the Hapstall mansion on the night Sinclair was killed.
The Keating Five
The students are still dealing with the fallout of the cover-up in the Hapstall mansion:
Asher feels guilty, and Connor looks after him
Asher is still drinking a lot and crashing on Connor and Oliver's couch. Even though we don't explore Asher's mental state as much as Wes's, the case of the week also hints a bit at Asher.
Jason also somewhat connects back to Asher, because Jason also snapped and killed someone. Bonnie gives Frank a look when he says something nasty about Jason, and Connor gives Micheala a warning look when she makes a remark about Jason probably killing again if he gets out:
Oliver: Empathy doesn't cover it. This mother is a miracle. I mean, the amount of will it takes to forgive your son's killer? Who does that? Not to say that I can't see the other side of it. How do you know he won't go out and kill again.
Michaela: You don't. He probably will.
Btw, this quote also perfectly sums up Frank. Annalise does end up forgiving Frank for killing her son, but Frank ends up killing again (Lila) and again (Wallace) and again (Birkhead). It also sums up Bonnie who will kill again. And Nate.
Oli is incredibly annoyed with Asher staying at their place, so Connor tells him he’s looking after Asher because he wants to feel better about himself. Asher overhears and later confronts Connor in the car. So Connor just says he's worried about Asher.
Michaela has more boy trouble
Michaela chases after Caleb when Annalise sends him away, so Caleb asks her if Annalise taught her how to play the whore to play people (Annalise did ask Michaela to use her boobs, so yeah... she kinda did). Michaela claps back:
Michaela: You're the whore. You waited until after you screwed me to show me that gun. And I fell for it, even thought about breaking the law for you, because I thought I knew you. But I don't, do I?
Go Michaela. Btw, I can't stand Caleb and I'm glad he's only there for one season (love Catherine, though).
The first seeds toward an Asher and Michaela hookup is planted when Oliver tells Michaela there's a lot of chemistry between her and Asher, in an attempt to get Asher to stay at Michaela's place. Michaela is disgusted.
Flaurel and the Lila Stangard murder
When Frank sees Laurel on the phone with Wes, he jokes, "Is that your other boyfriend?" Foreshadowing...
Frank is angry with Laurel for lying to him about Wes being in the psych ward, because she should've told Frank, her boyfriend. Laurel has no idea they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and confronts him with lying about all the "crap" he does for Annalise. She tells him she can't lie to him anymore and confesses that Wes shot Annalise, and that she didn't tell him because he doesn't tell her things either, besides the "what if it's mostly bad things" remark way back in episode 2x03.
She knows he drugged Catherine, so she asks if the "bad things" he talked about are worse. She tells him she can't do this anymore, so as she's about to walk out, Frank confesses that he killed Lila.
Some interesting editing choices
The writers love their Wes/Annalise parallels, and this episode again opens with a parallel moment between them: Annalise talking about sleep and refusing therapy during a check-up at the hospital, and Wes talking about sleep and refusing therapy when he visits the health center. They may not interact much, but these parallels keep happening, symbolizing the incredibly strong pull between them.
Throughout the restorative justice hearings, the camera focuses a lot on Annalise during a few key moments, which I'd like to take as a clue to what's going on inside her head (but I already delved into that).
There is a voiceover that hints at a more maternal dynamic between Wes and Annalise: we see Annalise on screen while Wes tells his therapist that his mother worked a bunch of jobs. But there's also a voiceover that hints at a more romantic dynamic, when Laurel tells Frank that "boyfriends don't lie to their girlfriends all the time," while the camera pans from Wes (boyfriend) to Annalise (girlfriend). What?
Random thoughts and observations
Annalise's monologue at the end about incarcerating every man of color felt out of place to me. Sure, it's important, but I honestly didn't really understand what it had to do with the case of the week and felt a bit shoehorned in. The client wasn't a person of color (the mother and son were), so why was this relevant for this particular case?
Bonnie with that flashback wig gives me Paris Geller vibes. Frank's flashback wig is also kinda iconic.
Btw, we got some Bonnie backstory. When flashback Annalise is prepping the Mahoney trial, Bonnie sees Annalise in pain from her pregnancy, so she advises Annalise to lie on her side, which gives us foreshadowing of Bonnie's pregnancy. Annalise has also hooked Bonnie up with Sam as her therapist, so Bonnie is grateful to Annalise for helping her.
I absolutely love the ending montage. The music was absolutely on-point (Ixode), while that powerful scene of Frank and Laurel is intercut with Annalise leaving Mahoney case files for Wes, while Nate is waiting for Annalise with comfort food.
I wonder if Annalise knew Wes got released from the psych ward, seeing how she was waiting under the stairs for him to come home, and watched him pick up the files.
I just wanna give Wes the biggest hug possible.
Final thoughts
Like I said before, season 2's overarching case and storylines can be a bit messy and drawn-out, but on an episodic level, this season has some of the strongest episodes in the entire series, especially the ones with a case of the week. This was another fantastic episode where the case of the week really helped with giving some insight into the characters and furthering the story.
Oh my god, I love Graham Greene, Toni's grandfather's actor, RIP
Honestly, not shocked Chick cams
I was going to make a joke about Kevin joining the wrestling team, but wow, he's actually a good wrestler
Jughead's phone call to Hiram was hilarious
Yes, Archie, go into the woods alone in the morning with the mob boss
So I have been saving all of the stuff we learn about the Serpents and the town's history for now. I don't think the idea that the Serpents get some of their iconography from a Native warrior society and traditions is bad, I just wish that 1 member of the Serpents we have seen was played by a Native actor. Like, I will be generous to the show and assume not all of the OG serpents were Native, just Toni's grandfather, but still, from what I can tell, Vanessa Morgan is of white Canadian/Tanzanian descent
So all that brings me to one of my first problems. So the whole story of the Uktena slaughter, and how the land was settled, and the Blossoms got rich off the railway and brothel they set up amongst other things, it does sound true to history, but it doesn't sound true to the history of where Riverdale takes place, either northern New York or New England
So the description of the Blossom wealth in early Riverdale, the massacre itself, and the photo we see of Pickins all look like the 1860s-1880s. The thing is, that fits more with US history in Western states like Colorado or Utah, or even Midwest states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan at that time. In New York and New England, the displacement of native peoples happened way earlier in the 18th or even 17th century
Further, it's not like these massacres of native people were covered up; people at the time wrote extensively about them. The story of Pickens wouldn't have been hidden; it more likely would have been whitewashed as "defending the town from a savage attack."
Finally, overall I didn't really like how they use a lot of real imagery and symbols used by real Native activists for the protest at the end, kinda feels like they are cheaping it.
Finally, I really, really, really hope Chick isn't going to teach Betty how to cam
