How to Get Away with Murder Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: It’s Called the Octopus

Murder by sex is the case Annalise takes on during this week’s How to Get Away with Murder. But first we get a flashback to seven weeks earlier with the sinful professor clinging to life as her phone rings. Nate is calling and is in his car appearing on his way? She reaches for the phone, but fails to reach it. Her eyes start to close. Things aren’t looking good.

Now back to today where Annalise is in a drunken stupor in her house running through the Hapstall sibling’s case with her recorder. She hears a noise right before passing out in her bed. Going down to the basement she discovers….a rat in a trap…no, really, an actual rat in a trap. She calls Wes to take care of it. It turns out there was also a rat of the human variety as well; more on that later.

 (ABC/Mitch Haaseth) KARLA SOUZA, MATT MCGORRY, AJA NAOMI KING, ALFRED ENOCH, JACK FALAHEE
(ABC/Mitch Haaseth)
KARLA SOUZA, MATT MCGORRY, AJA NAOMI KING, ALFRED ENOCH, JACK FALAHEE

Annalise picks up a new client in Tonya, who runs a high-end sex club called the Utopia Circle. She is being accused of killing a client named Dominique and causing him to have a heart attack. We learn about one of her signature moves is the octopus (let your imagination run wild with that). Annalise gets a hold of a ledger with all the names who were there the night of this party. She assigns the students to find someone who would testify that the sex was routine and not rough.

Having this confidential book, Annalise uses it to her advantage to help get Nate’s job back. She blackmails the sergeant by telling him his daughter’s name was among those on this list.

Michaela and Connor go to a sex party hosted by one of Tonya’s members in Alicia. If you’re keeping track Connor stayed faithful to Oliver, showing he may have really changed his promiscuous ways. They try to get her to help with the case, but she refuses. They do find out the night of the party Alicia traded cards with Tonya, so she could have sex with the victim.

(ABC/Mitch Haaseth) AJA NAOMI KING, ALFRED ENOCH
(ABC/Mitch Haaseth)
AJA NAOMI KING, ALFRED ENOCH

Annalise finds out Tonya really loved Dominique and she wanted him to leave his wife. A mixture of Viagra and nitroglycerin proved a lethal mix, making her guilty. She didn’t want him to die, but wanted his wife Cynthia to find out and have her leave him. Annalise then moves from involuntary manslaughter to first degree murder. Toxicology reports were run with Viagra and nitroglycerine in his system.

However, Annalise builds the case where it makes the wife look like she could have done the deed. The plan works and Tonya is off the hook. Tonya asks Annalise how she sleeps at night with the tactics she uses to win a case by any means necessary. The answer is alone and on comfortable sheets. We can believe her sheets are indeed comfortable from an email from Eve where she got them.

 (ABC/Mitch Haaseth) KENDRICK SAMPSON, AMY OKUDA, VIOLA DAVIS
(ABC/Mitch Haaseth)
KENDRICK SAMPSON, AMY OKUDA, VIOLA DAVIS

When it comes to the sibling’s case, a tabloid has a cover photo of Caleb and Catherine insinuating there is some sibcest going on. Now there is new motive that they killed their parents after they were taken out of the will for their romantic transgressions. Frank traced an IP address where the source was and finds out it was a staff member who wants them to pay for the parent’s murder. Annalise’s recorder goes missing. The culprit is actually Asher, who gave it to the opposition in Sinclair. Asher ends things with Bonnie after she sees a photo on his phone. He says the picture is actually someone he met in the library and connected with. He goes to his dad for help with Tiffany and shows him the picture that was on his phone.

Wes recognizes Michaela’s new guy Levi from the photo. He confronts him, and we find out he isn’t Eggs. It’s actually Rebecca who knocked over a carton once and the foster dad made her lick it off the floor. Levi gave her the nickname because he is in fact her…foster brother (GASP!). He also thinks Rebecca is dead and Annaliese has something to do with it.

We get an idea that Wes starts to believe it when he was in Nate’s house. Annaliese tries to smooth things over with Nate. He gets her to feel there is some hope before sending her home. They appear to be working together.

We get our final flashback scene where the students are hiding after hearing a car pull up. It’s Nate who tells them to get in the car, a police car. They drive off.

  • Watch How to Get Away with Murder 10/9CT Thursdays on ABC.
  • Follow me on Twitter @smFISHMAN.