BWW Recap: Crimes of Passion Heat Up on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

By: Nov. 14, 2014
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Wow! That is a good word to describe the revelations from "He Has a Wife," episode eight of ABC's HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. We have been teased for the seven previous installments with clues about the night Sam Keating died. We have also only seen tiny tidbits of the night Lila Stangard was murdered. And what of murder suspect Rebecca or Annalise's loyal staff members? This is the last episode before the mega-reveal , but there was much to chew on tonight. Read on and be prepared for spoilers galore! If you want to share theories about Sam's murderer, be sure to use hashtag #WhoKilledSam.

Tonight, Lila and Rebecca are discovered on a rooftop. As they do lines of coke, Lila shares with Rebecca she is having an affair with a married man.

We flash back to where episode seven left off, at the moment Annalise is listening to new autopsy results about Lila. She was six weeks pregnant! No need to question who knocked up the coed, so Annalise confronts her philandering husband Sam. Annalise poses the question to Sam, "Did you know she was a virgin? He doesn't answer the question. Annalise insisted Bonnie stay for the confrontation in case Sam tries to wheedle in to a lie.

As usual, Keating and company tackle a new court case even as the clock ticks on the new revelations. This week, the client is a successful real estate agent who is on trial for allegedly murdering the nanny of her children. To complicate matters, the defendant Gretchen Thomas, who takes prescription sleeping pills, suffers severe side effects. (Sexy times with her husband in the middle of the night and online shopping ... and potentially murderous rampages followed by cleaning sessions are among the drug's fine print activities.) Annalise works to convince Mrs. Thomas she should go on trial and not just accept that the drugs made her kill her beloved nanny. Gretchen's husband is also concerned about his wife and wants her to think of her family. During the home visit, it should be noted, Keating's staff member Frank once again hits on Laurel - again!

Among the other Keating law protégés, we see Michaela once again unsatisfied by working with the other students. Law exams are approaching and Connor forms a study group with Laurel and Wesley.

Back on the pregnant Lila track, Annalise tells Wesley about the new information and insists he not tell Rebecca about the news or that the district attorney is going to give Griffin a DNA test to clear up paternity. Since Wesley is more loyal to his paramour, he ignores Annalise and spills the beans to Rebecca. "Don't go to the police," he tells Rebecca. So what does she do? She goes to former detective Nate Lahey, naturally, telling him Lila was preggers. Nate immediately suspects Sam is the baby daddy and asks Rebecca to get a DNA sample from Mr. Keating.

The scene flashes back to Lila and Rebecca on the roof again, with Lila admitting she is no longer a virgin (shocker!). Lila's phone blips and it's a nude selfie from Sam. Yep, you guessed it, the same sexy pic everyone has seen. We also see Rebecca going to the Keating office to supposedly retrieve some gloves she left there, which is her ploy to get Sam's DNA. He urges her to leave.

Back with the Gretchen Thomas defense case, relatives are interviewed by Keating's law team. During the trial, Gretchen's son confesses he loved the nanny - really, LOVED her - and was sneaking into her room the night of the murder, making him a potential suspect This revelation could tank the defense and Annalise is distraught. Annalise confronts Connor, asking him why didn't they know about the son's affair with the nanny. Annalise also shares a tense moment with Bonnie, who tried to back up Connor. Meanwhile, Michaela is still dealing with the shock of her fiancé's prenuptial agreement, arguing with him over the phone.

Not to be outdone by Sam sending sexting photos to college girls, Frank sends one to Laurel. She meets him in a steamy vehicle. In other inappropriate relationship news, Asher - who slept with Bonnie - tries to console her after Annalise called her mousy. He also asks about going to the big Middletown University campus bonfire. Bonnie and Sam almost get to talk about the night Lila was murdered, but Annalise shows up.

Trying to be more upfront, Sam tells his wife Rebecca stopped by the office. Annalise is so preoccupied with Sam's affair with Lila and that he got her pregnant, she can barely think straight. We learn that she had an affair with Sam early in their relationship while he was married to his first wife. Sam is still trying to butter up Annalise.

Flashing back to Lila and Rebecca 's girl-talk, Lila breaks the news to Rebecca Sam wants to break off the affair. Rebecca tries to console Lila, upset by her baby daddy trying to break it off.

Back to the nanny murder case, Connor goes to Gretchen's son to discuss his fishy testimony during the case. The son says he did not kill the nanny, but does admit to having an STD, Trichomoniasis. Strangely, this medical term rings a bell to the privileged Michaela - who it seems was pre-med before heading to law school. Back in the courtroom, Mr. Thomas is on the witness stand and Annalise zings everyone with the some huge reveals: father and son had the same STD, so both men were boinking the nanny, and daddy killed her! He tried to pin the murder of passion on his innocent wife.

In case you're keeping score, Annalise Keating has not lost a defense case in eight episodes. Take that Perry Mason! (OK, she's still got some catching up to do, but Keating is on a roll - at least in the courtroom.)

Outside of the courtroom, an ungrateful Gretchen blows up at Annalise for ripping her family apart. Keating shrugs off the criticism. Snotty Michaela asks Annalise about the infamous Lady Justice trophy and Annalise is not amused. Michaela is still dealing with fiancé Aiden's prenup and is taken to dinner by his mother. Aiden's mom demands Michaela sign the document or else. Michaela is firm it is not necessary. The two women get nasty to each other and Michaela gets ready to open up a can of whoop-ass but bitchy boy mamma stops her. They depart in a huffy puff.

In Frank's apartment, he and Laurel are getting down to business when Frank's actual girlfriend shows up. Sasha asks Laurel if she's the new flavor of the month.

Back at the Keating office, Sam hears from Bonnie something new about the night Lila was killed. Bonnie met with an upset Lila that night, the girl was trying to meet with Annalise. The light bulb goes off above Bonnie's head: Sam knew about the pregnancy all along! Slimy Sam kisses Bonnie and it looks like she kisses back - hinting at an affair with her! Sam urges her to keep the news to herself. Loyal to Annalise, Bonnie tells her boss about the kiss and that Sam knew about Lila's condition. Through tears, an intense Annalise fires Bonnie.

Nate meets Rebecca to give her a flash-drive with Sam's cell phone information. Wes sees the meeting. Rebecca and Wesley argue back at his apartment. They realize Nate and Annalise were in a relationship and Wes suspects Nate was in on much more. Rebecca is upset and leaves with the flash-drive just as Connor and Laurel arrive for their study session. Michaela, still obsessing about the Justice statuette, tries to steal the trophy from Asher's apartment.

Once again an episode ends with Annalise waiting on Sam as he arrives home. She tells Sam the D.A. is having the men in Lila's life DNA tested, including her professors.

Wham bam, that's you, Sam!

What did you think of this week's episode? And what do you think is still in store? Will Bonnie stay fired? Will Laurel get over her affair with Frank? Will Michaela use the trophy on her fiancé's mother? And - the big question! - who killed Sam Keating? Next week promises to be a doozy. Use the hashtag #WhoKilledSam to share theories.

Follow me on Twitter: @jeffwalker66

Photo Credit: Mitchell Haaseth/ABC

Want a taste of the Winter Finale, next week's big reveal, episode 9? Here goes:


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