TV Show Review

TV Review: HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER: Season 4, Episode 2: I’m Not Her [ABC]

Jack Falahee How To Get Away With Murder

How To Get Away With Murder I’m Not Her Review

How to Get Away with Murder: Season 4, Episode 2: I’m Not Her continues to navigate the aftermath of Annalise’s (Viola Davis) decision to fire the Keating Five.

The biggest takeaway from Thursday night’s episode is how unlikeable Isaac (Jimmy Smits), Annalise’s court-appointed psychiatrist, is. Although he was technically introduced in the ending few seconds of I’m Going Away, we only really got to see how short he is with his patients this week. When Annalise arrives for her appointment, he rushes her into his office with a terse “let’s go,” giving him the air of a pompous ass who believes he is more important than he probably actually is.

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I get that someone as tough as Annalise needs a foil capable of holding their own against her, but Isaac feels more like an unnecessary obstacle than a worthy adversary. Admittedly, this becomes less pronounced as the program goes on and he begins to understand her, but it’s hard to shake off this first negative impression.

Much of Annalise’s discussions with Isaac revolve around her representation of Jasmine (L. Scott Caldwell), who fans might remember as one of the prisoners she was interned with in jail last season. Although she fights hard for Jasmine’s freedom, Annalise confesses that she believes she will be back in  prison for something or other soon. What’s interesting about this admission is how conflicted it leaves us about her character. Is she a cynic who masterfully gamed the system to get a repeat offender out of jail, or is she an idealist who obtained justice for a woman who was never given a chance? It’s this kind of ambiguity that makes How to Get Away with Murder such compelling viewing.

With all this going with Annalise, it’s understandable that the Keating Five would get less attention. Granted, they receive more than they did in the last episode, but they’re far from the focus here. In as much as the show can be said to focus on a single member of the group, it’s safe to say that Laurel (Karla Souza) receives the lion’s share of attention here. Considering how underused she was compared to other characters in previous seasons of the show, it’s very much welcome to see that the writers have apparently decided to make her a focal point of this season’s story arc.

Faster-paced than I’m Going Away but only slightly more ambitious, I’m Not Her is a solid installment of How to Get Away with Murder that will leave fans, if not thrilled, then satisfied at the very least.

Leave your thoughts on this How to Get Away with Murder review and this episode of How to Get Away with Murder in the comments section. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, our TV Show Review Facebook Page, and our TV Show Review Google+ Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook.

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Reggie Peralta

**** We hired Reggie, fulfilled our obligations to him, and he quit in the middle of covering two TV series w/ no notice and no explanation. He then ignored our emails asking him to complete his coverage (we had no one else to cover those TV shows). He didn't care. We regret hiring him and we regret putting our trust in him. **** An aspiring writer, longtime film junkie, and former UCLARadio.com disc jockey (where I graduated with a BA in Political Science), I've made the jump from penning book reviews and current events editorials for HonorSociety.org to writing movie and TV news and reviews. When I'm not working towards my certificate in Radio and Television/Video Production at Fullerton College, I enjoy reading (horror, science fiction, and historical/political nonfiction are particular favorites), participating in my school's TV and theatre clubs, attending movie screenings, plays, concerts, and other events, and trying to come up with pithy things to say on social media. Believe it or not, there are occasions where I find time to write for my own leisure.
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