Skip to main content

A Lawyer's Guide to HTGAWM, Season 2, Episode 8: It's Philip

By Casey C. Sullivan, Esq. on November 13, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

As always, there was another episode of How to Get Away With Murder last night, which means that any theory you ever had about who did what to whom has once again be turned on its head. Forget anything I've ever said about Bonnie. It's Philip. It's Philip who killed the Hapstall parents, Philip who shot Annalise, and Philip who hacked into your World of Warcraft account.

So, let's talk about Philip. Here's your spoiler-filled recap of last night's HTGAWM.

Wait Who?

Two weeks ago, as the rest of us were watching scary movies and shoveling pre-Halloween candy into our faces, a monster entered the world of How to Get Away With Murder. That monster was Philip, the nerdy, hacker child that the Hapstalls gave up for adoption before later adopting two new children, the Menendez brothers we've come to know -- Caleb and Catherine Hapstall, that is.

Oliver found Philip while hacking and soon the hacker was the hacked, as Philip started hacking Oliver back. Now, like some terrible Shonda Rhimes version of Freddy Krueger, he's broken out of the computer and into the real world. The episode starts with him kidnapping Oliver, but it turns out he just wants to talk. It's all a misunderstanding, he's not adopted, and he'd love if you kids just left him to his video games and loneliness.

Who Shot Annalise?

Who cares? (But probably Philip.)

Annalise's near-death experience at the Hapstall mansion is barely mentioned in this plot. There's no flash forward at the end, and the flash forward that starts us off has little to do with either of the dead and injured ladies in the Hapstall mansion. Instead, we learn that -- alright, maybe Bonnie didn't do it and is part of the kids' joint plan to thwart some killers after all. This, however, is just a provisional theory.

The Menendez Trial

We're back off track with the Menendez trial this episode. A.D.A. Sinclair offers a plea deal to Caleb and Catherine, which Caleb takes behind Annalise's back. While the group scrambles to undo the deal, they realize that A.D.A. Sinclair has planted an illegal wire tap in the Keating law offices, smuggled in with the endless, mid-trial discovery papers. (Like evidence, discovery operates on a whole different set of rules in this universe.) Standing around the bug like it's a campfire, they give a fake confession. They go with the twincest story from a few weeks ago. It distracts Sinclair just long enough for Caleb's offer to expire. (Because an A.D.A. couldn't just extend the offer, right?)

Success! And success soon thwarted. Catherine then takes the deal, reasoning that if she doesn't take the fall, Caleb will end up in jail somehow. Once again, it's a last minute rush to stop the plea. Annalise sends the students to research ways to stop the deal -- in actual, hardcover legal reporters. They fail, but Frank arrives last minute with a DNA sample that convinces Catherine to reject the deal.

Sex Montage -- and More Incest!

The last minute DNA sample? Philip's. It was all over the crime scene. Oh, and he's the product of incest. It seems like those twincest accusations were close, but just off the mark. Meanwhile, down at the police station, Nate frames Philip as a schizophrenic stalker.

And we conclude with a happy ending. Many happy endings actually. In a very romantic montage, pretty much everyone gets laid. (Except you, Wes. Sorry.) Colliver do it in Annalise's crim law classroom, bringing the total times we've seen a law school this season to around three. Nate comes over to Annalise's to celebrate Philip's downfall and soon pulls off his shirt like he's in an Old Spice commercial.

But it all ends sadly when Caleb post-coitally tells Michaela that he's found the murder weapon, just as sex-less Wes realizes Catherine's paintings are in Philip's apartment.

Philip and Catherine are in it together? I'm going to say yes, which will allow me to finally abandon this Menendez brothers comparison. They're just the Hapscest trio from now on.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard