How To Get Away With Murder: Annalise's 5 Best Episodes (& Worst), Ranked
In How to Get Away With Murder, Professor Annalise Keating is the star of Middleton University. Her legal fame is only eclipsed by the rigor of her academic expectations from students, most of whom fail to meet them. And then there are the Keating 5 — Wes, Michaela, Laurel, Connor, and Asher — who burrow their way into becoming her favorites.
After the students' involvement in a violent crime, the stress of law college is suddenly replaced by the far worse anxiety of spending the rest of their lives in prison, and their relationships with Annalise become more complicated.
"Complicated" is the perfect word to describe the formidable Annalise Keating, who has had mean ups and downs throughout the course of the series.
10 Best: Mama's Here Now (S1.E13)
The presence of Ophelia Harkness in the Keating House has a calming effect on her daughter — as much as she pretends otherwise. Annalise is clearly struggling with the morality of everything that has happened until now, which is not her burden to bear because she has never once bloodied her own hands.
Ophelia brushes Annalise's hair like she used to a long time ago, and casually tells her daughter the forgotten tale of her uncle and the subsequent arson, explaining that sometimes one must do whatever is necessary for the security of one's family. Both characters are phenomenal in this episode.
9 Worst: We're Good People Now (S3.E1)
Before Wes gets to meet his so-called "bio-dad," Frank snipes the old man from the safety of a high-rise, allegedly as revenge for what he had him do all those years ago. Instead of consoling poor Wes, Annalise opts to justify the killing, infuriating her best student.
On the job front, Annalise is told, in no uncertain terms, that the university is terminating her tenure to distance itself from all the allegations levelled against her. Annalise erupts at them, without understanding that they were only trying to protect Middleton and its students from any potential blowback.
8 Best: It's For The Greater Good (S4.E3)
Annalise begins her sobriety in earnest, and takes up a new case at the Public Defender's office to assist them in clearing their massive backlog. This is the beginning of her journey from cold-blooded lawyer to humanitarian (sort of), as her troubles force her to perceive that the justice system itself had been flawed from the beginning.
Virginia Cross isn't too happy with Annalise's direction of the suicide/murder case, and they nearly get into a physical fight when tensions run extra high. But Annalise holds her head high and walks away with her dignity.
7 Worst: The Night Lila Died (S1.E14)
The gang believe that Rebecca is responsible for the murder of her once-best friend Lila as all the evidence points in that direction. Vetoing Wes, the remainder tie and gag the girl up and leave her in his tiny bathroom. Annalise's arrival smooths things a bit; she has Rebecca transferred to her own home, where they might interrogate her at leisure.
The professor obtains some reprieve when she states that there is no choice but to free Rebecca, not knowing that Bonnie had already asphyxiated her. Another murder for Annalise to cover up. How long does this list become?
6 Best: Live. Live. Live. (S4.E8)
This episode culminates in a heart-wrenching moment, suspended in time, when Annalise desperately tries to resuscitate Laurel's premature baby through the grating of an elevator cabin.
With the help of an emergency operator, she extricates the wee one and separates him from his mother, but discovers that he hadn't been breathing at all. With just two fingers, she performs CPR on the baby's chest, pressing every so slightly as to not hurt him. As it happens, Annalise does not have to bear the agony of losing another child.
5 Worst: Nobody Roots For Goliath (S4.E7)
Annalise continues to lead Nate Lahey on, and while he is initially resistant to her charms, he soon falls in line when he realizes that his feelings for her trump his fury.
When it comes to Isaac, however, the situation changes drastically; Annalise's psychiatrist is being triggered by her, something she learns through an uncomfortable phone call with his ex-wife. Rather than deal with the matter delicately, Annalise openly accuses Isaac of having fallen off the heroin wagon, which just makes it worse for him.
4 Best: Let's Hurt Him (S6.E12)
Although Annalise declines Vivian's offer of an anonymous statement (to be made by her son, Gabriel), she changes her tune after discovering that her husband, Sam Keating, and his older sister, Hannah, had been in an incestuous relationship during their childhood.
This victory turns into a loss when Hannah "commits suicide," which is clearly another move made by Governor Birkhead to strengthen her position. Annalise isn't to be trifled with. though; she blames the DOJ for the state of the judicial system, which gets her a meeting with a private panel. She wins the war, if not the battle, by having the death penalty struck off as an option.
3 Worst: There's My Baby (S2.E14)
The past reveals the truth about Annalise's lost child, and how that event had gotten inextricably entwined with Wes Gibbins, the son of a murdered woman who had come to her for help. For no reason, she lashes out at Frank, rubbing in the painful fact that he came from nothing and tricked her into rescuing him from his "white trash future."
The baby is killed in the ensuing accident, but Annalise blankly passes the corpse to a nearby nurse. In the current timeline, Eve asks her to cohabit with her, which honestly would have been the best thing for everyone involved, but Annalise rejects her too.
2 Best: Stay (S6.E15)
The series finale is an exquisite episode, and it satisfactorily knots up many of the loose ends created by the last season. Annalise obtains a verdict of not guilty on every single charge, proving that the courts can still function with the right forces motivating the authorities.
Her funeral happens to be a real event, except well into the future (as seen from Connor, Oliver, Laurel, and Michaela's aged appearances). Eve's eulogy, displayed as a series of montages, shows the remaining life of Annalise Keating, her happy moments intermingling with sorrowful ones, before she walks into the final sunset.
1 Worst: We Can Find Him (S5.E6)
Frank and Annalise have a discussion about what to do about their latest piece of information, a candid voice note of Bonnie's younger sister divulging her most shameful secret. Nevertheless, she instantly changes her focus from protecting her friend to considering the deal offered by the governor, Lynne Birkhead.
Annalise has no idea if taking it would improve her chances with future legal battles, but the very idea of ruminating on something other than Bonnie reeks of selfishness. One could argue that she would be able to help a lot more people with her incarceration initiative, but she should have made some time for those she claims she loves.