“Live. Live. Live.”: #ThursdayNightswithShahum

“How to Get Away with Murder” season four, episode eight (the winter finale) aired Thursday, Nov. 16.

First things first, viewer discretion is highly advised.

The episode opened with a Caplan and Gold scene showing Oliver barging into a room with Michaela, Asher, and Laurel whose faces were covered in blood.

The episode then flashed back to 24 hours prior to that scene with Connor storming over to Laurel’s.

Connor was choked by Frank after putting all the blame on him.

Meanwhile, Bonnie was waiting for Annalise outside her hotel “apartment” trying to explain how much she loves her. Annalise wasn’t having any of it, and even went as far in saying that she’s afraid of Bonnie, and that if she doesn’t leave she’ll call the cops.

Bonnie then showed up to Nate’s, alcohol in hand, to have a heart to heart.

Bonnie asked Nate how he got over Annalise, in which he replied saying he’ll tell her when he does, as he left the room to order a pizza for the two of them.

Annalise showed up to Isaacs to tell him that she wants to continue seeing him for therapy.

Their conversation was interrupted by a call from Connor from the party. Who didn’t see that coming?

Annalise was brought up to speed on the plan, and had to act fast as to how she could save them all yet again.

From this point onward, the episode had me trying my best not to blink, in order to not let a second of the action pass.

Michaela and Asher were trying to find a way to get Tegan to hand over her purse so they could steal her keycard to get access to the Antares server room.

Meanwhile, Frank was shown at Simon’s downloading Antares files onto his laptop to frame him.

Simon then came up to Oliver, confessing his love for him.

Oliver being a decent human being decided the fact that Simon is a DACA recipient, and closeted gay means that they cannot follow through with the plan to frame him.

Cue, Laurel who showed up uninvited to make sure her plan was properly followed through with.

It was time for Tegan’s speech, and a little advice that no man would give a speech with a purse in hand from Michaela was enough for her to hand her purse right over.

Michaela got the key card, handed it to Asher, and they both set a timer for five minutes.

Asher took the card up to Oliver and Laurel who successfully retrieved all the files they needed.

Off plan, Asher decided that Oliver should plant the key card on Simon while pretending to give him a kiss.

From this point onward, there was a lot of running around and calling.

Oliver ran downstairs to find Simon, while getting a call from Connor explaining how he told Annalise everything.

All while Annalise was leaving a voicemail on Laurel’s phone offering help.

Asher, Laurel, and Michaela were in an office discussing Oliver’s plan, when Simon interrupted them after overhearing everything. Laurel tried to pay him off, but instead he aggressively took her purse from her, found her gun, and began pointing it at them. Michaela tried to put a handle on the situation by calming him down. Simon backed up, tripped on a chair, and then the gun went off, giving us viewers the image of him lying on the floor with a pool of blood around him.

Asher for some reason decided to pick up the gun, as Oliver came running into the room with news about Annalise and screamed, “Oh my God” as he saw Simon on the floor.

Michaela began damage control by wiping off Laurel, and sending her on her way. She then put the key card into Simon’s suit jacket, wiped the gun clean, and placed it in its original spot. Then, they called 911.

Michaela came back down to the party screaming for help and yelling about how Simon shot himself in the head. Tegan ran to her comfort, just before Michaela was able to whisper what happened to Connor telling him to go find Laurel at her apartment.

Laurel, who decided not to go home, but instead to Annalise’s hotel “apartment” after hearing Annalise’s voicemail on her phone. As Laurel got into the elevator, there were drops of blood on the ground. As the elevator rose, Laurel noticed more blood, flashing back to when Frank accidentally hit her in the stomach the night before as he was choking Connor.

The elevator got stuck and wouldn’t open. Laurel began wiping her bloodstained hands across the buttons and walls before collapsing onto the floor. Laurel tried calling 911 as she went into premature labor, but had no service. Laurel continues screaming for help before passing out.

Annalise heard Laurel’s cries, and called 911 as she got the elevator door open to see Laurel lying in a pool of blood. She moved Laurel’s leg to see the baby she had given birth to.

Annalise was desperately trying to reach the baby while following advice from the 911 operator as far as what to do before the paramedics arrived.

Annalise began performing CPR on the baby to save him, while the scene cut out to doctors trying to do the same for Simon.

This scene was the most powerful, vulnerable, and gut-wrenching scene Annalise has been in throughout the whole series.

At Caplan and Gold, Michaela was on the phone with Connor as she watched Asher get arrested. Meanwhile, Connor was standing outside of Laurel’s apartment unknowingly being watched by Dominic (Wes’s murderer).

The episode ended with Simon’s heart rate flat lining, and the sound of a baby crying.

You would think all of our questions would’ve been answered, but no.

We still do not know how Laurel got to the hospital, why Isaac and Bonnie are involved, and why Asher got arrested.

An impactful, yet emotional finale.

The rest of season four is set to air Jan. 18, 2018.

See you guys then, and I hope you have enjoyed reading with me thus far.