'How to Get Away with Murder' Season 6: Annalise's road to recovery has us wishing we had a counselor like hers
This article contains spoilers for season 6, episode 1
'How to Get Away with Murder' is back with its sixth and final season, and as sad as Annalise Keating's (Viola Davis) spiral is in the aftermath of losing Laurel Castillo and finding out that Emmett is dead (probably because of her), fans can rest easy knowing she is getting all the help she needs.
When the first episode opens, we see Annalise at one of those wellness retreat establishments, which we soon find out is rehab. Annalise is here under the name Karen, and amidst all the group therapy sessions, exercises and affirmations, the true beacon of hope is her counselor.
The greys in the counselor's hair can really vouch for her wisdom because once she gets Annalise, or Karen, to open up, there's no stopping.
After years of trying to protect people, help them in the right path, and always put their needs above her own, a tired, exhausted and self beat Annalise is finally able to find peace in the counselor's words.
When asked to list all the names she likes calling herself, Annalise's list goes on and on and even includes words as casual as "mean" and "slutty" to names as grave as "cancer" and "taker".
Annalise's resentment towards her own self is at an all-time high and yet somehow, the counselor is able to get through all those layers of self-hatred to convince her that she deserves to be loved.
Blinded by the negative light she currently sees herself in, holding herself responsible for pretty much everything that's going wrong with the Keating 5, it is difficult for Annalise to come clean about her mistakes.
Her counselor is the one who shows her how all that she did wasn't out of selfishness. Even when she is thinking of abandoning them, it is to finally stand up for herself, to protect herself because there's no harm in doing things for one's own self.
When she does admit that their pain is her fault, but she wants to get better, her counselor only asks her to forgive herself — a lesson in kindness, compassion, and self-love that should be preached more.
In a way, the first episode of this final season is therapeutic — a trope used very commonly in today's TV. But it's something about the raw viciousness that Annalise attacks herself with, which helps us fit into her shoes with more ease.
And her counselor's devices definitely gets us wishing we had someone like that in our lives. 'How to Get Away with Murder' season six premiered on Thursday, September 26, at 10/9c only on ABC.
