How To Get Away With Murder: The 5 Best Things Michaela Ever Did (& The 5 Worst)

Fans will never get to see more episodes of How To Get Away With Murder but its characters will always stick to the mind. One of the best characters in the ABC show was the ambitious Michaela Pratt. From the start of the series, she stood out as arguably the best of the Keating 5 and she was the most eager to impress Professor Annalise Keating.

Having been raised in a poor household by adoptive parents, Michaela always wanted more out of life, hence her reason for seeking success by all means possible. Michaela’s love life also made for major plot points in the series. In her quest for success and love, she did some good and bad things.

10 Best: Standing Up To Aiden’s Mother

For a while, Michaela’s relationship with Aiden was good but things soon became complicated. Part of the reason for this was the pestering nature of Aiden’s mother. When Aiden’s mother tried to get her to sign a prenuptial agreement, Michaela got angry. And when she said bad things about Michaela’s difficult upbringing, the Keating 5 member channeled a slap to her face.

Michaela and Aiden finally broke up but his mother began begging her to get back together with him so as to erase any suspicions anyone had about his sexuality. But Michaela had already gotten tired of suppressing her wild personality to fit into a perfect family. She declined, boldly stating: “I love me more!”

9 Worst: Cheating On Asher

Michaela cheated on Asher during How To Get Away With Murder‘s crossover event with Scandal. Their relationship had always been rocky, with Michaela often despising Asher’s playfulness and jokes.

Michaela met Press Secretary Marcus after Annalise went to seek help from Olivia Pope regarding the Supreme Court case. The two had a few drinks, which led to Michaela confessing that Marcus was the kind of man she always wanted: strong, confident, and ambitious. She initiated the kiss and the two ended up sleeping together.

8 Best: Helping Annalise Win The Sadowski Case

Michaela was already looking forward to impress Annalise in the pilot episode and she did just that by helping her win a major case. The case involved Gina Sadowski, a woman who was accused of trying to killing her boss, with who she was having an affair.

Gina’s boss had accidentally consumed Aspirin, a medicine he was allergic to, leaving him handicapped. Gina was accused of having a hand in it. A key witness who was said to have key information about the color of the pills was soon outed as a liar. This was after Michaela found out at the last minute that the witness was color blind.

7 Worst: Reporting Simon To ICE

Simon didn’t get along with the Keating 5 but he didn’t deserve what he got. The events that led to his downfall began with him catching Michaela, Laurel, and Asher stealing the Antares drive from Caplan & Gold. To make matters worse, he accidentally shot himself, resulting in him ending up in a hospital bed.

At the hospital, he threatened to report Michaela and her buddies to the police. Given that Simon was an undocumented immigrant from Pakistan, Michaela saw this as the perfect opportunity to get rid of him. Simon was afraid of going back to his home country because he was a member of the LGBTQ community. Sadly, Michaela reported Simon to ICE, resulting in him being detained and then deported.

6 Best: Calling Out Asher For A Racist Remark

In Season 1’s second episode titled “It’s All Her Fault,” Wes stepped to the side to have a conversation with Annalise while the team handled the case of Max St. Vincent. The students began wondering what Wes was even doing there. Asher went on to suggest that Wes must be related to Annalise.

This angered Michaela who called him out and told him that not all black people were related. She added that if Wes was there, then the only reason why was because he was smart enough,

5 Worst: Helping Asher Frame Catherine For Murder

As Annalise was working on a case for the Hapstall twins, Michaela ended up falling in love with one of them named Caleb. After making love, Caleb told Michaela all about how he found a weapon in Catherine’s studio.

Later on, Asher killed Sinclair and pinned the murder on Catherine. Michaela went along with the ridiculous plan even though Catherine was her boyfriend’s sister. Catherine had indeed committed other crimes, but she was innocent in this one. Her actions put a dent in her relationship with Caleb, leading to their breakup.

4 Best: Reprimanding Connor

Oliver and Connor’s relationship had gone south. Connor began looking for new men to help him get over Oliver. In Season 3’s fourth episode titled “Don’t Tell Annalise,” Michaela noticed Connor using a dating app in front of Oliver. She figured he was trying to piss him off, so she reprimanded him.

She told him to be mindful of Oliver’s feelings. She advised him that such actions might ruin their chances of ever getting back together. Her advice clearly helped as Connor stopped what he was doing and weeks later, he and Oliver patched things up.

3 Worst: Stealing Money From A Client

In Season 3, Annalise took up the case of a man named Toby Solomon. He had paid a prostitute to have sex and then gave her drugs. After consuming too much, she passed out and died. Around this same time, Michaela was stressed after finding out that her ex-boyfriend Aiden was engaged to Whitney.

Annalise and her team found out that Toby had withdrawn $100,00 to pay a bribe and at that point, Michaela found it fitting to steal $20,000 from him. Sadly, she didn’t even use the money to do good. She went to a casino and lost it all. Circumstances soon forced it to pay it back. She thus had to sell her engagement ring to do so.

2 Best: Convincing Annalise To Seek Olivia Pope’s Help

When Annalise lost the class action lawsuit in Season 4, it was Michaela who convinced her to seek Olivia Pope’s help. This turned out to be a good decision as Olivia helped Annalise to maneuver her way through the Supreme Court. Olivia even got Annalise a meeting with President Mellie Grant.

Annalise’s time at the Supreme Court turned out to be one of the best moments in her career as she gave an incredible speech about race relationships in America. The only downside was that Michaela met someone in Olivia’s team who she ended up cheating with.

1 Worst: Going Through Asher’s Case Notes

In the early seasons, Annalise always loved it when her student competed against each other in class. This was her way of grooming the toughest lawyer. Students who provided the best arguments were always rewarded.

When Asher was living in a campus dorm in Season 3, Michaela visited him and the two slept together. When one of Asher’s friends called him outside the room, Michaela noticed his case notes lying next to the bed and proceeded to read them, thus taking ideas that would benefit her. Definitely not the best way to treat your boyfriend.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1212 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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