Is it Thursday, Jan. 29 yet? As much as I want the holidays to last, I really don't want to wait over two months for How to Get Away With Murder to come back. That's right, folks. We have to wait until the very end of January to see the unraveling of Sam Keating's death, despite the fakeout block of How To Get Away With Murder episodes on Thanksgiving Eve. Also, let's not forget about Lila, because as positive as Wes and Rebecca are that Mr. Darcy whacked Lila, we still don't know for sure. It's just torture that we have to wait for TGIT's (Thank God It's Thursday) return. Not cool, Shonda Rhimes and ABC. Not cool.
Until then, let's talk the winter finale. Anyone else still reeling from that murder scene, which actually turned out to be a fake-out? First, it looked like Sam died by staircase. Let me tell you, if that would've been the case I would not be happy. Then, we learned those stairs and that fall couldn't take down Sam, as he rose from the ground and started strangling Rebecca. Of course, Wes stepped in to save his girl and smashed Sam's head in with that trophy/statue. That wasn't the only shocking moment, as we also learned Annalise knows about Sam's death. Whaaaat?
That's right, just seconds after Wes apologizes to Sam for killing him, Annalise appears and calmly says, "Don't be." Just how much does Annalise know about her husband's death? How long was she in the house? Did Wes confess all? I have no idea, but I assume those details will slowly unfold once HTGAWM returns. However, there's no doubt, just like the Keating Four (aka Laurel, Connor, Michaela, and Wes), Annalise will do whatever it takes to keep her husband's death a secret. For now, that is. That brings up another question: why does she want to keep Sam's death a secret? She didn't have anything to do with it... or did she? At least she has a "rock-hard" alibi in Nate, or so it seems. Also, that message she left on Sam's voicemail? Damn. Annalise is one good actress (and so is Viola Davis), that is if she was acting.
All of this brings me to Annalise and Wes' relationship. It's a complicated one, for sure. Ever since Wes discovered Annalise's affair, the two have had some twisted teacher/student relationship that usually ends in blackmail. Now, Annalise and Wes are working together to keep Sam's murder secret, but to what length? There are a ton of scenarios, but here are two that seem to be getting the most attention.
Was Sam's Death Premeditated?
Did Annalise reach out to Wes to kill her husband? Is Wes not as innocent as he seems? Per showrunner Peter Nowalk, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, Annalise is not a "puppet master," which he says is a word that "simplifies her too much." He adds, "She's a real person and I can't imagine a puppet master existing in real life, that they could be able to see that much ahead. Annalise does things five steps ahead but also reacts in the moment to things that she couldn’t have expected happening, like Wes finding out that Sam was Mr. Darcy. More than a puppet master, she is just a great chess player."
Even if she couldn't see down the road that this would happen, there's always a chance she could've asked Wes to do it, or manipulated him to do so, right? Yes, Wes is the "puppy dog" of the group, who also seems the most innocent, but it seems we should be questioning his past, at least according to TVLine. Remember how Wes told Rebecca his mother committed suicide when he was 12? Nowalk says fans should "definitely pay attention to" that detail. He adds,
That was a big bomb. It was buried in a bunch of information that was not significant, and it explains a lot of Wes’ behavior; it explains that he has a deep sadness, a loneliness. It maybe explains a little of his ‘damsel-in-distress-rescue syndrome,’ too. It’s a question: ‘How did [Wes' mother] kill herself? Why did she kill herself? What happened to Wes after that? And how did that impact who he was?’ What happens to us as children completely determines our psychology and our behavior after that. [That death], basically, blew apart his life.
Is he capable of premeditated murder? I find it unlikely (maybe I don't want it to be true, because I like Wes so much), especially since Wes looked genuinely surprised to see Annalise staring at him and Sam's dead body. Whatever the truth, the holes will be filled in, eventually. As Nowalk told Entertainment Weekly, the audience will find out if Annalise and Wes are truly in cahoots, once HTGAWM returns.
Is Annalise Taking Advantage of What Wes Did?
If Sam's death wasn't premeditated, then why and how did Annalise become involved? Is she purely taking advantage of finding Wes at the murder scene? If so, now she can blackmail Wes (and the others if she knows their involvement) and use him to her liking. Also, why would she be OK with Sam being dead? It makes sense why she could care less about her husband's death aka he was not a good guy — and scary. Can we reflect on their last fight? From Sam calling Annalise "nothing but a piece of ass" to him saying she's "a disgusting slut" to Annalise saying she's only been a "window dressing" to the revealing of her affair with Nate, it was truly ugly.
Overall, Annalise could have easily turned in Wes and the others, but whatever the timeline and truth is, let's face it, the Keating Four made a mess and a lot of mistakes (way to leave your DNA all over the house), and Annalise seems to be sitting pretty. Hey, she is the master of how to get away with murder.
Images: Michael Ansell/ABC; voldermorte (3), kingmakings, mikeerhmantraut, sourwolves/Tumblr
