SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 3 midseason premiere of “How to Get Away With Murder,” which aired on Thursday, Jan. 26.
“How to Get Away With Murder” won’t reveal #WhoKilledWes for quite some time, but the midseason premiere did offer more clues into the shocking death.
In a flashback, when Wes (Alfred Enoch) walked out through the doors of the police station, he ran into Frank (Charlie Weber), who asked him to come into his car. That, of course, was just hours before the house fire in which Wes was found burnt and dead in the basement.
In present day, pregnant Laurel (Karla Souza) is in the hospital, recovering from her injuries from the house fire, which she survived.
Through a series of flashbacks, the episode included many never-before-seen memories of Wes, as perceived through each character’s eyes. For Laurel, she recalls taking a bath with Wes, which ultimately serves as the scene that reveals he is the father of her unborn baby.
When the rest of the Keating Five visits Laurel in the hospital, she tells them that Wes is the father. When Frank visits her in the hospital, she tells him that he should have been the one who was killed in the house fire. After those harsh words, Frank heads to the police station to turn himself in — but who knows if he actually killed Wes.
Meanwhile, Annalise (Viola Davis) is in jail, and having a tough time adapting to prison. She enlists Bonnie (Liza Weil) as her attorney, but her first attempt in court to set bail fails. However, the most surprising instance to occur in court is the DA saying that Wes’ autopsy lists his death as caused by the fire. (Remember when Nate was told that Wes was dead, before the fire?)
Here, “How to Get Away With Murder” creator Pete Nowalk talks to Variety about the midseason premiere.
We saw flashbacks to the night Wes died in the house fire. Why did Frank want Wes to get in his car?
What’s good about that question is you’ll find out next week right away. The two of them have a lot to talk about. How that conversation goes and what happens obviously remains to be seen. There’s a good chance Frank killed Wes [laughing]. But I think when we decided to have Wes be killed, I was always like, ‘Ugh, but Frank and Wes have so much to deal with!’ The last time we saw them together is when Frank killed his father and surprised him. So I think it’s going to be quite an exciting confrontation.
Frank turns himself in for the murder. Did he really do it, or did he falsely turn himself in?
It would make a lot of sense — Frank is a lot of times the killer. I want people to be spinning a million different theories.
So at this point, should we take that scene when Frank turns himself in for face value, or is it up in the air?
It’s up in the air, and that’s going to be the question for the police and for our characters. He didn’t even tell Bonnie what he was going to do, and he always tells Bonnie so she can help him be crazy [laughing]. And he didn’t. So we’ll be asking all of those questions.
Whether or not Frank did kill Wes, did his conversation with Laurel convince him to go to the police station — perhaps to clear his conscious?
I think Frank misses Laurel and I think he has always felt close to her and I think he still loves her. I think he could still love other people, as well. I think that last scene just really devastated him, and whether that pushed him to the police station or not, we’ll find out. Frank, to me, is not a sociopath. I think he has feelings and wants to please people, except he sometimes just does it in a really bad way. I don’t know if he has the right instincts. He’s not the healthiest person [laughing].
At the time this episode was being filmed, had you written who killed Wes yet, or did you not know if it was actually Frank?
I had my list of people, but I also know I’ve changed my mind a million times, so everyone is still in play at the end of the episode.
Now, do you know who actually killed Wes?
We wrote the finale and they’re shooting it right now, so I really can’t change my mind. I finally made a decision and I hope people are intrigued.
In the midseason finale back in November, Nate was told that Wes was dead before the house fire. But in tonight’s episode, the autopsy said that he died in the fire. What really happened, and is Nate going to try to prove a lie?
I love the Nate storyline because he’s really on this path to find out the truth. Was that a mistake? Was that a cover up? Is someone rail-roading Annalise? And how does he feel about all of that and is he involved in it? What’s great is to watch is Nate going back to his detective roots and really being the one in the middle. We don’t know which way he’s going to go so it’s fun to write that.
You previously told Variety that Wes will remain in the entire back-half of the season, but what about Season 4?
It remains to be seen. That’s all I can say. He’s obviously dear to my heart and a very talented actor. We haven’t been picked up [for Season 4]. I’m still waiting.
