It has been recently announced that Shonda Rhimes’ notorious crime series drama, How To Get Away With Murder, will be wrapping up the show with the upcoming sixth season. For most, this news came abruptly. After the events of last season unfold to reveal yet another innocent death and the habitual cliffhanger, it seems like there is too much going on in the world of Annalise Keating to wrap up in just one season.
It will be interesting to see where Pete Nowalk and the rest of the Shondaland crew will lead the main cast. Season five left us with a missing baby Christopher, a distraught Bonnie, and a poisoned Emmet. Not to mention the list of unanswered questions concerning the law students’ career paths and love lives. But with only fifteen episodes left to address these propagating issues, here are at least ten things that need to happen before How To Get Away With Murder ends.
Annalise’s Class Action Case
Viola Davis’ role as Annalise has earned her praise beyond compare. On top of being a limitless law professor, this woman is a fearless role model; at least, when she’s not helping to cover up her student’s murders. Annalise’s latest muse deals with the unjust criminal system. Her class-action suit against the state of Pennsylvania had just started picking up speed before her first client was brutally murdered.
So far it seems that the governor is behind it all, but last season’s finale only gave us more questions than answers as to how Annalise’s case will pan out.
Find Baby Christopher
At the end of last season, Laurel and her baby, Christopher, both disappear without a trace. This happens right after she and Annalise confront Laurel’s brother, Xavier. Xavier had been seen talking to the late Nate Sr. in prison in attempts to take on his case instead of Annalise.
Laurel is convinced this is at her father’s bidding, who is probably out for revenge after Annalise helps land him in prison. Her father, Jorge Castillo, did take Christopher away once before, after all. He appears to be the only person with a motive to take the child away. But why take Laurel this time?
Xavier’s Role In All Of This
At this rate, it looks as if yet another Castillo is intertwined with Annalise and her law students. This is where things start to get tricky. First, Jorge Castillo has Dominic (a family friend) murder Wes to get him out of Laurel’s life. Is this purely out of spite? It’s hard to say. Jorge next has Christopher taken away right after he’s born. Then Sandrine, Laurel’s mother, goes missing. Jorge thinks Laurel has done something, and Laurel thinks it’s her father.
Then someone sends Sandrine’s scalp to Laurel. Laurel finds out that her brother is interfering with her boss’s civil action case. Then Laurel and her baby go immediately missing. What is going on?! Can this really all be a coincidence? Because right now, Xavier Castillo looks like the prime suspect behind all of it.
Find Out What Happens To Laurel’s Mom
Laurel’s family is at the thick of the chaos in this show. First, her boyfriend, Wes, is murdered supposedly only because of her father’s disapproval, and then we find out that her brother has been deeply embedded into Laurel and her classmate’s activities.
But why? And what happened to Laurel’s mother? After a series of mysterious phone calls and being mailed what appears to be her mother’s scalp, Laurel is desperate to find out who’s behind it all. It’s been hard to keep track of all of the Castillo family wrong-doings; something that needs to be cleaned up and polished before the series end.
Find Out How The Castillo’s Knew Wes
Wes’ wayward backstory still doesn’t add up, even though his death happened nearly three seasons ago. He keeps making a resurgence which only adds more confusion than it does anything else. It seems that Laurel’s family has Wes killed because Wes planned on incriminating himself and Laurel on their past crimes. Audiences have to ask themselves: would Wes really do that? It seems unlikely. And how did Sandrine know Wes’ real name?
Why had Wes been communicating with the Castillo’s at all? Maybe Wes is still alive and he’s the one behind Laurel and Christopher’s disappearance.
Asher and Michaela
Of course the writers of How To Get Away With Murder want audiences to assume this relationship has been officially killed. The last time we see Michaela, she’s back making out with Gabriel, whose sole motive is to find out more about his father’s (Sam) death. The latter two plot points have all but dried out, and there seems to be no real stake in Michaela and Gabriel’s relationship.
Plus, it’s hard to deny the obvious chemistry that Michaela and Asher have. They balance each other out, with his goofy humor playing gracefully off her domineering veneer.
Emmet’s Poisoning
It’s no coincidence that Emmet Crawford is found to be (presumably) poisoned after he announces his run at D.A. So far, it appears that the Xavier Castillo has been working with the governor to pin the blame of Nate Sr.’s death on Emmet. The real reason behind this is unclear. The governor’s goal is to offset Annalise’s class-action suit, which is why she has Nate Sr. killed in the first place. But how does Xavier play into it all?
After Annalise sees through the rouse and accepts Emmet’s innocence, he vows to run for office in order to expose the truth about the governor. So it makes sense that she would be the one to poison him once her original scheme falls through.
Bonnie’s Redemption
Despite her hardened facade, Bonnie is fragile to the core. Her father set her up as a child prostitute, which inevitably leads to her pregnancy. She has the baby, but it’s taken away from her. Last season, Bonnie learns that her sister, Julie, had actually taken the baby. However, Julie says the baby did die and she buried it in the woods somewhere. There seems to be no proof of this and it doesn’t really make sense that the writers would reintroduce this story just to come to the same conclusion. There has to be more behind it all.
Bonnie then helps to kill Ron, her boyfriend. Viewers learn at the end of last season that Ron had been innocent in Nate Sr’s murder, but Frank and Annalise decide to disguise the truth from Bonnie. Naturally, this lie won’t hold and Bonnie is sure to . have her redemption period before the series end.
Frank and Laurel
Another relationship that seems to be put to rest, but fans aren’t willing to let this fire die out that easily. Laurel and Frank’s relationship has been turbulent from the start, but Laurel is Frank’s only weakness and it’s bound to lead to some kind of struggle (or killing).
There is still an obvious tension (or chemistry) between these two and only the sixth season will be able to settle the Laurel-Frank dynamic once and for all.
Operation Bonfire
The most glaring issue that the group of law student’s face is the FBI’s “Operation Bonfire.” The video footage reveals an ongoing investigation that ties Sam Keating’s murder to Annalise’s group.
Annalise begs her team to lay low for the time being, but considering the FBI has a record of their wrongdoings since that fateful bonfire, it seems inevitable that at least some truth will come to light at How To Get Away With Murder’s series finale.
