‘How to Get Away With Murder’ Creator on Finale Cliffhangers, What’s পরবর্তি in Season 3 

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead, if you have not watched the Season 2 finale of “

How To Get Away with Murder,” which aired on Thursday, March 17.

“How To Get Away with Murder” wrapped up another season Thursday night, and no surprise here: two people were left dead and there’s a major cliffhanger that won’t be addressed until the fall when Season 3 returns.

The Hapstall case finally wrapped up. Turns out, Caleb (Kendrick Sampson) was the guilty one all along. The Keating Five watched video footage that showed that Caleb was ratting out the group, and Annalise (Viola Davis) was able to compile enough information to prove that Caleb was the killer. In the end, the Hapstall twin killed himself, turning up dead in a very bloody, gruesome bathtub.

As for Annalise, who found out in last week’s episode that Frank (Charlie) killed Lila (Megan West), Professor Keating took a trip to her mama’s (Cicely Tyson) house to get some peace away from life — though she wasn’t exactly relaxing, as her father was unexpectedly at her family’s home. While home, Annalise finally got the chance to mourn her unborn child, who died in that car crash years before, coming clean to her mom that she once was pregnant.

‘How to Get Away With Murder’ Season 2 Finale — Who Dies?

Speaking of that car crash, viewers finally learned that it wasn’t an accident after all — and none other than Frank was a big piece behind the terrible tragedy. Years ago when Frank was young and newly working with Annalise, he accepted a bribe for a big bag of money in return for planting a bug with Annalise. For who? Wallace Mahoney.

With Annalise knowing Frank’s dark secret that he’s been harboring — and feeling guilty over — for years, Frank goes missing and Annalise tells Bonnie (Liza Weil) to get rid of Frank.

In the final moments of the episode, Wes (Alfred Enoch) takes a quick trip to confront Wallace Mahoney, who he just learned was his father, and when he finally comes face-to-face with him, Wallace is shot, splattering blood all over Wes’ face. Who shot Wallace? That won’t be revealed until next season.

Here, “HTGAWM” creator Pete Nowalk answers burning questions about the finale, plus teases what’s to come in Season 3.

How soon will the mystery of who-shot-Wallace be revealed in the new season?

There are two options for me — it’s either in the first minute in the show, or that’s a longer mystery because it’s a more complicated story.

My theory is that Frank is the one who shot Wallace in order to get redemption with Annalise. What do you think about that theory?

I will say that makes a lot of sense. If Frank decided I need to make good with Annalise, I’m going to get rid of one of the most evil men in her life and I’m going to show her that I’m on her side. Exactly that makes sense, but sometimes on the show, it’s our goal to do what no one expects and sometimes we just do what makes sense. It’s not a bad theory at all, and I have a theory as well and I’m going to meet with the writers in the next few months and we’re going to hash it out and see what idea we like best. It’s all up in the air.

Wes obviously didn’t have a relationship with Wallace, but still, his father was shot right in front of him and his blood was splattered all over his face. How will that affect Wes?

One year ago, I would have said Wes would have fallen apart and down a spiral, but I think he’s been through so much hell now, he’s much tougher. The thing I’m really excited to explore now is what is his relationship with Annalise now. They’ve been on such opposite sides because she’s been aggressively protecting him, but also hiding a secret from him, but now that everything is out on the table, he has to decide whether to trust her. He’s alone so I think there’s a version where they grow much closer and they work together so that’s what is really appealing to me right now.

Whether or not Frank shot Wallace, he is missing. Is he actually gone or will he come back?

There’s a very good option that he’s gone for good — that he fled to South America and will hide away from Annalise forever. That bag has a lot of money and he hasn’t touched it this whole time. He’s been atonning for that sin for these past ten years without Annalise even knowing it. Or, he’s going to try to win her love back. Those are just two options. There’s a big mystery still of who was he before he met Annalise. What happened between him and Sam beyond that secret that they kept in the hospital? Those are all stories I want to keep telling and explore. We’ve only now just revealed one secret so there’s got to be a lot more.

What does Annalise mean when she tells Bonnie “he needs to go” — does she want Frank dead?

I think that’s a really good question, but I will not answer that question because I think it’s up to the audience. I didn’t know how Viola was going to perform it. I just trusted that she would in her own way, and I think she probably has one meaning for it. This is the biggest betrayal of her life, besides Sam being involved in Lila’s murder. For her, in that moment, she does not see a way to forgive Frank or even a desire to forgive Frank. Instead, it’s the opposite. It’s this desire to see him go — however you want to interpret that. We’ll reveal more about that next season.

If Frank is back, what is the relationship between him and Bonnie going to look like? A lot has changed.

Bonnie is going to have to chose sides basically. Bonnie is like, Annalise, we can forgive Frank, it was Sam’s fault! She’s trying to be the peacemaker. And Annalise is like, hell no! Bonnie is basically going to have to chose a side in this war and I don’t know which one she’ll chose. Within that, there’s also the mystery of how did Bonnie and Annalise first met and who is Bonnie most loyal to.

In the new season, do you want to explore Bonnie’s backstory just as much as you did with Frank’s this season?

Both of their backstories, we’ve hinted at certain things, but we haven’t shown it. The storylines that I have in my head are very rich and complex, so I don’t know when we’ll tell them, but I think they are worth seeing.

Speaking of backstory, why did you want Annalise to visit her childhood home?

A few reasons. I wanted to bring Cicely back obviously this season, and she wasn’t available until our finale because she was doing a play. I knew I wanted Annalise to find out that Frank killed Lila. She’s been betrayed by another man, and who is she going to go to? She can go to Eve, but I feel like Annalise’s only choice is to flee town. And then also, I just love the challenge and the weirdness of changing the show’s energy and changing the location. The finales with the way we’ve done them, they’re high-intensity and exciting and I just wanted to do something different. It was scary and really hard doing that storyline, but for me, I always respond to the biggest challenge so that was my goal.

Why did the Hapstall case end how it did with Caleb being the killer, and him ultimately taking his own life?

For a while, I felt like it was too expected that it would be Caleb — the one who we got to know better and the one that Michaela fell for. I just thought that people may see it coming. But in the end, it felt like the thing that made the most sense and obviously, sometimes we go for surprise, but for me I just wanted it to make sense. We didn’t provide clear-cut evidence, like in the real world you never actually know — you know people are charged with murder and put in jail, but there’s always the chance that they didn’t do it — so I think we gave as much evidence as they would have gotten in the real world just to prove that he did it, and I think that his suicide basically answered the question. He gave up.

Is the Hapstall case done, or will it bubble up again in Season 3?

I’d say it’s 95% done. If anything, it will just be small little things that we would maybe touch upon to make it feel real, but that case was always designed as a case of the season so the case is closed in my mind right now. But you never know what will happen, but I really wanted a clean slate to start next year.

Next season, will there be a long case like the Hapstalls or will it be back to the case-by-case format?

I don’t know to be honest. What I feel strongly about the show is that we don’t have to follow a formula. We can always mix it up. We had just a few less cases of the weeks this year just because we had so much to accomplish with revealing what happened to Annalise’s baby and her connection to Rose. I feel like the show works best when we’re balanced and you don’t really know what coming, but to me, there’s no rules.

You said you’re excited about having a clean slate, but what storylines from the first two seasons will continue into Season 3?

It’s been important to me since the beginning to not have things happen to these characters and forget about them happening. I put a lot of faith in the audience that they’ll want to keep up so it’s a balance — I don’t want it to get too complicated and for people to have to remember every little thing that happens, but my favorite shows always took into account the character’s pasts, and with these actors, they’re always wanting to dig more into their characters and their backstory. It’s about making their characters feel believable and possible and those are the stories that I really want to continue. I want to find out who Laurel’s father is, I want to find out who Michaela’s adopted family is and how that ties into who they are.

Wes still hasn’t come full circle with the Rebecca storyline. Will that arc be brought back?

That’s all up for grabs, as it would be in real life. Secrets sit for 20 years and then they flare up in a moment, like Annalise’s baby did. You never know. I just don’t want to overwhelm the audience with nitty-gritty details.

Asher and Michaela have been hooking up. Are you going to continue to explore that relationship? I think definitely. I don’t think that characters can just pretend that things have never happened like they said. We just left Michaela now realizing that she has kind of fallen for a serial killer. Asher is actually a really kind, chill, good guy. I think when he says to her “You’re really something,” she doesn’t hear that enough in her life and I’m not saying that she should go for him, but I think in her state, she’s really desperate and sad and alone so I get her going towards him. And I really get him falling for her because she’s a challenge for him. Bonnie dumped him and he’s trying to get over Bonnie and Michaela is this amazing challenge and I think Asher probably needs that.

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Associate Director, YouTuber & Gamer Partnerships

Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. Too bad Frank is being revealed as such a wimpy wiener, probably should disappear to South America or China. And, loving Oliver’s candor and spontaneity! Can NOT wait for Season 3!

my two suspects for who shot wallace is Frank and Eve. Its obvious with Frank but doesn’t Eve live in new york and felt guilty thinking if she had gone for annalise she wouldn’t have lost her baby. Maybe Frank dissappeared and payed her a visit and told her wallace was behind annalise losing her baby. Knowing how much she loves Annalise, she shot him or they both worked together. It would make sense and she would the least to suspect.

I really want to know the whole story about and with Rebecca. Was Bonnie the only one or was Frank or anyone else in her death. What part did they play? What happened after she died? Where is she now-where’s the body? Did she have any family? Crystal