ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder returns for a third season this fall and fans can expect the same level of drama the show delivered in its freshman and sophomore seasons. Season 2 delved into the past of Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and ended on a cliffhanger: Wes (Alfred Enoch) confronts his birth father, only to see him get shot to death in broad daylight.
To learn what is in store for Season 3, below are 13 must-know spoilers:
1. Season 3 will likely have a different format, according to showrunner Peter Nowalk. “I like switching it up, honestly,” he told TVLine. “I don’t want the show to become stale. In the back half of Season 2, we had so much emphasis on Rose’s case that there wasn’t room for cases of the week. We’ll probably try to do a balance.”
2. Despite all the drama, Annalise will continue doing what she does best: law. “I love watching Annalise do her job in any way,” Nowalk told TVLine. “She loves her job, and I don’t think she’s the same person if she’s not doing it. So, whether that’s case of the week or case of the season, seeing her at work is what I care about.”
3. Frank (Charlie Weber) leaves in Season 2 after Annalise learns of his role in her miscarriage ten years ago. Weber told TVLine he is still a series regular in Season 3. “You know, it’s not about Frank getting back on the team and going to court,” said Weber in the interview. “He doesn’t give a s–t about that. He just wants things to be OK with Annalise.”
4. Season 3 will also see how Wes and Annalise move forward after everything they have been through, from Rebecca’s (Katie Findlay) death to learning about Annalise’s history with his mother.
“I think the ball is mostly in Wes' court there,” Nowalk told TV.com. “I think he understands now why Annalise has been doing everything and treating him that way more than he did before. Whether he can trust her again and whether he wants her in his life is the big question. I will say he's alone. He doesn't have anyone and here's this person who's protected him from a lot. That's a big dilemma for him, but I would like to see them not hate each other for a little bit.”
5. After losing Rebecca, Wes is in for another emotional rollercoaster with the death of his father. But Wes will handle this situation better.
“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,” said Nowalk to Variety. “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.”
6. Viewers may not have to wait till the end of Season 3 to learn the identity of Wes’ father’s killer. Nowalk told Variety it is possible that Mahoney’s killer will be revealed in the first minute. “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,” said Nowalk.
7. As for suspects, it could be Frank. Not only did Wallace Mahoney lure Frank to betray Annalise, he was actively responsible for her miscarriage. “It would certainly fit the story, but again I have no idea who pulled that trigger — or why,” Weber said. “Wallace was a powerful man with a lot of enemies, and Frank is certainly one of them.”
Nowalk told TV.com: “I definitely think that's what makes sense. He just found out this episode that Wallace was also Wes' father and he knows Wallace caused that car accident. That would make complete sense. I think I know who shot Wallace at this point and I will not tell you if you're right or not. I will say sometimes we like to shock you guys and sometimes we like to do what makes sense. It's all up for grabs.”
8. With Frank gone, Bonnie (Liza Weil) will be keeping the group together. “She’s almost the mama bear trying to connect everyone,” Nowalk told Entertainment Weekly about Weil’s character. “That’s what her role will be. In that, I would like to explore and show you guys more how her and Annalise met, and why Annalise and this family are so important to her.”
9. Very little has been revealed about Laurel’s (Karla Souza) backstory, aside from her tense relationship with her father, who she considers to be a bad influence. The show will explore her family life in Season 3.
“I feel like it’s very present,” said Nowalk to EW. “The promise of our show is that we won’t dangle things out too long. The likelihood is yes. We’ve raised that question too many times not to answer it sooner than later.”
10. In Season 2, Asher’s (Matt McGorry) father commits suicide and Asher is convinced that foul play is involved. The story arc was abruptly dropped but the show could return to it.
“It’s possible that we come back to that,” said Nowalk to EW. “At this point, Asher really wanted to believe that his father was killed, because then killing Emily Sinclair was more justified. He’s now in a place where he’s trying to move on from that and accept the reality that he committed suicide.”
11. Another storyline that may or may not return is what happened to Rebecca. While viewers know that Bonnie strangled her to death — and Annalise got Frank to get rid of the evidence — none of the Keating 5 know the truth. “That’s all up for grabs, as it would be in real life,” said Nowalk. “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.”
12. The season-long mystery in Season 2 was the Hapstall case. By the season finale, it was implied that Caleb (Kendrick Sampson) is the killer and he is shown having ended his life. Nowalk told Variety that the Hapstall case is “95 percent done.”
13. Oliver (Conrad Ricamora) will definitely be back in Season 3, as Ricamora has been promoted to a series regular. In Season 2, Oliver deletes Connor’s (Jack Falahee) acceptance letter from Stanford and even impersonates his boyfriend in a call to the dean asking them to never call him again.
“[Oliver] has a new lease on life… not only meeting Connor, but also his [HIV-positive] diagnosis,” Nowalk tells TVLine. “All of it has made him look at his life and say, ‘What do I really want?’ He wants a little bit more excitement. He wants to feel passionate about his job. He doesn’t want to be bored.”
Season 3 of ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder returns in the fall in its regular Thursday, 10 p.m. slot.
