How to Get Away with Murder is always, as the title implies, a show about getting away with murder. However, spinning a tale of “whodunnit” may not exactly be the show’s biggest mystery.
We’ve had a lot of information thrown at us during season 2 of How to Get Away with Murder. A lot of that information is life altering. Bonnie and Asher are dealing with Asher’s rage-murder of the assistant district attorney Emily Sinclair, Frank and Laurel are dealing with Frank’s admission that he killed Lila, and Wes is slowly realizing that Annalise likely had something to do with his mother’s death (or at the very least her overly entitled, scumbag clients did).
Despite all of the above, the biggest bomb drop has been the fact that Annalise was once pregnant with her and Sam’s baby. As of right now, we know two things for sure. One, Annalise carried the child until at least her eighth month, making it fairly likely that, barring any complications, she delivered a healthy baby. Two, whatever happened to that baby must have been a drastic, and permanently life-changing event for Annalise.
In all the flashbacks that we have seen of Annalise’s life 10 years ago, one thing has been made pretty clear: Annalise was a much happier person then than she is now. She actually smiled on a regular basis a decade ago. In fact, she was downright chipper, cracking jokes, and smiling, dare we say it, like a normal person. Sure, Annalise was still manipulative and looking out for her clients, but she didn’t seem to have that same hard edge, tough as nails, sarcastic, ice-queen thing going on in the past as she does in the present.
Annalise’s relationship with Frank in the past was a lot more light-hearted, too. Frank is still Frank, making passes at the interns, but it’s not quite as creepy when there’s less of an age gap. Frank is also more friendly in general. He’s almost like a younger brother to Annalise, who she looks out for him by buying him new suits. He’s the local boy from Fishtown just trying to work his way up in the world. In the present, their relationship is much more boss and employee, or even executioner and henchman.
On the other hand, Bonnie is still Bonnie. She’s still fairly glum, and she doesn’t smile any more in the past than she does in the present. She’s pretty serious, and she’s dedicated to pleasing Annalise. Nevertheless, there is still a subtle difference in her relationship with Annalise. It’s obvious, just as is the case with Frank, that Annalise is a big sister or mother figure to Bonnie, and Bonnie appears, as much as she’s capable, to warmly appreciate the attention.
The question of the hour is “What the hell happened?” It’s got to be more complicated than the loss of her child. What caused her to lose the baby? Did she give the baby up for adoption? In true Annalise style, did she fake the baby’s death and then give it up for adoption? What turned the positive and ambitious lawyer of yesterday into the ruthless and totally amoral lawyer of today?
We only have a few more episodes to figure this all out until we are on hiatus until season 3.
How to Get Away with Murder airs on Thursday at 10:00 p.m. ET.