Let us acknowledge the elephant in the room, shall we? Dean Thomas Wes (Christophe) Gibbins is dead and I feel dead inside. I cannot speak for all, but the reason I started watching HTGAWM was primarily because it had Dean Thomas Alfred Enoch in a prominent role. Anything related to the Harry Potter stories excites me, be it a new book or a new movie or peripherally related news like Draco Malfoy on The Flash or Alfred Enoch as Wes Gibbins.
I still remember first reading about the show on Hypable and bingeing on the entire first half of season 1 after The Flash went on hiatus that winter. I had quite a predilection toward Wes and loved the relationship built up between him and Annalise. As much as I tried to, I couldn’t get myself to like the other characters.
With Asher’s constant obnoxious attitude, Michaela’s and Connor’s genuine reactions to being involved in a murder (which I absolutely detested), and many other absurd reasons, I just couldn’t then. Three seasons in and the ones whom I care about a little more are Asher (because who doesn’t like Asher?) and Laurel.
Yet, I am not invested in them as I was in Wes, even before I had started watching the show.
In hindsight, the show always has been about Wes. To say that Annalise Keating’s life had been quite smooth before Wes wouldn’t be much of a hyperbole. Yeah, sure, she had lost her baby, but that was a long time ago for her, and by then, everything was a-okay. After Wes entered her life, she discovered her husband’s infidelity, covered up for her husband’s murderers, got shot, fired, disbarred and any other bad thing you may think of.
While some may argue that the same could be said about any other member of the Keating 5, let us deeply analyze how much Wes was involved in those matters.
A girl disappeared and the best friend of the girl, Rebecca, happens to be Wes’ neighbor. He develops feelings for her and in the pursuit of saving this love of his, ends up killing Sam (not that he didn’t deserve it).
Worst of all, what he had tried to achieve by killing Sam in the mid-season finale is completely undone by the season finale rendering all his, the remaining Keating 4, and Annalise’s efforts moot. We had gotten a few minor details about his past in the first season, about how his mother had killed herself but the major reveal happened in the second half of the second season where we got a detailed look at the ‘Christophe’ moment from the mid-season finale.
And if losing a mom and a lover wasn’t enough, he witnesses a new tragedy where his father, about whom he just found out, is killed right in front of him. These two seasons show that a lot of thought was given to write the character of Wes. It is no Michaela who could be substituted for another mean girl and would make no difference to the story whatsoever. That is why, killing off this character is quite a bold move for the show.
In spite of all these hiccups, Wes was aspiring to be happy. He was happy with Meggy at the beginning of this season and was, probably, the happiest when he was with Laurel. The world kept beating him down, but Wes wasn’t one to give up. None of the other four characters have such an elaborate history like that (Asher could come second, but nowhere even close).
To shorten my rant, let me say that Wes was my favorite character. Maybe that is why, when Wes was revealed to be under the sheet, I felt a chill down my spine. The impact was truly gut-wrenching. Before the reveal and after Nate is shown, I was racking my brain searching for another male character of black ethnicity on the show.
I hadn’t even found an answer when the sheet was raised and all I could do was stare ahead, like Connor. I wanted it to be an elaborate plan by the DA’s office to take down Annalise. I was hoping Wes would open his eyes after the “unofficially?” (even though it would be a huge cop out) and somehow everything (except Annalise’s burnt down house) would be fine. That was how much I was invested in the character. Because for me, he was the Rick Grimes of the show, but he turned out to be just another Glenn (Annalise being Daryl, as she’s a BA).
What does Wes’ death mean for the future of the show?
Decisions like these in a TV show take guts that these writers have proven they do have, but what are they going to do after this season ends? Who is going to be the new focus of the story? Who will be the new Wes? Annalise and Laurel seemed to be getting along this season, but is that bond developed enough to replace the Wes-Annalise bond?
Moreover, what will it mean for the Keating 4? Annalise was protecting them just because Wes was involved in it. Now that Wes is gone, why not ask for immunity and tell everything? Sam made Frank kill Lyla, Wes killed Sam, Bonnie killed Rebecca, Asher killed Emily Sinclair, and Frank killed Wallace Mahoney. Maybe the writers will explore these possibilities or maybe not. But if the show wants me back for season 4, it needs to make me care about the remaining characters as much as it made me care about Wes. And there sure are many people who share this view with me.
The show has about six to seven episodes in the next half, so I sincerely hope I am intrigued enough to come back for more, but until then, I have to acknowledge that this death, even though it’s a bold step for the writers, is a step in the wrong direction.