hindsight

How Not to Get Away With Murder, According to HTGAWM

Getting away with murder is hard work. Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/ABC

The twists and turns kept coming this season on How to Get Away With Murder, and we don’t doubt that tonight’s finale will bring even more jaw-droppers. But while Annalise Keating and her Fearful Foursome might just pull it off — for now, at least — there were plenty of pitfalls along the way that nearly unraveled the whole game. Herewith, eight not-so-wise moves that could have our murderous mentees donning the orange anyway.

Don’t leave your two-carat rock at the scene of the crime.
Prim, perfect, buttoned-up Michaela Pratt usually has it together. That is, except for when she’s, you know, hacking a body to bits and setting it on fire. On that murderous night in the woods, Michaela managed to lose the two-carat ring her fiancé Aiden gave her. And then, under all the pressure, pretty much lost Aiden, too. She’s been lucky so far — the only ring the cops have recovered is Sam’s wedding ring, which Annalise smartly had planted by Cranky Frankie to implicate Nate.

Don’t confess it all to your super-cute hacker boyfriend during a panic attack.
After that night in the woods, Connor Walsh nearly cracked. He went to go see his sweet new love, Oliver, and proceeded to have a panic attack, nearly revealing exactly what he’d been up to. But just as he as he was about to spill, Connor pulled himself together and fed Oliver another line: one about being a drug addict in recovery. Not super-fun in the long run, but enough of a ruse to keep Oliver at bay. For now. It can’t help that he calls on the dude’s hacking skills at every turn. At some point, Smart Guy’s gonna guess what’s really up.

Don’t rat out the only person keeping you out of prison.
Michaela and Connor were a real danger to the team, and themselves, especially. The pair plotted a plan to tell the cops what went down, cutting a sweet deal for themselves in the process. But they made the mistake of looping in Laurel, who just doesn’t play like that. Laurel took the scoop straight to Annalise, who set all of them straight with a lecture on trust. Especially since she’s the only one who’ll be able to get them off the hook should it come to that.

Don’t hook up with your clueless co-worker.
Okay, so who doesn’t this one apply to on this show? Annalise hooked up with Nate. Laurel hooked up with Frank. And Bonnie hooked up with Asher. Strategic alliances? Maybe in Annalise’s case, but for the others, it was all about the warm bodies. And the problem here, of course, is the emotional toll. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt and decides to lash out. Our bet? Bonnie’s in for it with Asher, who’s enjoying the blonde-boss-lady-loving but seems to be a bit on the sensitive side.

Don’t underestimate doofus.
Perhaps the biggest mistake the foursome has made this season is leaving poor little rich boy Asher out of their mess. He showed up that night trying to reclaim his Lady Justice trophy (also known as the murder weapon). And it’s likely he’s unwittingly uncovering something. Case in point? He revealed the fact that Michaela’s SUV was parked at the scene of the crime the night of the bonfire, leading the cops to check on that. Michaela managed a cover story that time, but she might not always be so lucky.

Don’t mess with Hanna.
No one’s really missing Sam except for his kid sister Hanna, who knows that Annalise — never good enough for her brother in the first place — has everything to do with this murder. And she’ll go to any length to prove it, even if it means lying on the stand to get the cops to issue a critical search warrant. Hanna also knows that there are a lot of loose cannons on Team Annalise, and you can bet she’ll figure out just how to get a few of them to slip up, playing right into her well-manicured hands.

Don’t set up the love of your life.
Annalise didn’t mourn Sam, as everyone pointed out. But she sure couldn’t pull herself out of bed for days after she turned poor Nate in to the cops for a crime he didn’t commit. She’s super-invested, and while she’s done the honorable thing — for now — it’s taking its toll. Plus, Nate’s no fool. He may love Annalise enough to keep his mouth shut for a moment, but you can bet he’s still plotting an escape route, even if that means she takes the fall.

Don’t fall in love with the real killer.
In this whole scenario, Annalise Keating’s protégé Wes probably has the most to lose. He was the scholarship kid to begin with, and was already swimming in the deep end with these privileged kids. Lonely, he fell hard and quick for the alluring Rebecca, whom we all know has a dark side — the drugs, the sex, that whole mess with Rudy. But he’s smitten and protective, to the point where he’s roped his otherwise-intelligent mentor Annalise into the mess. By the time he finally woke up to Rebecca’s mechanizations last week, it was way too late. Now everyone’s got skin in this game. And we don’t know that Rebecca officially killed Lila — yet. But it sure seems likely.

How Not to Get Away With Murder