ABCWarning: The following contains major spoilers from the season three finale of How to Get Away With Murder. If you haven't watched yet, you may want to bookmark this page and return once you have. Proceed with caution.
It's pretty safe to say that no one had this outcome in their How to Get Away With Murder murderer theories.
In the two-part season three finale, the ABC thriller finally revealed what exactly happened to poor Wes (Alfred Enoch) the night he died in Annalise's (Viola Davis) house. And it surprisingly didn't have anything to do with the shifty Mahoney family. Instead, it turned out that Laurel's (Karla Souza) shifty dad who we met earlier this season (Esai Morales) ordered the hit on poor Waitlist, sending an old family friend of Laurel's to do the brutal deed.
To add insult to fatal injury, Annalise and the gang realized that the only way to get out from under A.D.A. Denver's (Benito Martinez) twisted thumb, they had to sell poor Wes out, pinning all the crimes on him and him alone. Murdered and posthumously turned into a murderer? That's bleak. To break down all the stunning reveals, we got Souza on the phone for her take. What follows is our full Q&A.
E! News: There's so much to unpack from those two hours! That scene with Laurel and Connor where she tells him to kill himself was pretty intense. Is there a world where these two are able to be around each other ever again?
Karla: Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, I've had those moments with my family all the time. [ Laughs] I mean, maybe not as intense as that, but when you're going through grief—I lost my father five years ago and the way people sort of turn towards each other, against each other, with each other, bonds are formed. I think Laurel's just really trying to find justice and trying to point a finger and trying to, you know, get to the truth. I think she knows it wasn't him, but she's really mad that he didn't tell her. And it's just her way of expressing herself. I don't think she actually meant it. I think it's just a really fun way of showing people in grief and how they react to strong, traumatic situations.
What was it like shooting that moment and having to tap into that intense expression of emotion?
I was so grateful to all my co-workers. They were really supportive because, as you know, the scene is shot maybe 30 times because of the different takes and the different places that we put the camera. And I remember that I knew when the camera was on Jack, I wanted to give it my all because it's his take and then when it was mine, he [did the] same thing. So, we couldn't really rest. And it was such an emotionally taxing scene and not only that, I've had an emotionally taxing couple of episodes where it's just super amped up for Laurel in every single way. It was really, really exciting to have great material to work with that was rooted in character. I just have the best actors to work opposite…I have had comments from, especially I really admire Liza's work. She's a little older than us and when she comes and tells you you're doing a great job, it's really beautiful to hear that from your own workmate. So, I'm really pleased about that day.
That's great. That scene with Laurel at her doctor's office, where she's weighing her options in terms of her pregnancy, I thought, was an important thing to show. How would you explain why Laurel is weighing her options and considering the alternatives?
I had trouble with that, to tell you the truth. I read it and I was like, ‘What? No! That's all she has of Wes. Why would she ever think of getting rid of it and having an abortion?' And then when I was sitting there and doing the scene and hearing the heartbeat, it hit a whole different nerve. Suddenly it just became real and it was very different to everything I'd felt before when I found out that I had been pregnant. So, it's sort of the stages of, as well, which is interesting. It's very much rooted in reality of how there are times when you're excited about it, there are times when you're terrified. There's such a mixture of emotions, so I do know that because it was such an interesting story to have for Laurel, we sort of didn't want to get rid of—you know, she could've lost the baby in the fire. We talked about it and Pete was very interested in seeing where it took us, you know? And I agreed with him and I think it's a very interesting way to have Laurel have more motivation to stay alive and keep fighting for justice.
Getting to the killer reveal at the end, when did Pete let you know how connected to Laurel all of this was going to be? Did you find out at the table read? When did you learn about the reveal?
No. To tell you the truth, he probably doesn't remember, but I'm almost sure that before he told Viola and all of us on set, I think two days or one day before the table read, I'm pretty sure we had talked about it and he had said that he maybe thought it was maybe the Mahoneys. And then I said, ‘Well, what if it's the father?' I don't remember if it was his idea or my idea, but I remember us having one of those meetings of our characters and I said, ‘The father has a lot of reason to want to have Laurel detached from this woman and Frank and all these things.' And so when it happened, I was like, ‘Oh, OK. We talked about it a while ago, but I never really thought it would be so specific as a childhood friend of mine and my father and Denver sort of all together killing Wes and maybe blowing up the house, wanting Annalise in there. I don't know what the reasoning behind it is, but I think it gives a really strong starting point for Laurel in season four, so it's exciting.
What was everyone else's reaction when the cast learned about it?
I mean, we get a mixture of emotions…And there's also a lot of shock and there's a lot of turning towards me like ‘Oh god, how's that going to play into the dynamic of the group when you find out that it's Laurel's father that had something to do with that?' We already saw a little bit of them turning on her when they think they find out that she lied about the kidnapping, so I know we're going to find out more about Laurel's past in the future. But I do think that it's going to be a hard thing for her to be able to also explain to them and defend her position, but also bring justice. I don't know how that's going to play, but again, it's really interesting to see how Pete sort of managed to make it as surprising to all of us and as exciting because we get to play with a lot of different things in season four, especially Laurel.
Laurel was pretty ready to exact some vengeance on Mahoney at the end there before she was interrupted on the street. How would you predict her reaction to her family? Would she be ready to enact the same sort of vengeance or is going to pull her back because it's people that she knows?
Oh, good question. I think it's sort of easier when it's not someone from your family, when you can point a finger at someone that isn't your family. But I think it's definitely going to be a different reaction. She was wanting to confront [Mahoney.] She was all amped up, she had all the adrenaline. She wants to know the truth. I mean, I never played it that she was planning to actually shoot him. She just wanted to get the truth out of him. But I do see that things could've gone awry very quickly. She could've pulled the trigger. And I think we've seen a Laurel that's very angry and very hurt and she's going through the stages of grief, so just to add the fact that it was her father? I mean, I don't even know—she might wind up in the psych ward. I don't even know what they will do to her.
How to Get Away With Murder returns for season four this fall on ABC.