How to Get Away With Murder boss on the show's new big mystery

How to Get Away With Murder type TV Show network ABC genre Crime

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Warning: This story contains major spoilers from the season 4 finale of How to Get Away With Murder. Read at your own risk!

How to Get Away With Murder’s season 4 finale finally wrapped up the multi-season mystery surrounding the death of Wes, while also opening up a new storyline avenue filled with secrets.

The finale quickly revealed that Jorge’s (Esai Morales) inside man at the D.A.’s office, Denver (Benito Martinez), was actually the one who died in the car crash. Everyone suspected that Jorge was trying to clean up any loose ends, especially after his ex-wife went missing following her confrontation with Laurel (Karla Souza) during the penultimate hour — by the by, Laurel may have killed her mom.

In a bid to take Jorge down, the initial plan was for Simon (Behzad Dabu) to get a whistleblower deal by turning over the Antares drive to the FBI. But after he threatened Michaela (Aja Naomi King), she decided to get him deported. Annalise (Viola Davis) and the K4 instead found help from Tegan (Amirah Vann), who pointed them to proof within the drive of Jorge’s crimes, leading to his arrest by the FBI.

In other happy news, it was revealed that Annalise won her Supreme Court case. Connor (Jack Falahee) reapplied to law school, while Frank (Charlie Weber) took a step toward a better future by applying to law school, and Asher (Matt McGorry) moved into Wes’ old apartment after breaking up with Michaela.

While everything appeared wrapped up in a nice little bow, HTGAWM closed out the season with the reveal that Bonnie’s (Liza Weil) son, whom she didn’t know was still alive, has applied to law school as well. Said offspring was the child of rape, either at the hands of Bonnie’s own father or one of the numerous men he allowed to also sexually abuse her. What does this all mean for next season? EW turned to executive producer Pete Nowalk to get the scoop:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You seem to be hinting that Gabriel is Bonnie’s son that she didn’t know was alive. Is that fair to say? What can you tease about the direction of that storyline should the show be renewed for season 5?

PETE NOWALK: Obviously that’s a big mystery. We’re hinting that it’s Bonnie’s kid. All we know is that Frank called someone and said, “Her kid’s here.” That pronoun, her, covers a lot of our characters, and maybe characters we don’t know. We don’t know who Frank is talking to, so that’s really a huge mystery for the next season.

How will Bonnie handle that next season? And will they tell her the truth?

If it’s Bonnie, the question is: Does she know? Or does she not know? I think her reaction will come from there. But all of these questions are things that I want people to think about, and just ponder over the hiatus.

Did Laurel actually kill her mother?

All I’ll say is that the scratches are not from a cat. [Laughs] That’s a mystery. You’re picking up on all our cliffhangers — how the hell did Laurel get these scratches, and where the hell is her mother, and does Laurel know something that she hasn’t told anyone?

Michaela also did something pretty dark, which is get Simon deported. What kind of guilt will both these characters be dealing with? Or is this more about either of these characters officially turning to the dark side?

I think all of the characters are constantly struggling between protecting themselves and doing something good for the world. They’re pulled between the dark and the light. I loved that Michaela really came into her own as her own badass, amoral, but protective character. Since the beginning, they’ve all done really dark things and dealt with the guilt. Next season, whether they’re guilty or not, will depend on whether they’ve done anything bad, but I love that Michaela feels like she took one for the team. She did what was hard and what was amoral to protect them all, and I think that was a really strong decision.

Has the threat of Jorge effectively been neutralized?

Jorge being in jail has very much neutralized him and given our team a win. I don’t think that means they’re going to stop worrying about him. Obviously the man is really powerful and connected. A lot of mobsters and criminals still carry out their business from inside of a jail. But for now, our team feels like they got a great victory.

Annalise won her Supreme Court case. Will next season have a lot to do with them retrying these cases?

It will have some to do with retrying the cases. Really, it just launches Annalise into a new professional place. It’s a huge victory. Her standing, which had been diminished so much throughout the season, has dramatically improved. She goes into the next season with a lot more power professionally. I don’t think she’s going to want to drop these people and these cases. Helping to do good and helping to reform criminal justice has given her some life, and I don’t see her turning away from that.

Where will next season pick up in terms of the school year? Will it be a new year?

I haven’t decided yet. That’s always an option. There’s always the option that we zoom forward in time as well. Most of the students, I would want them to be in their last year of law school next season if we do pick up there. Obviously, is Frank qualified to get into Middleton? That’s a big if. And Connor, the same thing: Is he going to be a semester behind everyone, even if he does get in? I haven’t really decided what we’re going to do. I’m really flexible on the timeline, though. I’m just wanting to change up the show from year to year and not go back to the same old well.

Can you talk about Connor’s journey next season and his wedding to Oliver?

Right now, I believe the wedding is going to feature prominently in next season in a way that excites me, because it’s offbeat and it’s different than anything I’ve seen. He and Oliver have gone through so much together. They’re still going to struggle, but they’re both really committed to each other and wanting to get married. For me, it’s exciting to be able to write a big gay wedding in a way that’s really loud and different. He was depressed and lost all season, but this class action and what Annalise has done has given him his life back as well. They all have a purpose, which is they want to do good to counteract all the bad that they’ve done to other people. I think that gives them a real second wind.

Bonnie seems to be finding new romance with her co-worker Ronald. What can you tease for that next season? Also, can he actually be trusted?

Yeah, that’s really complicated. Should Bonnie be flirting with anyone in the D.A.’s office? Probably not the safest decision. But all she really did was swipe right. I was so excited to see Bonnie smile, and I think that’s one of my favorite scenes in our finale. It was like a one-act play to me. They were both just so light and happy. I think in general that’s a direction I want to continue. Whether that turns into anything real or not, let’s see. If it does turn into something real, Bonnie is a smart cookie, so maybe she has a secret plan. Who knows?

Nate actually kept Denver’s files. For what reason? Will other bits of info come out from the files?

I’m so excited about these files, because there’s been a question on the show since the beginning of why did Annalise really pick each of these students? Obviously she knew a lot about each of them; she kind of hints at it every once in a while. There’s a lot left in those files. Nate has a lot of power holding those files. I don’t want to say if he has good or bad intentions yet. I think obviously Nate has been very much Team Annalise in the past few seasons, and he might find something in those files that changes his mind, or he might find something that makes him like everyone even a little bit more. That’s what’s exciting to me, is I do think there’s so much left to explore in these character’s pasts. I’m not saying they have criminal pasts, but interesting secrets and tidbits. It’s a big Pandora’s box.

What can you tease of Asher’s journey moving forward, now that he’s single and angry?

I’m excited for him, because his anger will fuel him. He’s obviously a really angry guy, and it comes out in crazy bursts of rage, which we’ve seen have resulted in murder. But I’m excited that he gets to come into his own. He’s been a little bit in the shadows of wanting to fit into the group and be the class clown. I think he has a real opportunity here to stand on his own two feet and see if he’s given up too much of himself. He came into this as the Republican douche, but maybe he turned too far one way. I’m excited to see him grow up and own who he is.

Though How to Get Away With Murder has not been officially renewed, it’s likely to return this fall.