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A Lawyer's Guide to HTGAWM, Season 2, Episode 9: Who Shot Annalise

By Casey C. Sullivan, Esq. on November 20, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Well, that was unexpected. This week's episode of How to Get Away With Murder (the zenith of the golden era of television) delivers some very satisfying revelations, tidying up the mess of a plot that we've been struggling through for months and introducing a whole new mystery.

No more flash forwards. We've finally reached the big day. It's time to watch Annalise get shot. Here's your spoiler-filled recap of last night's insane HTGAWM episode.

Rule 3.4

The episode starts with the Keating kids debating how best to dispose of the gun Caleb "I'm not a product of incest but my brother is" Hapstall implausibly found last episode -- right after his mansion was searched head to toe by cops. It is, we're lead to believe, the gun Catherine and Philip used to kill their adopted, incestuous parents. Laurel is worried about violating Rule 3.4 -- that's the one prohibiting the unlawful destruction or concealment of evidence. Good issue spotting, Laurel!

Concealing evidence, of course, is the theme of the night. And no one cares about the gun. What matters is the bodies. And bodies abound in this episode.

Body #1: Asher's Dad

The first to die in this mid-season finale is Asher's dad. It wasn't exactly foul play, though. He offed himself after reports that he covered up the gang rape at Trotter Lake. Was Asher involved in the leak? His mother certainly thinks so, explicitly blaming Douche Face for his father's death. Not only did Asher drive his father to suicide, he did it for Annalise, mother Millstone claims, hanging that guilt around his neck like a ... millstone.

She's not the most consoling mother.

Body #2: A.D.A. Sinclair

We've been watching Emily Sinclair's body go splat almost every episode now. But it turns out, it wasn't the fall that killed her. Asher waits for her in the parking lot, where she's conveniently leaving an in-car, nark on your lover meeting with Nate, demanding to know why she leaked info about the gang rape. A.D.A. Sinclair isn't very consoling either, telling Asher his father deserved to die and arguing that "maybe you're better off without him."

So Asher runs her over. The body is thrown in the trunk, Bonnie comes over to save him, and soon the two are hauling the corpse over to the Hapstall mansion. All that splattering wasn't Bonnie or Philip going on a murder spree, it was Bon Bon and Asher attempting to cover up her earlier murder. Nothing brings together two struggling lovers like tossing a body off the side of a building.

Body #3: Annalise

This is the one that matters. Annalise is battered with bad news: Sinclair is dead, Philip is free, Nate is about to get fired, and Catherine is on the lam. But don't worry, she's got it covered. She'll frame Catherine for Sinclair's murder. Frank is to drug Catherine with Nate's wife's Annalise-assisted suicide pills. She'll shoot herself in the leg and all will be fine again.

Of course, it doesn't work out so smoothly. Once the kids are greeted by Sinclair's dead body, they're not exactly buying in to the plan. Connor tries to leave, only to have Bonnie threaten to kill him if he doesn't help cover up the murder. Oh, and Asher finally gets clued in that the other four killed Sam. If they've covered up one murder, they better cover up a second. (First one's always free, guys.)

But, Annalise still needs to get shot. She goes through her students one by one, egging them in to filling her leg with lead. They all refuse, screaming and teary eyed.

Except Wes. Yes, Wes shoots his (metaphorical and perhaps literal) mother. And not in the leg. When Annalise tells him Rebecca is dead and she's known it all along, he fires straight into her gut.

Who Is Christophe?

We're left with Annalise, bleeding out on the floor, whispering "Christophe" over and over. No, it's not famed New York Times columnist and global humanitarian Nicholas Kristof she's calling out to. Flash back to ten years before and we see a young child named Christophe (possibly a younger Wes) being interviewed by a detective. The kid found his dying mother.

In the wings, Annalise and Eve watch on. "Good God, Annalise," Eve says. "What did we do?" Indeed, what did you do, Annalise? I guess we'll have to watch the second half of the season to find out.

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