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‘HTGAWM’: Bonnie & Annalise need to DTR after that kiss
In all the shock and confusion surrounding the midseason finale of “How to Get Away with Murder” and finding out Wes (Alfred Enoch) was the one under the sheet, a pretty huge plot point got lost in the melee.
After falling off the wagon and ending up at Bonnie’s (Liza Weil) house drunk as a skunk, Annalise (Viola Davis) found herself kissing her most dedicated employee before passing out. We’ve got a few thoughts on this relationship, and unfortunately none of them are good.
Annalise and Bonnie have always had a mentor-mentee dynamic, and there are even times when Annalise has seemed like a mother to Bonnie. Similarly, Bonnie has a bit of a hero-worship thing going on for Annalise, and she was previously, secretly in love with Sam (Tom Verica), Annalise’s husband.
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If that doesn’t already sound like a setup for disaster, here’s one more thing to factor in: Bonnie and Annalise were both sexually abused as a children.
Given that Annalise has taken up the mantle of being a de facto parent to Bonnie, that kiss doesn’t exactly seem romantic anymore. It seems like the perfect recipe for a mental breakdown for Bonnie and probably for Annalise as well. The power dynamic there (which is at times can be pretty rocky) doesn’t exactly feel like it’s ripe for a romantic subplot.
We asked showrunner Pete Nowalk to help us DTR for Annalise and Bonnie, and even he admits that the relationship there is very complicated and messy.
“I like that their relationship doesn’t fit in a box,” Nowalk says. “I think Annalise was really drunk. I think they’re both victims of child abuse. They’re really close. I think Annalise feels really lonely — there’s multiple tiers of that. It felt really weird and messy to me.”
As to whether we’ll see that relationship get more complicated or return to a loving but platonic partnership is yet to be discovered.
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One female friendship we can count on staying platonic though, is Laurel (Karla Souza) and Michaela (Aja Naomi King), despite their own celebratory kiss in the midseason finale.
“That was something the actors just did!” Nowalk says. “Sometimes that’s why I love them because they find moments — and I saw it in the cut, and I was like ‘Oh! That’s fun!’”
“How to Get Away with Murder” returns January 19, 2017 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.