How to Get Away with Murder: Karla Souza Talks This Season's New Twist

Annalise (Viola Davis) and her merry band of misfits are back for another year of mayhem, but it seems like How to Get Away with Murder returned just in time to let us watch the band break up.

That's right, Annalise finally did the one thing we've all been screaming at these kids to do since day one: GET AWAY FROM THESE TOXIC PEOPLE RIGHT FREAKING NOW!

After spending most of the episode with her dementia-ridden mother, Annalise came back to Middleton and swiftly fired everyone. Even Bonnie! They all took the rejection in their own ways, but at least we know they'll undoubtedly be brought back together in three months time when we catch up to this year's flash forward. You know, the one where Laurel (Karla Souza) wakes up in a hospital with a totally flat stomach -- when she should be 7 months pregnant -- screaming for someone to tell her where her baby is?

Here's what Souza had to say about this year's overarching mystery and why it's going to be a huge ordeal for Laurel.

How to Get Away with Murder's Karla Souza on Wes' Killer: "It's a Big Blow"

Why do you think Laurel decided to keep the baby?
Karla Souza: There's obviously nothing but love and regret for the whole situation, and I think the best way that she felt like she would... not wallow in self-loathing is to have someone else to save and to see live. It's sort of allowing Wes to live on, so I think that was a very clear through line for me as an actor to make that decision. And yes, it still reminds us of the tragedy, and I think that's the bittersweetness of it, that you're carrying the child of someone who you loved dearly, however, who died in a very awful way. But I do think that's a brave choice that Laurel makes.

But now she's lied to her father about it. Does she already suspect he's the one who killed Wes?
Souza: Her not telling her father and saying, "Oh, I had an abortion," and then having not actually done that is allowing her keep the power in the relationship. It allowed her to test how much her father knows. I think when she realizes her father didn't know that... she's sort of letting him think, "Don't worry, I won't do any more investigating." If he thought that I kept the baby, he'd probably think I'm going to end up finding out that he was the one that killed [Wes]. I think Laurel telling her father she got rid of it gives her time to prepare her vengeance towards her father.

I do feel, in a way, her suspicion came about last season when she saw Dominic. I spoke to Pete [Nowalk, the show's creator] about it. I said if her suspicion was that big, it would only work if there was a past experience with Laurel where Dominic appeared, and it meant that her father was involved in something awful. So her just seeing Dominic there made her straight away think, "Wait a second, something's up."

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Why do you think she moved into Wes' old apartment?
Souza: So throughout the two months that we haven't seen, Laurel's moved into Wes' apartment, and I think that means a lot. I think the fact that she's decided to leave her apartment, move into Wes' and have a gun is technically protecting Wes' legacy. So no one can come in and plant something in there, and then defame him. I think she's protecting his legacy as well as his home. She thinks her father can send anyone to put something in or whatever it is, so she's there with the gun protecting that. But I do think her steps in that first episode that she's already taken mean that she really does think that it's her father. Her gut is telling her that. Throughout the next episodes, she's going to be able to prove to herself whether that is actually true.

So that gun is only for protection? Or is she maybe going to use it in this plan for revenge?
Souza: I think for me, it's that she's protecting herself from someone coming in, however, we already saw last season that she's very well prepared to take that gun and put it on someone. Who knows whether that will lead there later?

Is the book closed on Frank (Charlie Weber) and Laurel romantically, especially considering everything else she's got going on this year, or is there more story to tell there?
Souza: I mean, we're on How to Get Away with Murder -- anything's possible. The fans of "Flaurel" as they call it are worldwide, and let me just say, they'll definitely get more, whether that relationship is fighting or whether that relationship is love. There's still a lot unsaid and undone there, so I think we're going to see more of that. Whether that's romantic or not, I can't say. You'll definitely see them interacting.

Were you disappointed that Connor (Jack Falahee) didn't say yes to Oliver's (Conrad Ricamora) proposal?
Souza: Yeah! But again, it's the slow burn! We all thought that the episode coming back was going to be a wedding of some sort. They keep teasing us with that. I do think that that relationship is so complex, and we're going to see much more of them and also Connor's past. We'll see a lot more of where he's coming from and the reasons why he said potentially no for that moment. But I think that relationship has a lot for the fans these coming episodes.

Finally, let's talk about that cliffhanger. Is #WheresTheBaby the mystery hashtag this year?
Souza: Who knows what the social media team will do, but I'm almost sure that I was told the hashtag is #WheresTheBaby... It was #WhosUnderTheSheet, and I remember Pete saying now it's not a 'who' but a 'where.' I remember filming that scene and going, "Where's my baby?" And I was screaming and crying and all this stuff, and they'd come and they'd say, "I'm so sorry, but it's really important that you say, 'Where's the baby" or whatever it is that comes out in the episode. We had to reshoot that scene like three times because I was saying the wrong thing. I think that's going to be the hashtag for the whole cliffhanger until the midseason finale.

How to Get Away with Murder airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.