How To Get Away With Murder Theory: Annalise Killed Asher
As How To Get Away With Murder starts to explore who really beat Asher to death, the most likely candidate may be Annalise Keating herself!
How To Get Away With Murder has returned, and the second half of the final season will be a reckoning for the remaining members of the Keating Five - and the murderer of Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry). As per usual, the show is drip-feeding the murderer's identity to the audience through a series of flashbacks, but at this point in the game, it seems likely the killer is none other than Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) herself.
In 'We're Not Getting Away With It', the mid-season premiere, everything seems like it's falling apart. Asher is dead (as revealed in the mid-season finale), Annalise has run to Mexico to start a new life, and Connor (Jack Falahee) and Michaela (Aja Naomi King) have been arrested for his murder. It turns out the FBI has more on them than they thought, even going all the way back to the very first murder, and now they're after Annalise. The episode ends with Connor and Michaela taking a deal to pin it all on Annalise, but they're still not sure who actually bashed Asher's head in - could it have been their fearless leader?
At first, it may seem unlikely Annalise would kill anyone - as she repeatedly pointed out in the last episode, she is one of the only ones who hasn't actually killed someone (yet). However, it's also clear she has been increasingly pushed to her breaking point, and she's a desperate woman. Up until now, she has always stayed put, stayed silent, and protected the 'kids'. Presumably, something major must have happened for her to abandon all of them and fake her own death. Killing Asher would do that, and she has real motive, as she may have discovered he was informing on her.
So much for the motive, now onto means and opportunity. While there are no scenes directly linking the two on the night of the murder, the timeline of that night isn't 100% clear yet. Annalise was shown arguing with Nate (Billy Brown), and running away, but there was presumably time in-between for her to grab the poker and head to Asher's with it. The poker at her house would also potentially still have Michaela and Connor's prints on it, thanks to her pillow-bashing therapy at the start of the season, which would explain why their fingerprints were found.
A couple storytelling hints also point to Annalise being the culprit. First, the episode starts with the classroom case from earlier in the season: Snow White and the Evil Queen. In this scene, Asher realizes the Evil Queen faked her own death and framed the Dwarves - and this scene has been a big part of the series so far, as Annalise debates faking her own death. Given Asher is the one who figured it out, and who the FBI informant was, it would be poetic for Annalise to take on the Evil Queen role in his murder. Second, her fireplace poker has been highlighted again and again - in the pillow-therapy scene, and in the last episode in the fight with Nate.
Of course, Annalise is not the only suspect - that would be far too simple. Also high on the list are Gabriel (Rome Flynn), who has a history with Asher, lived next door, and was potentially the last person to see him (according to this week's flashbacks, anyway). Frank (Charlie Weber) must also be a prime suspect, as he could easily have doubled back after he was seen leaving Asher in the flashbacks. He's also a cold-blooded killer, and his last shown moments with Asher left a lot of questions (what was in the bathroom floorboards? What was that hug attempting to do?). The Castillos, as the big bads of the series thus far, are also in the running, of course. The culprit will likely be revealed in several episodes' time, as this is how the show tends to unspool their season-long murder mysteries, but with the series coming to an end, it may be the true end for Annalise.
How To Get Away With Murder continues with 'The Reckoning', April 9th on ABC