Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers from How To Get Away With Murder’s Season 5.
HTGAWM‘s season 5 finale just aired, and it did not disappoint! While I went into it cautiously, the episode was crafted amazingly and was filled with shocking twists. They also set up a phenomenal plot line for next season and brought new life to Nate Sr.’s case.
In this episode, we find out that the Castillos were the secret puppet masters this entire season! Taking us all the way back to the beginning of the season, we see the chilling conversation between Xavier Castillo (Laurel’s brother) and Nate Sr. Knowing how badly crossing the Castillos ended for Nate Sr., this scene was incredibly painful to watch.
This episode did a fantastic job bringing back how twisted and evil the Castillo’ s are. We see just how far their web of corruption reaches when we learn a vital piece of information: that D.A’s have traditionally been in the pocket of this vile family! It’s then revealed that Xavier offered a deal to Miller: help organize the hit against Nate Sr., and Xavier would make him the D.A… and Miller agreed. This shocking twist had me second guessing everything I knew about Miller…..does this mean he really was guilty?
I thought #htgawm can’t get any more complicated but this finale was like pic.twitter.com/7k5A8vgSXU
— Fatema Saeed (@F6aiimxoxo) March 1, 2019
This episode also saw the return of good old murderous Frank. His promise to turn over a new leaf didn’t last long, as we see him threatening and attacking Officer Gladden (whot shot Nate Sr.) While Frank threatening to kill Gladden’s son was a little intense, it did pay off as we got confirmation that Xavier was the one who paid off the guards. Elsewhere, Nate does his own violent digging and finds out that the transfer was not supposed to happen that night, but that Miller was the one who insisted on changing the schedule. Just when all the pieces came together to show Miller as the person responsible, another phone call happens that throws us all off. Miller calls Xavier to confirm the deal, and Xavier tells him to schedule to transfer for Thursday morning. Which means that Miller was playing the Castillos, and used his deal as a way to stop the hit from happening all this time! Unfortunately, Xavier’s paid guards were there anyway ready to finish the job. Clearly, Xavier was not happy and the final call between the two ends with Xavier threatening to kill Miller and everyone important to him, starting with his girlfriend (how terribly ironic).
Miller was really tryna save Nate senior from being killed #HTGAWM pic.twitter.com/Wqmmh87XrM
— . (@shameless_szn) March 1, 2019
Bringing us back to the present, we see everything hit the fan. Emmett gets taken in briefly by the FBI, however, Tegan and Annalise make sure he isn’t in there long. Telesco, still desperate to indict Annalise, attempts to blackmail Gabriel to get some dirt on Annalise (is anyone else tired of Telesco’s Annalise obsession?), but the Keating Five hit back even harder by getting Telesco fired! Annalise and Laurel directly confront Xavier, leading to another spectacular round of insults from Annalise (I will never get tired of hearing Annalise break down someone’s ego). We learn that the Castillos are determined to ruin Annalise because she tore their family apart and they’ve found the perfect accomplice to further their vendetta: Gov. Birkhead! This twist was so shocking but it does explain a lot of things. Unfortunately, it’ll only get worse from here.
We knew the governor was shady a long time ago #HTGAWM pic.twitter.com/VBRi9nVnFh
— ~tia~ (@ThatGirlQuirky) March 1, 2019
It seems that Tegan was right when she worried about Emmett running for D. A, because there is no way the Castillos will let him. Birkhead places the blame for Miller’s murder onto Emmett on live TV, and while this is happening Emmett is poisoned and we see him dying on the floor! In the final moments of the show, one last insane twist happens: Laurel and her baby go missing! Fans have gone crazy theorizing what happened to her and Christopher, and whether or not it was the Castillos.
Laurel made herself and her son disappear. When has anyone ever thanked annalise? She was saying goodbye. #HTGAWM
— Jaimie Serowsky (@JuicyJaimie) March 1, 2019
This episode crammed a lot of information into 40 minutes, however, they did an impressive job of making sure nothing felt boring. I love how the writers kept information from us so that we still guessing until the last moment. A lot of foreshadowing was used and many times I could almost feel impending doom in my gut. One great example is when Laurel and Christopher go missing, and the scene cuts between Annalise, Frank, and the Keating 5’s perspective. This layering made all of the events in the episode much more intense and scary. This episode felt incredibly fast-paced because of this, and I was left on the edge of my seat! I personally love the role the Castillos play, and I think they will be a very interesting enemy. Something about how dark and powerful they are lures me in, and they add a lot of darkness to HTGAWM. There are no rules or morals when it comes to them, and their vendetta on Annalise would make the next season the most intense one ever.
This season was one that had a lot of ups and downs. The plot went by slow and muddled for some weeks, but then would pick up randomly and feel scattered. However, the development and story arc for some characters were interesting and well done. I also have to say: I miss the Keating Five and what they were in past seasons. No season 6 has been officially announced but I hope they’re restored to their former glory if there is one. I think this finale did the season justice and cleaned up the plot immensely. Bringing back the Castillos brought new life to the plot, and I’m interested to see how far the writers could take it. As we say goodbye to another season, this finale left us with an excellent, intense ending that makes me cross my fingers that they get renewed.
