Pete Nowalk spoke with Deadline on tomorrows finale and the plan for season five if the show gets renewed.
A day ahead of its Season 4 finale, How to Get Away With Murders creator and showrunner Pete Nowalk has revealed Season 5 will have a brand new and exciting mystery, adding that he knows all the backstory, and Im pretty sure Im not going to change my mind, but Im just not going to tell you.
Speaking at a special finale preview screening at the Sunset Gower studios on Wednesday, Nowalk told press hes also already planned the Season 5 flashforwards that characterize the show. They will be twisty, and more fun, he said. Theyre a different tone, and its something that weve set up.
While the show has not officially been renewed for a fifth season, Nowalk said he is working as though it has.
Another thing Nowalk confirmed for his Season 5 plan is the wedding of Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee) and Oliver Hampton (Conrad Ricamora). I will say I personally kind of hate weddings, Nowalk said, and I hate the trope of it, so were going to do it in our own fun way.
Central to everything HTGAWM, is of course Viola Davis lead character of Annalise Keating. Weve seen her rise from the ashes of addiction this past season, and it seems theres hope for her future in that department. I havent made any specific decisions, Nowalk said, but what I do love for Annalise is shes really doing well right now with her sobriety, and she shed a lot of her own self-hate. I think the Isaac therapy actually really helped her, and shes in a good place.
However, in Season 5, we will flashback to more of her relationship with her late husband Sam Keating (Tom Vereka), Nowalk said. I loved Tom Vereka the actor, and I love when he comes back, so we actually have a really good flashback episode idea for next year. Theres so much of their marriage that we didnt explore, and before they met each other, so thats definitely a story goldmine for me.
But before all that happens, theres still the Season 4 finale. We will see the fruits of the Scandal/HTGAWM crossover episode, in which Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and Keating brought a criminal justice reform class action case before the Supreme Court. So well find out what happens there, and what that means for Keatings life choices next season.
The crossover episode also yielded fans of the connection between Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King) and Scandals Marcus Walker (Cornelius Smith Jr.) Nowalk said, especially since it looks like the relationship between Pratt and Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry) is in serious trouble in future. I think its going to be a long road for Asher to forgive Michaela, he said. Theyre not going to have a lot of time to sit down and have couples therapy right now. Will we see more of Walker next season, especially now Scandal is over? Im not counting anything out, Nowalk said. Cornelius is a very in-demand actor, so a lot would depend on him, but I think that story isnt over.
But perhaps the most pressing topic for viewers right now is the fate of Bonnie Winterbottom (Liza Weil) in this Season 4 finale. In the penultimate episode of this season we saw a car crash and a potentially bleak end for her. While Nowalk shied away from any finale spoilers, he did say he wasnt above killing off main characters, as weve already seen from Wes death this season.
It would make sense for Bonnie to be dead, he said. Shes been worried about it for many episodes, and I think at the beginning of the season, the audience response I would get a lot is, Screw Bonnie! She should have been the one burned in the house! Because anytime someones going against Annalise, people dont like that. So its definitely set up that shes dead. But is she? Whats good is the audience will find that out very early in the episode.
All in all, Nowalk said, Im excited about how we ended this season. It feels fresh to me.
Nowalk does, he said, have a plan to take the story to a conclusion in the future. I have an idea for the last season for sure, he said. Obviously thats hard, because you dont know when that last seasons going to be. But he certainly would not be content if Season 4 were to be the last. Not at all. I dont want to end on a mystery. Id want there to be answers. I guess wed have to make a movie or something. Id do it on my iPhone if I had to.
The How to Get Away With Murder Season 4 finale episode will air on Thursday at 10pm on ABC.