How To Get Away With Murder is ten pounds of mysteries and plot twists in a five-pound bag, so it’s no surprise that fans have so many theories about what every detail of the show means.
At the end of season 5, the Keating 4 (minus Aja Naomi King's Michaela) found out who Michaela’s birth father, Dwight, is, and also — and here’s the clincher — that Annalise (Viola Davis) knows him. This means that Annalise could have handpicked Michaela to be in her posse like she did Wes (Alfred Enoch). Annalise knows everything about everyone.
Since the series has been off the air since March 2019, fans have had a lot of time to dream up how and why Annalise has anything to do with Michaela and her birth dad (she was adopted at a young age). The only thing that we know from the show’s canon is that Michaela’s dad shot her mother and that Michaela was sent to into social services and, eventually, her crappy adoptive family.
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The revelation that Dwight and Annalise know each other is a big one, and according to King it could break Michaela away from the group. “Any time you have a very close and challenging relationship with someone, when more information gets revealed, it really tests your relationship,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “That is what will happen for Michaela. It will be a test of relationships with multiple people.”
One of these people could be her father. The Internet is awash in theories about them and how this will all play out, coming from fans dedicated to getting down to the bottom of every detail of How To Get Away With Murder’s final season. Let’s see what’s plausible, shall we?
Annalise Represented Dwight & Feels Bad
On reddit, user davy_jones_locket is convinced that Annalise knows Dwight because Annalise represented Dwight during his murder trial after he shot Michael’s mom… and Dwight walked. “AK picked her crew because she feels like she has to make amends with shit she's done,” the user wrote. “This is how she rights her wrongs with Michaela.” It’s not a bad idea.
Annalise Covered Up Michaela’s Crimes At Dwight’s Expense
What if Dwight didn’t shoot Michaela’s mother and… Michaela did instead. That’s what reddit user gigitheory proposes. “Michaela shot her mom and got away with murder by pinning it on her dad, and I think Annalise helped her do so.” Annalise is no stranger to a coverup, so she could have easily changed the course of Michaela’s life back then and is now making her do her bidding now.
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Dwight & Vivian Maddox Were Together
Yes, it’s a theory, and yes, it could happen; reddit user TruGemini has some sound ideas. They write that Vivian is actually Michaela’s birth mom — the one who was shot — which would make Michaela and Gabriel (Rome Flynn) half-siblings. They argue that Michaela has told multiple people her birth story, which on a fast-paced show like How To Get Away With Murder, is not the norm.
Thus, the writers are setting us up for something big, because they need the audience to remember! “They needed this conversation to happen with Gabriel for two reasons, first, in order to once again reiterate her backstory, but to Gabriel so that it can be known that he knows the story of her mother. The second reason is that they are setting up the relationship between Michaela and her mother, while also explaining extra details regarding the father that will come into play in the future.” Oh, dang.
What comes next for Dwight, Annalise, and the rest of the Keating 4? Only showrunner Pete Nowalk knows that, unfortunately.