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How To Speculate w/o Spoilers: Hiding the Ball


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Here's the thread for how to speculate about the show without spoilers. Some of my unspoiled spec, based on the first episode:

 

Professor Keating killed her husband, Wes and the other students saw her standing over his body and they're covering it up to protect her. Eventually, her Detective lover might end up helping them. One of Professor Keating's assistants might accidentally overhear something, get suspicious and start an investigation of their own. The Season Finale could end with one of the students or Professor Keating getting arrested.

 

 

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Good theory but that would mean the show is planned as a one off rather than an actual series. This could work with Viola.

I do think the husband killed the girl and VD probably suspects if not outright knows based on her boyfriend comment and head turn which I took to mean, "the question is which boyfriend?"

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Good theory but that would mean the show is planned as a one off rather than an actual series. This could work with Viola.

 

  Not necessarily, re the first point. Plenty of shows have had season-long mysteries and I think this might be one of them. 

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You're right. I do think this mystery will be season long. I just hope they have the ability to pull it off for 22? Episodes. A thirteen episode season makes an interesting season-long arc easier to pull off.

Either way, do long as Viola is neither the killer, nor involved in any way, I'm good.

What I do like about the premise is that if Annalise does this, select four students to work with, every year, it serves to keep the cast fresh and updated with Viola at the core of the series.

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I'm most intrigued by the mystery of what happened in Wes's apartment. The scratch marks on the wall and the bite mark on the bed are so creepy. If I saw that I don't know if I could sleep in that room. I assume it's connected to the college girl's murder - but how? Was she being held there and tortured? That would make football player boyfriend a likely suspect, although again, why not torch a bed where you tortured/murdered someone? And at least paint over the creepy scratch marks?

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Rebecca, the girl across the hall, made some comment about having to put up with the old tenant's "loud rabbit sex," so Dean Thomas could damn well put up with her music. I'm sure whatever went on in the apartment will come back. Maybe it was where Professor Keating's husband and the dead girl in the water tank had their rendezvous. Or maybe that one pervy associate used to live there and he'd have sex with the female students?

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My guess is that Sam killed dead sorority girl, and that Annalise knows both about the affair as well as the murder. The boyfriend of dead sorority girl killed Sam in revenge, and used the statue to implicate Annalise. The students think that Annalise did it, which is why they try to cover for her. Rebecca knows that her friend - the boyfriend of dead sorority girl - killed Sam, which is what the argument Wes overheard was about.

 

What have no speculation for, is how the breakdown of Rebecca's previous neighbor is or is not relevant.

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One thing I noticed, right before the maintenance guy found the body (besides "holy crap, is this guy gonna murder these sorority girls Ted Bundy style?"), is that the girl who answered the door asked if anyone had called maintenance and got no response. Which means that someone not in the sorority had called so that the body would be found. My guess is Rebecca.

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True, and I thought of that, but then why include the line at all? They could have had the girl answer the door and be like, "Yeah, something's wrong with our water." I don't know, it's just something that really stuck out to me. And the reason I was even paying such close attention to that scene at all was because it reminded me of the security session we had at the beginning of my freshmen year at college. They played this cheesy video about a faux maintenance guy coming to some girls' dorm, and the one girl asked her roommate if she had called maintenance, implying that something shady was going on. It was basically to teach us not to let anyone into our rooms that we didn't know (which is why I got the Ted Bundy vibe from the maintenance guy on the show).

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KaveDweller, on 25 Sept 2014 - 10:21 PM, said:

I thought he was sleeping with the other lawyer in the firm, the one played by Paris from Gilmore Girls.  She had a weird look on her face when he came in that I thought was significant.  But he could certainly have been sleeping with her too.

 

 

I got the same impression about Paris as well. She did that thing that all side pieces on tv do, when they try to play off being happy to see the married boyfriend or girlfriend. I assume that the character thinks she's slick, and that it's normal to be that friendly w/the husband of someone she's worked w/, and/or for, a long time. Not. That kind of rapport takes decades, on tv or not. But it was a good subtle acting choice by super blonde bobbed Paris Gellar. Not sure about the intern yet.

I tweeted that I thought "it was Paris Gellar in the library, w/the candlestick, er...the trophy". I think it will turn out that the husband was sleeping w/Paris and the dead co-ed (or at least Paris thinks so). And that's why she killed him, and maybe her. And then the co-ed was killed by Paris, or the co-ed's boyfriend, same rationale. Again, not sure if, or how the flirty intern fits in. I think the new Scoobie gang is covering it all up b/c they believe their hero did it, and it's what she would want. Or they think Annalises' boyfriend did it, and they don't want the scandal to lead back to her.

Of course any, and all of this, creates endless possibilities for Scandal's OPA to go on another roadtrip, and crossover on 'How To. Even though not created by Shonda it is being exec prod by her. So...

 

(Still learning the who, what's, where's, and when's of posting-this was in my original post under pilot, but later edited out-still not sure where this should go, but putting here-sure someone will let me know if still wrong-lol)

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You're right. I do think this mystery will be season long. I just hope they have the ability to pull it off for 22? Episodes. A thirteen episode season makes an interesting season-long arc easier to pull off....

This mystery arc could just go through the first 11. Maybe they haven't even started the second half in case in tanks and gets yanked.

I was guessing that the Scooby gang believes that their prof was framed, and the only way to save her is to destroy evidence. But that doesn't make sense, given the title and the pilot's trial of 'how to get away with muder' [in the court room].

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Before I came reading posts here, I thought maybe they'd already killed someone (like the 5th obnoxious student) and Pr Keating's husband found it so they killed him too, but that might be too much.

Professor Keating killed her husband, Wes and the other students saw her standing over his body and they're covering it up to protect her.

 

 

Although it is possible, I don't see why they would risk going to jail and be definitely ruled out of any career in law, unless they were already deeply involved in the murder. If the only reason all four take such a risk is just to protect their teacher, then they are a whole bunch of morons, or the show will have to explain me what she did for these students to prompt them to do this for her. 

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I just hope they have the ability to pull it off for 22? Episodes. A thirteen episode season makes an interesting season-long arc easier to pull off.

 

Actually Viola Davis has said she doesn't want to do more than ~16 episodes a season so this definitely won't be a full 22.  This season will either be 15 or 16 episodes, I don't think they have decided yet.

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Actually Viola Davis has said she doesn't want to do more than ~16 episodes a season so this definitely won't be a full 22.  This season will either be 15 or 16 episodes, I don't think they have decided yet.

 

I hope they end it during February sweeps. I can't imagine they would drag 16 episodes out to May sweeps?

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I think that Sam killed Lila (dead co-ed). Rebecca (after being helped out -legally speaking- by Wes & Co) got released and realised it was him because she was sleeping with the prof. She confronted Sam and he tried to kill her too, she killed him in self-defence. Wes knows they are helping Rebecca but the others might be thinking they are helping Prof Keating. 

Blonde associate definitely has a thing for Sam, I am not sure if Annalise knows or not.

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My theory is that Sam Keating is actually Lila's secret bio daddy. The Boyfriend did kill her, because he, like Analise, misinterpreted the relationship as a sexual/romantic one. Rebecca didn't kill her but was there and helped The Boyfriend cover it up. Analise get's Rebecca off the hook for Lila's death, enraging Sam, he murderously confronts her, but Wes steps in and defends her killing Sam in the process. Wes is lying to his fellow students claiming Analise killed Keating so they will help him "bury" the evidence, so he can both throw Shade at Prof Keating AND undermine any case against either himself or her. Hee, it's convoluted as all hell, but I think that's pretty common for Shondaland.

 

I could totally see a S2 being Analise on trial w/o her completely knowing Wes has framed her up. But it's crazy early and hopefully everyone will have excellent shade thrown on them for the murder.

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More unspoiled spec: I think that Griffin, boyfriend of Lila, the first murder victim, is/was also involved with Rebecca, who could be related to Lila, as a sister or a cousin. ITA that Sam might be Lila's dad, as shown by Sam's first thought re the discovery of Lila's body was sympathy for her parents, which could mean that he might be one of them. As for Bonnie, Annalise's associate, I think that she and Sam had a fling back in the day because there's a weird vibe between them and I think that Annalise knows about it, which could have been one of the catalysts for her affair with Det. Fahey.

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I think that it could go one of two ways for me in regards to Lila: either Annalise is right, Sam did kill Lila and is covering his affair with her up. Or, Annalise is actually wrong and Sam didn't sleep with Lila nor did he kill her. Maybe it was Nate, the hottie boyfriend or one of Annalise's colleagues that is pinning it on him. 

 

As for Rebecca possibly killing Sam, I don't think she did. She was clearly there around the time of his murder, but she didn't kill him. She probably saw what happened, or saw him right after his death and freaked out and called Wes because she's afraid of being implicated. Maybe her fingerprints are on the evidence. 

 

I think fifth law student, Asher, is involved somehow. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I'm not sure. We don't see him in the flash forwards yet so either he just happens to not be around at the time of the murder, or he's not seen because he's dead/missing. Like I said in the episode thread, he becomes more interesting because of the fact that he's not around in the flash forwards. I think there's a very specific reason why he's not seen and that's why I think he's involved somehow. I'll be sorely disappointed if we find out that the reason he wasn't in the flash forwards is because the show wanted the coin toss to be tied two-two. But again, that makes no sense because why would Asher be included in Annalise's group of students? So I think that he could be seen in the flash fowards toward the mid season finale, or the actual finale, depending on when they'll stop the flash forwards. 

Edited by jessied112
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Actually Viola Davis has said she doesn't want to do more than ~16 episodes a season so this definitely won't be a full 22.  This season will either be 15 or 16 episodes, I don't think they have decided yet.

Not sure where my question belongs on this message board.  Do you think Viola will want to do another season if she always doesn't want to do a full 22 episodes?

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I think Connor's panic attack is directly related to the fact that he just burned (and possibly dismembered? I think that's what they were implying) the body of his professor/boss's husband. They've shown him progressively beginning to crack and it all came to a head in tonight's episode. I mean, maybe he is a sex addict but I don't think that's what the attack was about.

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(edited)

 

I suspect that sweet little deer in the headlights Wes killed the sorority girl to get her spot in law school.

 

 I disagree. After this week's episode, not only do I not believe that Wes is guilty of killing Lila, I'm more convinced than ever that Sam killed her, otherwise Sam wouldn't have sent Lila nude pictures of himself. The way I see it, if Sam was sexting Lila, then chances are he was sexing her too, which gave him motive for murder, especially if she threatened to tell Annalise the truth about their affair. What's more, given the way Bonnie was spying on Sam, caught Nate messing with Sam's car and snitched to Nate's boss, I wouldn't be surprised if Bonnie was Sam's other lover, his accomplice, or both.

Edited by DollEyes
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It's Sunday and I've got some time on my hands so I'm watching the first couple of episodes again and I've changed my mind about who I think killed Lila. I think the show wants us to believe our two prime suspects are Sam and Rebecca but one of them turning out to be the killer seems too easy for me. I think the writers are going to reveal little red herrings each episode that point in their directions though. I'm more inclined to believe it's someone on the periphery that we don't know a lot about yet or haven't considered.  So who do we have....

 

The Law Students---- I've ruled them all out completely as they predate Lila's disappearance/death. 

 

Annalise---Right now it's doubtful that she knew about Sam and Lila(whatever that relationship was) so I don't think she killed Lila.

 

Nate---The same goes for Nate. Unless we get flashbacks that say otherwise, it's doubtful he knew anything about Lila or she him. 

 

The mysterious former neighbor of Rebecca's--- He was a law student who likely knew Annalise and Sam, he's got scratches on the wall of that apartment that I doubt got there from just "rough sex". We haven't met him yet but I think he will come up again. He could turn out to be an accomplice in the murder but not the actual culprit. 

 

Frank---We don't anything about Frank yet so I'm not taking him off the suspect list.

 

Bonnie---Now Bonnie is interesting. Like Frank, we haven't been given a whole lot of insight about who she is yet but we've been given enough that I've got in her on the top of my list of murder suspects. It's possible she could turn out to be a red herring like Sam and Rebecca but what we do know is that she most likely knew Lila given her reaction to the news story on her disappearance. She also seems to have a thing for Sam. Either they had a previous relationship or she's just obsessed with him or both. I could see her finding out about Lila and becoming jealous thus feeling the need to eliminate her from the equation. Now her reaction to Lila's disappearance could have just been as simple as she knows Sam's secret and thus suspects him of the murder and now suspects that Nate is getting too close to finding out Sam's involvement and wants to protect him but she also looks really good as the possible killer as well. 

 

My season end prediction is that whoever killed Lila will likely get away with it thanks to all the law students have done and will do during the course of the season. The show is called How to Get Away with Murder after all and this seems just the kind of show to be that on the nose when it comes to the title. If I'm right and it is Bonnie, I could see Annalise either defending her in court  based on whatever we find out about Lila and/or her past with Sam, who I suspect is going to turn out to be a reprehensible bastard. Or I could see nobody actually finding out that Bonnie was the one who did it except the audience. We would get flashbacks of the crime and of everything Bonnie did to cover up her involvement(she would likely know how to cover her tracks as she is Annalise's associate/protege so to speak and should have learned a few things working for her) with the season ending in her going on working for Annalise as if nothing happened. 

Edited by Turkish
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I'm pretty sure the students (minus Asher) somehow collectively killed Sam and my reasoning is that they are way too stressed than they would be if they were just covering for someone else. I'm pretty sure that if the killer was Rebecca, Michaela and Connor would already be at the police station turning her in.

 

At the same time, I'm also pretty sure the murder was unintentional. I think the four of them plus Rebecca were planning something else, maybe a confrontation, and it got out of hand. I dunno how they're going to set it up so that all four students are responsible (or at least indictable) for Sam's death (I mean, all four of them couldn't have hit Sam with the trophy), but I guess we won't see that until it happens.

 

As for who killed Lila, I'm going to bet that it was Rebecca, but somehow she managed to convince the Quartet that it was Sam, which led to his death. I'm just basing this off the fact that whatever we're seeing now is probably a red herring, so Sam won't be the murderer and that Rebecca, who is looking more innocent, actually is. I'm going to predict that at the end of the season, we'll see Wes finally figure out that it was her, but it's too late and she's already scot-free and she threatens to implicate him with Sam's murder if he even thinks about moving against her. Actually, now that I think of it, maybe Sam's murder was intentional, but only by Rebecca, and she somehow fooled or manipulated the others into it.

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Yeah, I'm thinking this is going to end up being a situation that "got out of hand" as opposed to self-defense. And somehow, the Core Four all definitely bear some responsibility for it, because they're all going along with the coverup. We haven't seen any of them say, "This had nothing to do with me, I'm out," none of them want to just go to the police...Michaela's being a little difficult about it but she's not denying responsibility. And I definitely think Rebecca's a red herring. If she had actually been involved, I could see Michaela, Laurel, and Connor insisting that she help with the disposal of the body, but they all seem pretty okay with Wes finding her a place to hide. I mean, obviously she was there, but I don't think she's responsible for any of it.

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  I'm definitely starting to think that Bonnie knows way more than she's telling, whether it's about Lila, Lila & Sam, her own relationship with Sam, about Annalise & Nate or about Lila's death. Given the way Bonnie watched Sam in "Let's Get To Scooping," she's a stalker, at the very least.  Either way, something's not kosher about Bonnie & Sam, separately or together.

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My money is on Bonnie for killing Lila. She's alway skulking around. I think she knew about the affair and pregnancy, and killed Lila to keep her from telling Annalise. Plus she has a source in the coroner's office who she could have paid off to "miss" the pregnancy. She did say she'd do anything for Annalise....

 

I'm not as sold that she killed Sam, but it's possible he found out and she killed him to keep that secret. And maybe for some reason the students think Annalise did it. I can't imagine why anybody but Wes would burn Sam's body to protect Rebecca.

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Here is my crazy theory.

I think that Wes killed Lila in order to frame Sam and ruin Annalise. Everything, from getting into Annalise's class and becoming one of the Keating 5, to moving next door to Rebecca and his "romance" with her, was done to bring about that end. However, the focus of the investigation shifting to Rebecca posed a threat to his plan. His campaign to help her was not rooted in any feelings for her, but to protect his interests. I think he figures that Lila's football hero boyfriend has the means to prove his innocence and is no threat to his plan at all.

I think that Wes' mother was Sam's first wife and he is ...Sam's son. He was telling the truth when he told Rebecca that his mother committed suicide. She never got over Sam's betrayal with Annalise, which Wes believes contributed to her death. Wes has been plotting to avenge his mother's death ever since.

However, I am still undecided about who killed Sam. Maybe Bonnie killed him and showed up at Asher's party/slept with him to give herself an alibi?

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I like your theory, 2AT!

I'm starting to think that Annelise herself killed Lila, that's she's known all along why Sam's penis was on a dead girl's phone, and this has been a long con to pin it all on Sam (and to "get away with murder").

This does not preclude Wes being Sam's son because there's certainly some back story there we don't know about yet. Perhaps Annelise found out about Wes (don't know why Sam wouldn't have known - maybe the first wife's relatives moved away and hid their whereabouts?). Annelise then pulled strings to get Wes admitted, thinking they could all be a family since she'd been unable to have a baby; then, just as she was about to surprise Sam with the happy news, she found out about Lila and her pregnancy.

That doesn't make a lot of sense if this is going to be a continuing series with Viola Davis, I guess.

Still have no idea who killed Sam. I'm also leaning toward Bonnie, but to me the identity of the person isn't as important as the reason the Keating 4 would go to extraordinary measures to hide evidence of the murder. Can't figure out why they wouldn't just turn on the murderer.

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Here is my crazy theory.

I think that Wes killed Lila in order to frame Sam and ruin Annalise. Everything, from getting into Annalise's class and becoming one of the Keating 5, to moving next door to Rebecca and his "romance" with her, was done to bring about that end. However, the focus of the investigation shifting to Rebecca posed a threat to his plan. His campaign to help her was not rooted in any feelings for her, but to protect his interests. I think he figures that Lila's football hero boyfriend has the means to prove his innocence and is no threat to his plan at all.

I think that Wes' mother was Sam's first wife and he is ...Sam's son. He was telling the truth when he told Rebecca that his mother committed suicide. She never got over Sam's betrayal with Annalise, which Wes believes contributed to her death. Wes has been plotting to avenge his mother's death ever since.

However, I am still undecided about who killed Sam. Maybe Bonnie killed him and showed up at Asher's party/slept with him to give herself an alibi?

 

that's a good theory.  only question is how does sam not recognize his son - unless he left when sam was really young or when his mother was was pregnant.

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Perhaps Annelise found out about Wes (don't know why Sam wouldn't have known - maybe the first wife's relatives moved away and hid their whereabouts?). Annelise then pulled strings to get Wes admitted, thinking they could all be a family since she'd been unable to have a baby; then, just as she was about to surprise Sam with the happy news, she found out about Lila and her pregnancy.

I like this Babalu!

Djsunyc, I watched way too many soap operas in my day, so I am thinking that mother hid the pregnancy from Sam or that she did not realize that she was pregnant until after the breakup/divorce.

Edited by 2AT
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Re Wes being Sam's son, I respectfully disagree, especially given what happened in the Midseason Finale. As batshit crazy as Shonda's shows can be (spoiler-tagged for those who haven't seen that episode)  

Having a child kill a parent is fucked up, even by Shonda's standards

.

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Annalise clearly favors Wes over the other students, but is it just because he walked in on her and Nate and she wants to offer a quid pro quo or because he is her long-lost son? Wes being her son might be too contrived but I feel it fits with a few things:

  • Annalise often has pointed advice for her clients, but I feel it is really about herself. For example, the episode with the soccer mom/terrorist, and there was a 10 year plea deal on the table, Annalise said that is a long time to be away from your kids, they will grow up not knowing you. Another time, she told Michaela to be careful who she marries.
  • Wes getting into Middleton on waitlist and into a popular professor's course. Not likely unless someone helped pull strings, such as said professor. One of the episodes, the other students wondered why Wes was there and joked that he is Annalise's son. Because this was said as a joke, we aren't meant to take this seriously. What if Shonda was just being meta?
  • She trusts Wes multiple times with sensitive information, both personal and client information. 
  • She has said numerous times she has fertility problems. We are meant to take this as fact, and assume she has had no children ever.
  • Wes appears to be biracial to me.

 

My speculation is she got pregnant early in the relationship with Sam (his baby or a side piece maybe?) and didn't want to risk losing him, so she took a sabbatical and left baby with a relative. After they were married, she found she wasn't able to get pregnant. That and other issues caused strain in the marriage and both sought other partners.

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OK, after the taking of the hair samples, and Frank handing off the paternity results, I'm going to speculate that he's the baby daddy and he killed the girl. Sam just happened to be having sex with her at the same time and she thought he was the father. Frank's been manipulating and moving people around like chess pieces.

I also agree that Wes is Annalise's son. She gave him up so she could attend law school and have her brilliant career.

What I haven't figured out is how Frank manipulated the cell phone trail on the laptop. The look on his face in the courtroom as the expert was testifying was so telling.

Oh, and I cannot stand the smug DA.

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What a cool theory, cooksdelight. I'm in, as long as it was either ordered by Annalise/Annalise knew about it. It's probably silly semantics, but since the show is called "How to Get Away with Murder," I feel like -- just like the students -- the person who killed Lila has to get away with it. I'm also not here for "trusting woman employer manipulated by eeeeevil guy, MWAH HAH HAH."

 

Dramatically speaking, Annalise knowing who killed Lila and framing Sam to get back at him for adultery, is very interesting to me. She never wanted him dead -- she just wanted to get even. Also explains her hugging his pillow at the end of last episode. On some level, she believes "he deserved to die" but it was never her plan.

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Sam getting killed wasn't part of her plan, I agree. Watching him twist in the wind and get convicted would have been much more satisfying than him dying, I sort of wish the kids hadn't screwed up and offed the guy.

Frank had to somehow know he was the father. Framing Sam for her murder became a whole lot easier once Sam died, I think.

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I think Annalise wanted to frame Sam for murder.  I think both Annalise and Frank killed Lila, Annalise killed her and Frank put her into the water tank.  I don't think Annalise knew about the baby though.   I also think Annalise wanted to represent Sam in Lila's murder and get him off so Sam would be so grateful that he'd never cheat on her again.  She was shocked that Sam was killed, she didn't want him dead, she wanted him dependent on her.

 

In either the first or second episode, someone suggested that Wes was Annalise's son.  Michaela told that person they were racist to assume that, that all black people aren't related to each other.  But that line has always bugged me, why put it out there?  Maybe Wes is Sam's son?  

Edited by Neurochick
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(edited)

 

I also agree that Wes is Annalise's son. She gave him so that she could attend law school and have her brilliant career.

 

  I disagree because of the way Annalise was flirting with Wes in the pilot after he caught her and Nate together. I don't believe that would have happened if Wes was her son. 

 

 

Maybe Wes is Sam's son? 

 

  I disagree with that too because I believe there would have been at least a few signs pointing in that direction before Wes killed him.

 

 

She could be flirting with Wes to throw him off from asking questions about "who is this woman and why does she seem so familiar?"

 

  Or "who is this woman and why is she macking on one of her students?"

Edited by DollEyes
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cooksdelight, although I think it's not really plausible that Frank is the killer, I would have to say that we have been shown that Frank has a guy who can manipulate computer things. She had Frank have a guy manipulate Lila's cell phone to obscure the contacts between Sam and Lila. It seems plausible the same guy could have also faked GPS links showing that Sam was exactly where he needed to be to "show" Sam was guilty.

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I'd never thought of Frank as a possibility for the killer before, but after you brought it up, I remembered the pic of Frank's shirtless chest that came up on Laurel's phone. At the time, it didn't make sense to me why she would have that on her phone, but now I'm wondering if it's a subtle note for the viewers connecting him to the image of Sam on Lila's phone. Or maybe it's nothing.

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