How How To Get Away With Murder got away with murdering one of its main characters

Usually, killing off a main character would be unthinkable for a TV series, especially if that character has functioned as the viewer stand-in since the first episode. But things are different in the Shonda Rhimes universe, where characters are offed left and right. Still, How To Get Away With Murder, created by frequent Rhimes producer Peter Nowalk, managed to pull off a major surprise this year, when it was revealed that the season’s unidentified murder victim was actually Wes (Alfred Enoch). This raises the stakes for the rest of the show’s season three, as the remaining law students try to discover who killed him, and their mentor, Annalise (Viola Davis), is accused of his murder. The series continues this story when it returns to ABC’s TGIT lineup tonight, January 26, at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Sometimes when a TV character is killed off, it’s the result of an actor wanting to leave the show. Speaking to The A.V. Club at this winter’s Television Critics Association press tour, Nowalk assured that this wasn’t the case with Wes. “That’s what made it a very difficult decision,” he said. “We have a very happy family of a set, and that’s rare, as I’m sure you know. Alfie, who plays Wes, is a dreamboat. He’s had to carry so much of the show on his shoulders, and he’s so young. And I love him. So I think that’s primarily why I made the decision. It scared me, all of those things.”
Even though many of the series’ viewers were shocked, Nowalk shrugs, “I didn’t think it would be that much of a surprise, actually, for the audience. I wanted it to be surprising, but you know how people are so smart and they can tell things. Really, I was just writing toward the idea that this would be very impactful for everyone, and for me, it was scary. And I think that helps you when you’re on a really fast writing schedule, to invigorate you. So there are many reasons to make a bad decision, but it all came from story.”