We know the show has concluded for good, but there are still some questions on which fans of the hit legal drama How to Get Away with Murder are stuck like in the mud.
One of the biggest questions is whether the doe-eyed Wes knew his murderer, Dominic. If yes, then how? As fans would know, the show is nothing short of a maze when it comes to who gets murdered, when, and why.
Like a mini-Game of Thrones set in the modern-day American courtroom, the show can make you want to become a student and start taking notes, just to wrap your head around it all. Just to make some sense of all that’s going on, especially with a character as central to the story as Wespuppy.
But if you ain’t the best note-taker, no worries! We have it all down for you. So, the show never explicitly says that Wes knew his murderer Dominic, but leaves open ends which could mean they were old acquaintances.
That is, until season 4, when we find that Dominic’s number was given to Wes as an emergency contact by none other than his girlfriend Laurel’s mom, Sandrine.
In a bid to protect the family name, Sandrine requests Wes to keep her daughter away from any controversy related to the Sam Keating murder.
But Wes ends up getting murdered by Dominic, who then plants his body in the Keating house and sets it ablaze, all at the behest of Laurel’s parents.
That was the quick answer. For those still unsatisfied, continue reading.
Why Did Wes Call Dominic?
The suspicions of Wes knowing Dominic in a past life start with a phone call in season 3. Seated in a cab and on his way to the Keating house is Wes.
He has escaped the precinct and the ongoing questioning in the Sam Keating murder investigation to go see Annalise. He is getting ready to call up a contact saved as ‘IN CASE OF EMERGENCY’ on his phone.
Cut to the midseason finale of season 4. Dominic is dead. Frank has killed him and also found a voicemail on Dominic’s phone. It is from Wes. As Frank is listening to Wes’ message on the phone, we step back into a flashback to the day Wes was killed.
After leaving the police station, without snitching on Annalise and K5 like everyone thought he would, Wes got into a cab, presumably to go to Annalise’s house.
On the way there, he ignored a call from Laurel and scrolled through his contacts to the name ‘IN CASE OF EMERGENCY’ instead.
He called the number and identified himself by his real birth name, Christophe.
Now Christophe is Wes’ old Christian name, given to him by his dead mother, hence the idea that Dominic knew Wes from a long time ago. Which then made us wonder if Wes knew Laurel, too.
At the time, the show made it seem like he had called Nate, who was waiting in the Keating house for Wes when he arrived. But everything’s not as it appears on this show!
We found out late in season 4 that Wes was approached by Laurel’s mother, Sandrine, in a bid to keep the Castillo name out of any legal controversies.
Sandrine is the one who asks Wes to contact her through Dominic in case sh*t hits the fan.
2. Why Did Dominic Kill Wes?
When Wes called Dominic and said that “he was in trouble” and that “we all could be,” we may have thought he was referring to himself and the rest of the Keating 5. But now we know he meant the Keating 5 AND the Castillos.
For the longest time, fans wanted to believe Dominic reached the Keating house not to kill but to help him.
After all, Wes shares his real name with him over the phone, meaning that he trusted Dominic. However, things changed when they realized that the Castillos are getting involved.
Wes’s name could just as easily have been an identification for Dominic to know who was calling.
There were also theories that Wes and Dominic may have a shared past in foster care which is how Dominic knew Wes’ real name.
But this line of the story isn’t revealed in the later seasons. Even if it were true, by that point in his life, Dominic was imprinted by Jorge and would jump if he asked him to jump, without even a second thought.
But even that warmth was only extended to Laurel and not to Wes, once Dominic received the orders to kill him.
We find out later that Dominic was the one to tell Sandrine about the police pinning down Annalise for Sam’s murder, who then told Jorge, who ordered Wes’ murder.
3. How Does Laurel’s Mom Know Wes?
After Jorge Castillo’s latest company Antares is ready to go public, the family hears about their daughter’s mentor Prof. Keating going under trial for her husband’s murder.
Afraid that their daughter’s association with the whole fiasco would hurt their business interests, the Castillos decide to reach out to their estranged daughter.
Sandrine chooses to get in touch with her daughter’s boyfriend Wes to try and ensure Laurel has no ties attached to Annalise Keating.
She even offers Wes money to leave Laurel, but when he refuses, she gives Dominic’s phone number to keep her in the loop about Annalise’s case. But Wes probably has faith that Annalise will be able to wring herself out of the mess. This is probably why, after he meets with the detectives, Wes is sure the case is no longer in Annalise’s favor and decides to call up the emergency number.
4. Was Wes an FBI Mole?
Given the nonlinear and fast-paced storytelling by the show’s writers, we didn’t know for a long time about why and how Wes met Laurel.
What was his interest in meeting her and how could she manage to contact him?
Theories were rife about Wes being an FBI spy who was asked to come closer to the Castillos or even be more active in the Keating inner circle.
We all know how criminal defense lawyers could be the worst nightmares for the FBI.
However, Wes turned out to have a bunch of his own secrets, but not the kind we expected. His father was murdered, he had a different birth name, and he killed Sam Keating, but that’s about it. Nothing more, nothing less.
5. About How to Get Away with Murder
This hit ABC legal drama first aired in 2014, and now premieres on Netflix. It centers around a criminal defense lawyer and matriarch Annalise Keating.
She runs her practice out of her home, and keeps a team of assistants and a few select students close to help her with work, which involves defending people accused of murder.
Things go awry when Annalise begins to suspect her own husband of murdering a student at Middleton College, where she teaches. Soon after, all hell breaks loose when her husband is killed as well.
What ensues is six seasons of fast-paced drama imbued in legal jargon, as unexpected murders continue to rise, and we are left wondering: exactly how many murders can you really get away with?
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