ABC Theories on how Wes Gibbins from "How to Get Away with Murder" is still alive.
One of the biggest shockers for How to Get Away with Murder fans was the return of Wes Gibbins. The last time viewers saw Wes, the father of Laurel’s baby, it was assumed he had died in a house fire in Season 3. But the final moments of the Season 6 mid-season finale showed the return of Wes. Of all things, he was speaking at Annalise Keating’s (Viola Davis) funeral, which is an entirely separate cliffhanger. As someone “who has known Annalise for a long time,” the priest asked West to speak as the first eulogist.
How Is Wes Alive?
Maybe Wes never died. Bustle reasoned that maybe Annalise helped Wes fake his death and that they remained in touch ever since. This theory, however, is unlikely since Annalise was devastated by Wes’ death. At this point in the series, it seems like anything is possible. In a different scenario, maybe Wes faked his own death so he could get away from the Keating Five.
It’s a Fake Funeral
There’s a chance the entire funeral sequence isn’t real. When Season 6 started, Annalise was in rehab and envisioning her own funeral, so it wouldn’t be the first time HTGAWM writers fake out fans with this type of twist. In the vision, Annalise sees Christopher open her casket and then Christopher pulling a gun on her.
The funeral could be a dream that someone is having. If Annalise died, maybe Wes would still be alive. As noted by TV Insider, it could be a metaphor for Christopher and Wes both being in Annalise’s conscience.
Wes Has a Twin
This is a popular tactic used on soap operas. Just when viewers think there’s no way a character can come back from the brink of death, they find out that the person is actually a twin. This would require a lot of backstory on the part of the writers and they only have six episodes to tie everything up, so this could be the most unlikely scenario.
Fans Don’t Believe Wes Is Still Alive
After mourning Wes’ death in Season 3, fans aren’t ready to have their hearts broken again. Wes’ death was arguably one of the hardest for fans to accept but they seemed pretty confident he was gone for good when his DNA was confirmed and his organs were removed from his body. Also, Connor said he tried to revive Wes but he was unable to resuscitate him. Reddit users from a year-old thread were convinced of Wes’ death.
“If we hadn’t actually seen his dead body and his organs being removed from his body, the cremation would be more of a big deal, but we saw all of that,” one person said. “The cremation was because his body was evidence that Wes was already dead before the explosion and the ADA and DA wanted to hang this on Annalise, so that evidence had to disappear.”
The decision to “bring Wes back,” however the writers decide to play it out, wasn’t discussed until they were writing Seasons 5 and 6, creator Pete Nowalk said, according to TV Line.
Don’t miss How to Get Away With Murder when the final season resumes on Thursday, April 2 at 10 p.m. on ABC.
READ NEXT: HTGAWM Spoilers: Who Is ‘How to Get Away With Murder’s FBI Informant?