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Wes' Cause Of Death Is Confusing On 'HTGAWM'

by Megan Walsh

Wes' death on How To Get Away With Murder is a mystery in every sense but one: he was definitely murdered. That seemed certain in the last episode before the show's midseason break, when the coroner told Nate that Wes had died before the fire broke out at Annalise's house. That made it clear that there was foul play involved in Wes' death. However, a slightly different story was being told in Thursday's midseason premiere "We're Bad People." While Wes' death is still being ruled a homicide, the circumstances have changed dramatically. So what was Wes' cause of death on How To Get Away With Murder?

The coroner had told Nate her suspicions before the official autopsy had been performed, but after the autopsy, her findings changed. She determined that Wes' cause of death was asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation. It was still a homicide because it was presumed that the fire was set specifically to kill Wes; how this was proven wasn't explained, though it might be yet another How To Get Away With Murder leap in logic. But the fact that Wes died in the fire brings everything into question. If he wasn't killed before the fire broke out, then who's to say he was the intended victim at all?

It is possible that the person who set the fire didn't mean to kill Wes. Perhaps Annalise was their intended target (or another character in the house), but Wes was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's also possible that whoever set the fire didn't actually mean to kill anyone at all. The house was supposed to be empty, so there is a chance (however slim) that one of Annalise's many enemies was trying to send her a non-fatal message. Wes' death could have been a total accident.

But there are some curious inconsistencies. The fact that the coroner changed her story feels suspicious even if she had made her previous assertion before she had all the facts. Laurel did see a person running out of the storm door in the basement right before the fire, which could imply that something went down between that person and Wes before his death. There was also the very telling statement Bonnie made when she was calling Frank for some support. She said, "They're saying Wes died in the fire and it's not true."

The fact that Bonnie knows that Wes didn't die in the fire is incredibly suspicious, and if she's to be believed, then it upends everything all over again. Without knowing what's true and what isn't, Wes' death is as much a mystery as ever. It looks like someone killed him and is trying to cover their tracks, which just makes it even more difficult to determine who the perpetrator is.