How to Get Away With Murder star Jack Falahee on Connor and Michaela's decision, 'big lie'

Warning: This article contains spoilers for How to Get Away With Murder season 6, episode 10, "We're Not Getting Away With It."

How to Get Away With Murder is back — and it turns out that in Michaela (Aja Naomi King) and Connor's (Jack Falahee) case, they can't get away with it. Even if they didn't actually kill anyone.

Picking up where we left them in the midseason finale, the two are under arrest for the murder of Asher (Matt McGorry) — and by extension, everyone else who's died caught up in the web of Annalise (Viola Davis) and the Keating Five. The two are desperate, with Connor demanding he be taken to the hospital after a full-blown panic attack and Michaela calling upon her biological father, Solomon (Ray Campbell), to help her secure a lawyer.

Outside their holding cells, all hell breaks loose as Frank (Charlie Weber) and Bonnie (Liza Weil) try to tie up loose ends, leaving us all to wonder whether Asher was just one of those loose ends (or maybe Gabriel killed him?). We get a glimpse of Asher's final hours, and his halfhearted attempts to implicate Bonnie and Frank, but no answers yet as to the identity of his killer. A desperate Oliver (Conrad Ricamora) confesses to Asher's murder, desperately believing the head wound he inflicted earlier that night killed Asher.

But all this is for naught when Connor and Michaela are presented with an ultimatum: Whey can take an immunity deal, confessing to the murder of everyone from Asher right on down to victim zero, Sam Keating (Tom Verica). The trick? They are to say they did it under the influence of Annalise and testify against her. If they do this, they'll get five years in jail for the obscene body county and be immediately released. If not, they'll be faced with a potential life sentence. The only problem is that Annalise is on the run in Mexico — though by episode's end, the law has already caught up with her.

Michaela and Connor decide separately to take the deal, on one condition: that the other gets the same deal regardless of whether they accept it. After all this time, the last two standing members of the Keating Five are looking out for each other. It's beautiful, if perhaps a little unexpected, and leaves us with a lot of questions. To get some answers, we called up Connor Walsh himself, actor Jack Falahee, to get his testimony on what was behind some of Connor's choices and how much danger still lies ahead.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Michaela and Connor seem to have made the safest choice for now, but on a scale of 1-10, how much danger are they in still? Be it from the Castillos, Annalise and Bonnie/Frank, or the FBI?

JACK FALAHEE: Since the very moment we met the characters in the pilot, they've always been in grave peril. Pete [Nowalk, the showrunner] and the writers continually have raised the bar and made the stakes higher. That theme continues in these next six episodes, so things are not good. They're probably at like a 15 out of 10 right now.

Connor insists he’s not faking that panic attack. But is that true?

Oh, I don't really believe anything Connor says. But with that I actually was erring on the side of believing Connor, just because the situation is so stressful. Coincidentally, I had my first panic attack while filming season 6 of Murder, unrelated to filming. I just happened to have a panic attack over something small, as one often does, and went to the hospital and everything because I'd never had one and they're terrifying. But having had a panic attack over something extremely mundane and small, it stands within reason that Connor would be having a very real panic attack in this moment.

Why did Connor ultimately take the deal? Was it a difficult decision in the end?

No, I don't think it is. It's a culmination of his festering resentment toward Annalise over the course of law school. Connor probably more than anyone has had problems with Annalise and has been pretty vocal about them. There's definitely a fair number of scenes where Connor is in a shouting match with Annalise about some way that she's deceived them or jeopardized them. He and Michaela, in the very beginning, when they first get into hot water, go to the police station and are thwarted by Annalise. This is a combination of all of these things coming to a head and him just being like, "You know, what, enough is enough." And also, in the beginning, Connor in some ways had nothing to lose, but now that he has a husband who he loves and his safety is thrown into the question as well, it's sort of a no-brainer for him.

How much of the decision was really Connor’s choice, and how much of it was motivated by pressure from both Oliver and his mom? Might that come back to be an issue for them later?

Those factors are definitely at play. This is probably a conversation that you have with a partner and/or your parents. We obviously see the parents come back in this episode, and we'll definitely see how their perspectives play out and what they think is right and wrong. What lawyers they hire. It definitely all comes into this big mixing pot. When you're being charged with murder, the last thing you want are your parents to be breathing down your neck.

While Michaela’s greatest question is whether or not she’ll still be able to be a lawyer, Connor seems more concerned about his marriage.

Yeah, Michaela is ridiculous... what an absurd fear! You're being charged with murder!

How much can we count on Ollie waiting, or that being something Connor will even still want?

I don't know. I mean, that's that's tough, right? I can't speak from experience, but the prison system is brutal, and very trying on all aspects of one's relationship. But I'm sure Connor and Oliver want to stay together. I think a better question maybe is to what extent will Oliver let his love influence Connor's plea deal? How might he get involved? Which I think is something we'll see in the next couple episodes as well.

A lot of this feels very guilt-motivated, particularly over any role Connor played in getting Oliver involved. But he’s also very loyal to Michaela, in spite of Oliver urging him not to be. Where did that act of loyalty come from, and his insistence the deal be offered to Michaela regardless? Were you surprised he was willing to stick his neck out for her like that and vice versa?

I wasn't surprised. I think that they have had the closest bond since the beginning. That's not really saying much because Wes is dead, Laurel is who-knows-where, Asher's dead. She's kind of the only one left. But I think there is a genuine love between these two friends. And while Connor feels very guilty, that love comes into question. Whether it's more important for him to assuage that guilt in some way or for him to stick his neck out for Michaela, [we'll see]. Whenever someone feels guilty about anything, it's sort of a selfish thing in most cases. Will Connor choose to give over to that selfishness, or will he choose others above themselves?

As you said, he and Annalise have never had the best relationship when it comes to the Keating Five, but how much remorse or guilt might he feel if they end up having to see each other again? Might they have a face-off?

Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, Annalise has to get what's coming to her from Connor. They'll definitely be some some words, if not more, exchanged.

There’s still this sticking point of lying and saying Annalise ordered them to kill Sam. Might Connor still shift on that, or is he committed to the lie at this point?

Yeah, it's a pretty big lie. There's movement, for sure. I think that eats away at different people more than others. And there are definitely actions that are taken in directions. That's pretty vague.

Michaela’s father has been pretty instrumental in this whole thing, but we already know he’s not trustworthy and played a role in Annalise’s disappearance. How much can Connor and Michaela trust him? Is he bad news?

I don't know if Connor knows that. I don't know that Connor is privy to Solomon's involvement. So as far as Connor knows, Michaela is an idiot for not taking the check, but yeah, I don't know that Connor has any immediate distrust of the man. He begins to play a role in how this plea deal plays out, and he's an extremely wealthy man. So you can imagine the legal counsel that we retain might be different.

Asher’s sister certainly believes they actually killed her brother, but they do seem to have a pretty tight alibi. Still, is there any chance Connor could be involved in Asher’s death?

Sure. I will say when I read it, I had that initial knee-jerk reaction as well, just because it feels very Murder. But yeah, there's always a possibility, for sure. I mean, look, he was bludgeoned by my husband in our house. So based on previous murders that we've conspired in, I don't think it's out of the question to think that maybe we did something.

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