HTGAWM EP Talks Annalise's Baby Drama ('You'll Cry'), Connor/Asher Hookup ('Anything's Possible') 

Don’t get caught without a box of tissues during Thursday’s installment of

Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, S.H.I.E.L.D. and 8 Other Shows Renewed at ABC

“If you don’t cry, your heart is made of coal,” says executive producer Pete Nowalk. “I

While Nowalk won’t confirm that the hour’s most devastating moments involve flashbacks revealing the fate of Annalise’s pregnancy from 10 years ago, he does tease that it marks his favorite performance by Viola Davis since the series began.

The penultimate Season 2 episode, ominously titled “There’s My Baby,” feels more like a season finale, adds Nowalk, with a laugh. “At one point, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I

this was our finale, because I don’t know what to do next!\'”

RELATEDHTGAWM Boss Talks ‘Who Killed Rose?’ Reveal, Bonnie’s Discovery, Asher’s ‘Mama Bear’ Evolution

Read on for more intel about Annalise’s baby bump, the shocking sex scene teased by ABC’s promo department (could it be Asher-Connor?) and the endlessly creepy Philip.

TVLINE | So, the promos for Thursday’s episode promise to reveal what happened to Annalise’s baby. But ever since your first episode of 2016, we’ve been getting “10 years earlier” flashbacks to a super-pregnant Annalise — knowing that she does not have a 10-year-old son in the present. It’s created this overarching sense of dread building for five whole weeks now.

TVLINE | Do you feel like a terrible person for doing that to your audience?

] No. It adds to the story that you’re not just waiting for a surprise —  you’re also waiting for doom. I mean, it makes me very uncomfortable, but I also love how gripping that is.

TVLINE | As Eve said in last week’s episode, Annalise is so far along in her pregnancy that the baby is definitely viable. We’re talking super-pregnant!

That’s what makes it so sad. I was really excited in [last week’s] episode that we got to see Annalise admit in a very vulnerable way, even to herself, that she wants a baby. We’ve hinted that she’s has some miscarriages in the past, and this whole time she has not wanted to believe that it’s something she could have or that it’s something she even wanted.

TVLINE | Is there any chance that she gives the baby up for adoption, that this baby lives, or am I fooling myself?

All these things came into my mind, too, when we were writing it. What Annalise just saw [Rose stabbing herself in the neck and bleeding out on the floor in an attempt to protect Christophe] makes anything possible, considering that was a mother acting to protect her son. Does that change Annalise’s point of view? Does that drastically change her feelings about this baby she’s about to have? That’s a possibility.

TVLINE | You did plant a seed when Eve suggested last week that Annalise could give the baby up for adoption. And nothing you guys do ever seems to be accidental.

I love that about Eve, that she’s there for Annalise no matter what. It’s kind of like a Meredith/Cristina relationship from

. Shonda would always say they would help each other bury a dead body. I feel as though Eve was like, ‘I’m going to raise your baby if you want me to.\'”

TVLINE | Last week ended with Philip hiding in Wes’ apartment, and jumping out on top of Annalise. There’s a huge assumption from all the characters that he’s the worst guy ever — but we don’t know for a fact that he’s guilty of much of anything.

Sometimes, there are just terrible people on our show. We don’t want to give nuance to them. So he definitely has been painted as a secret baby incest weirdo. And it’s a very weird behavior to break into some stranger’s apartment and hide under his bed, and then grab someone by the ankles and climb on top of them. That’s weird. I’ll say that.

TVLINE | Can Annalise and the Keating Five live with themselves if Catherine ultimately sits in a prison cell for 10 or 15 years for killing Emily Sinclair and shooting Annalise — crimes she did not commit? Are they those people?

That is something they all feel guilty about — and they’re all dealing with it every day. That’s what probably drives Michaela back to Caleb all the time. She can’t just leave like she should and let it be. She keeps going back. So I think they’re normal that way, but they’re also learning to be survivors. I would say we all do that in some way. We all turn a blind eye to the ways that we benefit from other people’s suffering. They’re just doing it in a much bigger way.

TVLINE | Speaking of people with murky intentions, what can you tell us about the Mahoneys. And will this family’s arc extend into Season 3?

I can’t answer one way or the other without giving away too much. Obviously, the Mahoneys are responsible for Wes’ mother’s death. And you will find out more of what Annalise’s history is with the Mahoneys in this week’s episode. Basically, I can’t answer any more than that. But it’s a good question.

TVLINE | Wes and Annalise haven’t spoken in a long time. They’ve been leaving stuff under each other’s doors, sneaking into each other’s houses. Will a confrontation happen between now and the season finale?

It’s not a guarantee. But there will be communications between them.

TVLINE | Promos for this week’s episode promise “the wildest hookup in

history.” Are you saying we’re going to get something crazier than Connor’s copier-room encounter?

That wasn’t crazy so much as it was just awesome. [

TVLINE | OK, but are the promos overselling the scene – or can you promise that it will be next-level crazy?

I don’t know. I didn’t even know about that promo. Our show is shocking enough. I don’t think the romantic entanglements are as shocking as the twists in the murders. So, I wouldn’t get too hopeful. But I’ll say that I really like it.

Anything is possible on this show. I’m a big believer that people, especially twentysomethings, are more free and like to experiment. So, yeah, anything’s possible. All the ‘shippers can have hope.

TVLINE | If memory serves, I asked you about a Connor/Asher hookup around this time last year — and you dismissed it out of hand. So this is progress!

Oh, Michael, I’ve got another season under my belt. I realize anything is possible because you have to keep making episodes. You’ve got to give them some story. I let go of all of my morals and my high ground.

TVLINE | You’re saying it’s made you a better writer — and a worse person perhaps?

I agree. Horrible idea. No Conner and Asher at all. Conner and Oliver are the only reason I watch this show.

The idea of Connor & Asher together is just… nope. There’s too much of a sibling vibe there. Asher is way better with Bonnie. They belong together!

Connor & Asher …nope! Lets Leave Asher with Bonnie..or maybe Asher & Micheala

Asher with michaela !!no if she will be with one of the students she should be with connor but I know he is gay but if I see her with asher not connor this will make me sad

No to that hookup. I don’t want Connor to cheat on Oliver.

I really don’t think Oliver would be able to handle the aftermath. Who knows–Connor has gotten pretty domesticated. He may not be able to handle seeing the man he loves with someone else either. I think, like a lot of threesomes, it would result in their eventual breakup.

So I’m going to take this as a sign that a Connor/Asher/Oliver threesome is going to happen during the next episode and that Annaliese’s baby is off somewhere (but not dead). As for the Catherine guilt, I wouldn’t knock the showrunners if Catherine, Caleb, and Phillip were thrown in the slammer and just forgotten by the show. The Hapstall case was terrible.

The hapstall case is terrible cant stand the sibilings and it took too long that I am not interested to know who killed the parents

So I still think that Wallace Mahoney will be responsible for Analise losing her baby.

Yes! Bring on Casher! Matt and Jack are hilarious together and they ship it.

Who wouldn’t want Caleb? He’s the most beautiful guy ever!

Asher and Connor would be awful! Just ridiculous. Connor is in love with Oliver and Asher is straight. Team Oliver.

And if anyone should go gay, it should be Wes. Alfred Enoch could get it so hard!

Annalise’s son, if he’s alive, would be 10. Caleb is not 10.

Yesss….A throuple between Oliver, Connor and Asher… I’d like to call it..Team Conversh?

Seriously, there have been hints all over the place by now. I’d be so disappointed if we don’t get at least an experiment from Asher.

We have a canon male/male relationship with a poc love interest, and this is the kind of thing TV line asks Pete Nowalk? Disappointed. To make things worse, they used a screencap where Connor and Oliver are clearly making out. POC erasure much? I think yes.

I’m glad to see that Nowalk considers Eve to be Annalise’s person…I hope that means that Famke Janssen will be a semi-regular fixture on HTGAWM.

That said, I feel like I need to go back and watch that conversation about motherhood again because I didn’t get the sense that Eve was volunteering to raise Annalise’s baby at all..

I’m really hoping she gave the baby up for adoption. While I try not to let my real life cloud my viewing entertainment, I find these stories hard to watch after becoming a father.

I don’t want Asher & Connor and/or Ollie to hook up. I know he’s gay and I know he’d be cheating on Ollie BUT I’d rather see Connor & Makayla hook up. They have great chemistry. Actually, I’d rather have all the couples stay just the way they are but with Bon Bon & Asher back together as well as Frank & Laurel. You know what?? Just realizing that by deduction, the only two characters that don’t have any after everyone staying or getting back together are Wes and Eve. Now THAT would be shocking. He DID go to NY to meet with her afterall. And maybe she’d like a bit of revenge on Annalise??? Hmmmmm……

“That don’t have anyone….” Wish we could edit! Arrgh! Anyway….yes, I’ve convinced myself, it’s Wes and Eve.

Nup, saw the promo and the way this guy is downplaying it like it really wasn’t the wildest hookup ever….. it’s Bonnie and Frank

So Annalise loses her baby cuz of seeing Wes’s mother kill herself and causes too much stress that she goes into labor and her baby doesn’t make it maybe cuz of some medical reasons. And the hook-up is gonna be between Bonnie and Frank or It’ll be Wes and Laurel that end up hooking up. Those are my predictions.

Experiment? I can see this from girls but all the guys I know would never experiment. If they are straight they are straight. I think Connor and Asher is a horrible idea as they work better as friends. I didn’t even know there were shippers for them until reading this article. I can see Connor and Michaela even though he is gay. They have great chemistry.

It’s common for guys to experiment too; after all we’re only humans. But the majority of the ‘straights’ will never ever admit to experimenting to other people, male or female friends. Maybe they’ think that it will make them look less ‘straight’. Just ask Michaela :)

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