HOLLYWOOD—I’ve been patiently waiting all season long to find out what happened on that fateful night on the ABC hit series “How to Get Away With Murder.” Well, at long last the truth has been unveiled. I will admit I have not been so excited for a big reveal that didn’t pay off as much as I hoped for. The one thing that constantly works for this series is its ability to deliver these surprises that you come to expect, but at the same time the surprises that you don’t expect.

This was a very loaded episode, so let’s start back at the beginning. We kicked things off with Connor learning from Oliver that the gang has been secretly working behind their backs to take down Wes’ killer aka Laurel’s father without his knowledge. Per usual, Connor flipped, I swear he has to be the most worrisome member when it comes to keeping a secret. After confronting the gang, Connor found himself getting choked up by Frank after insulting his capabilities. This is a very important scene “HTGAWM” fanatics so pay close attention!

That ultimately leads to Connor deciding to join in on the debacle to ensure nothing goes wrong, while keeping Annalise in the dark. Annalise was busy grappling with her demons and her therapist, who I’m starting to suspect, might have feelings for her, as he battled against his wife for pushing him closer to breaking his sobriety. Now back to the festive shindig at Michaela’s new law firm, courtesy of her boss Tegan Price. When the Keating 4 makes a plan, it never ends the way they planned. The notion of getting access to Tegan’s key card to access the server to download those encrypted files were no easy feat, but with nuanced movement, Michaela and Asher found a way to make it happen.

I will admit the more people you get involved in a plan, the more likely that plan is to explode in your face literally, which is precisely what happened. I’m referring to the constant teases we got during the episode. First, during the opening where Oliver stumbled upon, Asher, Laurel and Michaela, who had blood smeared on their bodies and letting out a horrific scream! The audience, however, did not see the face of the victim until about 30 minutes into the episode, when it was revealed that Simon accidentally shot himself in the head while attempting to gather evidence against the Keating 4 and their plan.

Yeah, never a wise idea to take someone’s gun, when it could be loaded people. All I can say is Simon should have been more careful; who knew a CHAIR of all things would lead to his downfall. I sense Michaela is getting more savvy by the minute. I mean, she carefully cleaned up evidence from the crime scene to protect herself and her pals, as Laurel was rushed out of the building. However, the situation was only amplified when a spooked Connor decided to reveal to Annalise what has been going on behind the scenes. Now this was a welcome surprise for the series because I thought Annalise would be culpable in some way, but that is quite the contrary people. Why?

Her biggest flaw was shooting down Bonnie who confessed her love for her former boss. Yes, Bonnie dropped the “L” word on her pal, and it left Annalise shook to say the least. When Annalise didn’t respond the way Bonnie expected, it led to her having a drinking session with Nate. We could see these two hook up in the near future I suspect.

Now, let’s get to the biggest surprise of the hour, Laurel, who planned to head back to her apartment, had a change of plans and decided to stop by Annalise’s place first. However, she never expected for her baby to come early. Why? Remember that opening scene where Frank got into it with Connor, during that fight, he elbowed Laurel in the stomach, which caused her to prematurely have her baby. Making the situation worse was the fact that she got stuck in the elevator. Now, this show has blood, but the graphic subject matter this time was in your face. From Simon’s shooting, to Laurel giving birth, blood was everywhere.

Thankfully, Annalise heard Laurel’s cries and came to her rescue, but it was a frenetic scene to watch. I kept telling myself there is no way that baby is going to survive, but Annalise pulled out all the stops to save that baby. Retrieving him from a gated elevator, providing CPR and with the snap of a finger the screen goes to black. However, the audience did indeed hear a loud, screeching baby cry. So I suspect Laurel’s child may have survived, just barely, but I hate not having that actual confirmation.

I loved this episode, for its sheer level of secrecy because so many things were left unanswered. I mean Dominic sitting by the stairs eavesdropping on Connor’s conversation cannot be good people, not to mention Asher being arrested. Oh, I forgot to mention Simon may or may not be dead. So that is another ripple to deal with. Simon surviving could be a good thing, yet a bad thing for the Keating 4. If he dies, their secret dies with him, and if he survives he could spill all everything. One more thing, Simon confessed his feelings for Oliver!

So there are plenty of questions to be answered, but audiences will have to wait nearly 2 months before we get them when “How to Get Away With Murder” returns on January 18, 2018. Yes, that’s a long time, but I’m certain it will be worth it!