Annalise Keating is the star of ABC's hit drama How to Get Away with Murder. Annalise is a fierce and brilliant attorney with a notable reputation. The show follows Annalise's relationship with several of her law students who become interns for her firm. Appropriate boundaries between her and her students are very quickly abandoned and Annalise forms a close relationship with each of her interns, often referred to as the Keating 5.
Annalise is determined to win her cases and protect her image and the Keating 5 at all costs. This must-win attitude drives Annalise to carry out some pretty despicable tasks. Many fans believe Annalise to be a blameless victim of circumstances who has always acted selflessly, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Here are the 10 worst things Annalise has ever done.
Hiding Solomon From Michaela
Michaela Pratt, one of Annalise's students was placed in foster care when she was young. She often wondered about her biological parents and eventually went on a quest to search for information about her birth parents. Michaela suspected that Annalise knew more than she was sharing and directly asked Annalise if she had information about her father.
Annalise lies to Michaela and tells her that she doesn't. It is later revealed that Solomon, Michaela's father, was a client of Annalise and even had a romantic relationship with her.
Relationship With Isaac
Annalise has a bad habit of mixing business with pleasure. Annalise first meets Isaac as he is her court-mandated therapist. She begins to make progress with him, but Annalise's lack of boundaries quickly complicates the relationship.
She ends up developing feelings for her therapist and they have several interactions outside of their sessions. Annalise is warned by Isaac's ex-wife that she is a trigger for Isaac, an addict who is in recovery. Despite this, Annalise continues her relationship with Isaac, much to his detriment.
Affair With Sam
Isaac wasn't the first therapist Annalise grew interested in. Sam, her deceased husband, was also Annalise's therapist. She began seeing him after ending her relationship with Eve as Annalise struggled to accept her sexuality. Sam was married to a woman named Vivian who was pregnant with his child. This child is now known to fans as Gabriel came to Middleton to learn more about Sam.
Annalise didn't seem to care that she was Sam's mistress when she began to pursue him. Their relationship caused Sam's marriage to fail. After he was divorced, Annalise happily married him, not caring that he had abandoned his former wife and child to be with her.
Affair With Nate
Nate and Annalise originally met during one of Annalise's cases. At the time of their meeting, Annalise was married to Sam. Nate was also married. His wife, Nia, had been battling stage 4 ovarian cancer.
Nia became aware of their relationship but gave Nate her permission to continue seeing Annalise as she knew she was close to dying. Although Annalise knew that Nate has a sick wife, she wasn't bothering by this information and the two engage in a long-lasting and ongoing affair. Annalie and Nate even talk about Nia and how she is feeling.
Evidence Tampering
Evidence tampering is not out of the question for Annalise Keating. This lawyer regularly breaks the law to defend her clients and her friends.
She regularly introduces illegal evidence into trials, such as information obtained via hacking. She sends her law students out to dig up dirt on her clients, encouraging them to use their bodies to get information. She also has Oliver erase data from her phone after being questioned at the fire at her house.
Covering Up Murders
Annalise has had a hand in covering up almost every murder in the show. She gives Wes explicit directions explaining the best way to dispose of Sam's body. She came up with the plan to cover up Sinclair's murder. She instructed Frank to take care of Rebecca's body. The list goes on and on.
But it doesn't stop with covering up the murders of her peers! Annalise also covers up the murders of her clients! One such example is her client Toby Solomon, who admits to Annalise that he murdered an 18 year old woman while she is in the process of defending him for the murder of a different woman. Annalise finds a way to blame the death of this young woman on another inmate and bargains an amazing plea deal for Toby. In exchange for helping the police find the young woman's body, he will only do 3 years in jail for the murder police know about. In real life, attorneys are supposed to recuse themselves from a case if they are certain their defendant has committed a murder. Annalise does the exact opposite.
Sending A Hitman After Frank
Frank and Annalise's relationship is constantly evolving. The lowest point of their relationship was when Annalise discovered that Frank had inadvertently caused the death of her child. She sent him away and Frank went on a revenge killing spree.
While Frank was off killing all the people who had wronged him and those he cared about, Annalise decided she'd rather Frank be dead than gone. She then hires a hitman and sends him after Frank. Luckily, Frank catches on to the hitman and kills him before he has the chance to attack.
Making Wes Shoot Her
The Keating 5 were in some serious trouble when Asher killed Emily Sinclair. Annalise decided the best course of action would be to frame Catherine for the murder, which occurred at the Hapstall's mansion. Annalise did not think this would be believable to the police if the only person dead was Sinclair.
She devised a more believable story, but this required Annalise to get shot. When no one wanted to shoot her, she antagonized Wes. Eventually, she screamed "Rebecca's dead!" This was a breaking point for Wes and he shot her.
Throwing Nate Under The Bus
It's surprising that Nate wants anything to do with Annalise after the way she treated him in the past. In two different circumstances, Nate took advantage of Nate and used him as a scapegoat to get herself out of a difficult situation. The first one was when she unexpectedly put Nate on the stand and got him to admit under oath that the police had doctored evidence in the past. This is information she knew from her romantic relationship with Nate and forcing him to share this information under oath seriously jeopardized her career.
The second time Annalise used Nate as a scapegoat was during the investigation of Sam's murder. At the direction of Annalise, Frank planted Nate's fingerprints on Sam's wedding ring and left it in the woods near Sam's body. This evidence ended up getting Nate arrested for Sam's murder. She then hired her ex-girlfriend Eve to defend him in an attempt to make things right. Simply hiring him an attorney does not erase the vicious crime of falsely incriminating someone.
Attacking Bonnie On The Stand
Bonnie's relationship with Annalise is possibly the most outrageous and least believable relationship on the show, How To Get Away With Murder. Annalise and Bonnie first met when Annalise was defending a prominent politician who had raped Bonnie as a child. Although Annalise, a survivor of sexual assault herself, knows her client is guilty, she savagely hurtles insults and accusations at Bonnie on the stand. Her mental manipulation and aggressive line of questioning causes Bonnie to break down on the stand and slip up in her testimony.
After Annalise wins her case, she goes to Bonnie and says she sees potential in her. Somehow, she convinces Bonnie to attend law school. Bonnie applies and is accepted with help from Annalise. She then becomes her intern and continues to work for her for many years. Annalise takes credit for helping Bonnie gain success, both none of this makes up for the way she brutally attacked Bonnie on the stand while letting a pedophile and rapist walk free.