‘HTGAWM’ Winter Premiere Features Major Character’s Shocking Return

How to Get Away With Murder‘s winter premiere ended with a surprise return, opening up a new mystery about Annalise Keating’s past.

Putting the aftermath of the latest murder surrounding Annalise (Viola Davis) and her team in the back burner for now, the episode — titled “He Betrayed Us Both” — tackled Annalise and Gabriel’s (Rome Flynn) first conversation after the reveal he is Sam Keating’s (Tom Verica) son.

As Annalise fought to learn Gabriel’s true intentions for coming into her life and not telling her who he was, flashbacks took viewers back to the aftermath of Annalise’s recovery after losing her baby in a car accident.

The episode also revealed that Sam left his first wife for Annalise before Gabriel was born, and he had not tried to be involved in the child’s life until after Annalise’s miscarriage.

In the scenes, Sam and Annalise’s marriage starts to unravel as Sam is insistent on grieving the baby they lost — whom he says he didn’t even get to hold — while Annalise focuses her attention on possibly adopting 12-year-old Wes Gibbins, whose mom had just died before her accident.

With his wife refusing to grieve with him, Sam turns to his first wife and attempts to reach out for the first time with an interest in being a part of Gabriel’s life. He finds Gabriel’s grandmother and even pays her a visit, though she tells him to leave them alone as he already caused enough trouble.

After he is asked to leave, a younger Gabriel comes back and encounters Sam for the first time. Not knowing that he is his father, Gabriel acts suspicious and rushes into his grandmother’s apartment as Sam watches, brokenhearted.

Back in the present, Annalise’s students find out Gabriel’s real identity and lash out at Laurel (Karla Souza), who had kept the secret after finding out from Frank. Meanwhile, Frank continued to try and reach out to Annalise, while keeping in contact with the mysterious associate he had been reporting to regarding Gabriel.

Back in the past, viewers see as Sam writes his first wife an emotional email begging her to let him meet Gabriel. However, the email is intercepted by the mysterious person, who finds Frank and tells him he must force Sam to quit his attempts at reuniting with his son.

Frank does as his employer says, knowing he needs to make it up to Annalise after casting the accident that killed her child, and Sam seemingly does not try to contact him again.

Near the end of the episode, viewers see Gabriel clutching the basketball he was holding when he first met his father, clearly still interested in finding out what led to his death. Annalise wrestles with the big reveal as someone shows her the email Sam wrote in the past.

The show then reveals that Annalise’s ex Eve (Famke Janssen) was the one who worked with Frank to stop Sam. In the present, Eve returns and is by Annalise’s side to show her the email, and telling her Sam was never good enough for her.

What is Eve’s connection to Gabriel and what does her return mean for the rest of the season? How to Get Away With Murder airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.