Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: Meet Annalise Keating, a theatrical enigma and arguably one of the most complex film characters created.
From the first scene in the classroom when she told her students their “bad karma” landed them there, it was clear she was no one to toy with. She isn’t necessarily nurturing but refreshingly messy, human, and vulnerable.
To some, she’s a hero who fights for justice, with protecting her students as her primary motivation. However, so is her personal survival, which is why she is a cunning liar, a master manipulator, and, at times, a criminal who bends morality until it breaks.
It’s a whole debate about what Annalise Keating actually stands for: is she one who fights for the unjustly treated, or will she go to any length to get what she wants?
Let’s peel back the layers of this onion and discover what drives her perspective on justice.
Annalise Keating is, first and foremost, a defender. She shows a “soft spot” for helping those whom she truly believes are innocent, likely stemming from her own past with abuse, where she had no one to help her. In some ways, this was her own way of seeking redemption both for her clients and herself.
For example, in the episode “There Are Worse Things Than Murder,” she takes on the case of Irene Crawler, who spent 32 years in jail for murdering her husband. It was later discovered that she didn’t do it just because she was tired of seeing his face.
Apparently, she had been physically and sexually abused for years, which was ignored in her original trial because the law offered little protection for victims of domestic violence at the time. This isn’t new; Annalise has defended other abused women before.
Annalise is fiercely protective and will go to any lengths to shield her Keating 5.
Throughout the series, she lies, manipulates, and hurts people to protect her little clique of students who work for her. She would go to any length to protect them, even by covering them from the law after they killed her cheating husband.
She risks her career, freedom, and sanity. Her methods may be questionable, but her motive is clear: she refuses to abandon the people she considers her own, even when they betray her or hate her for it; she still shields them regardless.
If there’s one thing that defines Annalise Keating, it’s her fight to ensure justice. She challenges the entire justice system, a structure that routinely marginalizes Black people, women, and the poor.
A prime example is the landmark “class action suit” she took on in the later seasons. This suit was inspired by a friend she made in jail, Jasmine, a prostitute and drug addict.
Annalise argued some clients lacked adequate defense and wouldn’t have been convicted otherwise. She claimed Jasmine’s life resulted from official negligence, especially for people unable to pay bail. She won the suit, triggering major reforms.
Annalise alleged that some clients did not receive adequate defense; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been convicted. She argued that the present life of Jasmine was the result of negligence of the authorities, who fail to provide adequate responses for the people who cannot afford their bail. She won the suit, leading to a total reform of the DA and funding for public defenders.
Even in all her brilliance, Annalise Keating’s moral compass was always shaky. She is skilled at manipulating people to get what she wants, regardless of the cost. It was evident in Season 1, when she used Frank to do her dirty work, while keeping her hands clean.
She wields intelligence as a weapon to control those around her, blurring ethical lines to achieve her goals. She lies, destroys evidence, and leverages people’s secrets as bargaining chips. Every favour comes with a price.
In one instance, she manipulates her student, Wes, taking advantage of his trauma and emotional dependency. Everyone and everything is a means to an end.
It is clear as day that Annalise Keating is not a role model, especially when it comes to moral standing. Her ethical code is fluid and adaptable to whatever the moment demands.
She covers up crimes when it suits her, bends the truth in court, and occasionally sacrifices the innocent for the sake of the “greater good.” She did help her students conceal a murder (her husband’s).
She is completely ruthless and doesn’t mind going the extra mile to win. She is very willing to break the law if the need arises.
At one point, she even played the race card in court, completely changing the whole dynamic of the case to her advantage by highlighting how the judge was being racist towards her, thereby affecting the judgment of her client’s case.
Annalise is a strong warrior who pays the price for victory: she destroys empires built on false narratives and brings the truth into the light, protects the powerless at the cost of her own soul, at the cost of isolation.
However, her need for dominance pushes people away. She drinks to forget, lies to survive, and hides her wounds behind flashy suits and elaborate speeches.
She may save others, but destroys herself and often those around her in the process. Annalise Keating demonstrates how power corrupts everyone it touches.
She started as a defender and ended up a monstrous tyrant, leaving behind a legacy of destroyed lives, scarred students, and a colder justice system.
Annalise Keating is neither a hero nor a villain; she’s a mirror that reflects the decay in the Justice system and how to survive it. This contradiction is what the movie “How to Get Away With Murder” is all about. It asks the question “Can we fight monsters without becoming one ourselves?”
Annalise Keating wins cases for the defenseless, helpless mothers, black people, and victims of a rotten justice system. She risks her license and her life to protect her students from a checkered system.
Her methods might not be ideal, and some might even say brutal, but in a world where innocence is often irrelevant, her methods are crucial for winning against a harsher judicial system.
She sabotages the system, plants evidence, frames innocent people, and covers up murders, even those of fellow lawyers. She corrupts her students and turns them into accomplices.
She always complains about how checkered the system is, yet she does nothing to fix it and ends up worsening the situation.
Labeling Annalise Keating in a black and white category would be inaccurate, given that she operates somewhere in the greys. Yes, she has sinned, but her sins are not stains on her; they reveal every single soul the system has failed. Justice doesn’t need saints without stains; it needs fighters who bleed for the fight, and Annalise is at the forefront.
In the end, Annalise Keating doesn’t need to be a good example to matter. She only needs to be real, and that, perhaps, is the most powerful thing of all.
