In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ creator Peter Nowalk said he initially didn’t plan for the show to feature multiple queer storylines. One of the queer relationships was between Connor and Oliver.
In 2020, Nowalk preferred fans to speculate on Connor and Oliver’s journey between Connor’s prison time and the flash-forward showing them at Annalise’s funeral. Now, he’s more open to discussing it as he said:
“They got together after [Connoer got out of prison]. That feels healthy to me because they had so much trauma and it would have been good both for Connor and for Oliver to go off and have that time to work on themselves. That’s the type of romantic I am.”
He continued, sharing what he is proud of about the show:
“The thing that felt empowering to write — and to be able to portray — not just queer people, but people of color and people who have been othered in many ways was [writing] all of them fighting back against the behemoth of a normative culture, and that’s what I’m proud of.”
Nowalk’s Earlier Words On The Queer Characters
The series follows Annalise Keating, a lawyer and professor who runs a law firm from her home and teaches challenging law courses. When she recruits five students to join her firm, their lives are thrown into turmoil with murder and secrets.
In season two, it’s revealed that Annalise had a previous relationship with Eve, introducing more LGBTQ storylines. Still, the show started its commitment to LGBTQ representation in season one with Connor, played by Jack Falahee. Nowalk previously talked about Connor:
“I’m gay, so I wanted to write a character that I hadn’t really seen on TV before.”
He also reflected on Annalise:
“I love that Annalise doesn’t fit in one box … I don’t know that Annalise even knows how to categorize herself other than simply doing what she wants.”
Connor’s relationship with Oliver, played by Conrad Ricamora, was a focus when the series started due to their intense romance and groundbreaking sex scenes.
