Wes' Real Father Is Revealed On 'HTGAWM'

How to Get Away with Murder is known for its shocking twists, but the one it delivered in the Season 3 finale was particularly confusing. Everyone thought that Wallace Mahoney was Wes' biological father, but "He Made a Terrible Mistake; Wes" proved that that wasn't actually the case. When Annalise sat down with Wallace's widow Sylvia, she revealed the truth — the trouble was, it was a difficult truth to grasp. Sylvia claimed that Wallace wasn't Wes' father at all and he was actually the child of their son Charles, making Wes her and Wallace's grandson. The weirdest part was that Charles hardly seemed old enough to have a child Wes' age, so how is Charles Mahoney Wes' dad?

When Charles Mahoney first appeared on the show, it seemed like he and Wes were relatively close in age. They definitely looked it, because the actors who played them only have a four year age difference. Alfred Enoch, who plays Wes, is 28 years old and the actor who plays Charles, Wilson Bethel, is 32. But when the show flashed back 10 years to Charles and Wes' mom running into each other on the street, he looked exactly the same age as he did in the present. So either Charles Mahoney was a vampire or he had an excellent skincare regimen, because he didn't appear to have aged a day.

It seemed like the show wanted viewers to believe that Charles was older than he initially appeared, but considering how young the actor is, it felt like a pretty big jump. He would have to be in his 40s in the present for the timeline to make sense, which was supported by him looking the same a decade ago, but it's hard to believe when Bethel is so clearly in his early thirties.

Sylvia could always be lying, but her motivation for doing so would be difficult to understand. If she was going to lie about Wes' paternity, then why wouldn't she try to distance him from the family entirely? There wasn't any clear reason for her to be fibbing, but that didn't make her explanation any easier to believe.

But as unbelievable as it seemed, the reveal has to be taken at face value until further information is made available. The significant glances exchanged between Charles and Wes' mother indicated that the story might not be done yet, so there is a good chance Season 4 will take a closer look at Wes' parentage. Viewers definitely still have questions, so hopefully next season the show will provide clearer answers.