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Bonnie's Sister Could Be Joining 'HTGAWM' Season 5

by Megan Walsh

Bonnie's past has been pulled into the present on How to Get Away with Murder Season 5. Nate has been investigating the child she gave birth to when she was just 15, a son who was abandoned and later abducted from the hospital. A witness claimed Bonnie was the person who took the baby, though Annalise identified the figure as Bonnie's sister. But who is Bonnie's sister on HTGAWM?

Bonnie's sister has been mentioned once before on the show, but it was so long ago that it might not have stuck out in the memories of viewers. She was brought up very briefly, and not by name, back in Season 3 when Frank killed Bonnie's father. Bonnie's father Robert abused her throughout her childhood, sexually assaulting her and arranging for her to be assaulted by other men as well. It's not clear yet if her sister suffered the same abuse, but she seems to have been involved in the aftermath of the birth of Bonnie's son.

When Bonnie testified against Robert in court, she said that she passed out during labor. When she woke up, her father told her that her baby had died. However, footage from the hospital showed a girl who looked a lot like Bonnie leaving with the baby; a nurse later stated that she agreed to give the child back to his young mother. She said the girl she spoke to looked like Bonnie. Annalise, however, took one look at the security footage and realized it was Bonnie's sister.

That could mean that Bonnie's sister is her identical twin. If Annalise is right and it was the sister taking the baby from the hospital, then it seems the Winterbottom women look similar enough that the nurse would mistake one for the other. Since viewers have never seen Bonnie's sister, it's as viable a theory as any, and identical twins would definitely fit the show's soapy tone.

A fan Twitter account reported that actress Elizabeth Morton had been cast on the show as a character named "Julie Winterbottom," though they didn't know which family member of Bonnie's she was. Fans immediately suspected that Morton would be playing Bonnie's sister, though the casting news hasn't been confirmed by ABC. There are several Elizabeth Mortons with IMDB pages, but none of them list a stint on HTGAWM among their credits.

The summary for the upcoming sixth episode, "We Can Find Him," references Bonnie's sister and lists two members of the Winterbottom family in the cast of characters. Apparently the episode will see Bonnie reuniting with her sister, who is "looking for answers from what happened years ago," according to BroadwayWorld.com. Elizabeth Morton is once again listed as Julie Winterbottom, with Violet Hicks playing a character called Skyler Winterbottom.

Hicks doesn't have HTGAWM on her IMDB either, and she's too young to be Bonnie's sister, though she might be a niece or some other relation. Hicks has been on Grey's Anatomy before, so she is familiar with shows under the Shondaland umbrella. Many of the same actors have appeared on multiple shows produced by Shonda Rhimes, and Hicks' work on Grey's could have led to an appearance on HTGAWM.

At the moment, there isn't any official news about Bonnie's sister, but that seems like it might change as the season unfolds.