Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and her five star students are back, and things are not the same for the esteemed lawyer. After being shot during the Season 2 midseason finale, she's become accustomed to a life aided by painkillers and disillusion. The midseason premiere gives viewers a glimpse into her struggle to get back to normal — at least, her version of it.

The episode kicks off at the Hapstall mansion with Annalise lying on the floor bleeding, and her shooter, Wes (Alfred Enoch), soaking in the reality of what he's just done. Laurel (Karla Souza) realizes he's not going to make a move and steps in, claiming responsibility for Annalise's injuries. The show then fast forwards several months. Annalise has come a long way since the night of the shooting, but is now relying on pain killers and her faithful assistant Bonnie (Liza Weil) to get through any given day. She takes few visitors, employing Bonnie to brush them off.

Although Annalise is not visited by friends, family or members of the Keating Five, she has plenty of fictional visitors. During one particular Vicodin-fueled dream the Middleton University professor gets a knock on her door. She answers it and is met by a frantic woman holding an infant. The woman tells her she's seen her story on the news and knows that she is "strong." She urges Annalise to take her baby, despite Annalise not wanting it. Annalise repeatedly talks about the child and its insessant crying — none of which is real — to Bonnie, who brings her back down to earth.

Meanwhile the Keating Five struggles to hold it all together. Asher (Matt McGorry) is still reeling from his father's suicide in episode 9, which he now believes was a murder. The rest of the gang is busy trying to put together a believable statement about Annalise's shooting and the death of ADA Emily Sinclair (Sara Burns) without her help. They come up with something they think will hold up in court, but their plans are foiled when Annalise arrives at the court house. She is still in a haze and her wound has reopened, but she does her best to give a coherant statement. Things start going left on the stand, so Annalise does the only thing she believes is left to do — lie. She shares information with the court she claims was given to her by Catherine Hapstall (Amy Okuda), her former client. Annalise tells the judge and present jury that Catherine told her she was not responsible for murdering her parents, knowing that this will make her statement unusable.

Wes has stepped away from the group and spends much of his time pouring over Annalise's last words to him after the shooting — "Christoph, Christoph." He knows now that she knows things about his past that he had never shared with anyone before. As time passes Wes grows certain that Annalise knew his mother and believes that she helped him get into the school, despite having been wait-listed. He confronts her at her home revealing to her that he's been digging for information. The show flashes back 10 years to a very pregnant Annalise. She is shown sitting with the same woman she continually dreams is dropping a baby on her doorstep while watching a young Wes play on the playground. Flash forward to present day where Wes is pushing Annalise to share details about his identity and her ties to his mother, but she refuses. Wes storms off angry and Annalise chases after him, shocked to find that this, too, is just a vision.

"HTGAWM" airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

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