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"Keep your mouth shut. And we got no problems."
"We're always doing stupid things."

Francis Delfino,[1], better known as Frank is one of the main characters of How to Get Away with Murder. He is a local Philly boy who never thought he'd be the type of guy who wears a suit to work. But he also never thought he'd get to work for someone like Annalise Keating. Forever loyal and armed with hometown connections, Frank is ready to do Annalise's dirty work at every turn. His street-smart, tough-guy exterior makes him the ideal protector for Annalise. His number one vice though? Sleeping with the students. Frank was killed by Philadelphia court house security after he shot and killed Governor Lynne Birkhead shortly after Annalise won her trial, ending the cycle of corruption that was Philadelphia's law enfforcement, and avenging the murders of Nathaniel Lahey, Sr., Asher Millstone, and his mother Hannah Keating.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Frank was born in Philadelphia to Sam Keating and Hannah Keating, a product of their incestuous relationship. He was then adopted by the Delfino family. Frank's father was strict with him but not abusive. When Frank was 13, he had had enough of his fathers strict punishments and planned to murder him for weeks. Once the perfect moment finally arose, he runs his father over and left him suffering under the car with his only thought being that he hadn't done it right. He stayed in jail for 10 years. Frank was up for parole many times, however, due to his bad behaviour, his parole was denied.[6] ("It's About Frank")

305FrankInCell
Frank in his cell. ("It's About Frank")

In 2004,[6] Frank is in prison when the guards visit his cell and tell him that he has a visitor. The two guards then led Frank into the visitation room where Sam is waiting. Unaware who Sam is, Frank asks for his name and Sam tells him it's Dr. Keating and tells him to sit as he does. Sam tells him that his aunt Bev knew his sister in high school and that Frank's family is worried about him. Sam asks why he won't allow anyone to see him and Frank tells him that it is because he is in solitary confinement. Sam reminds him that he is no longer in solitary confinement, and he hasn't been in it for 2 months and asks him again why he hasn't seen his family. Realizing that Frank isn't going to answer, Sam tells him that he has worked with many people in his situation. He tells him that Frank's family has told him that he is up for parole in the next couple of months and that with the help of his wife, Annalise Keating, a lawyer, they will have a really good shot at getting him out. Sometime later, Annalise goes to see Frank and bluntly says that the only way that he has any chance of getting out is if he admits to his crimes, even if he didn't commit them. Frank comments that she is different to how he imagined her to be. She asks him why she isn't what he had imagined. Frank thinks that Sam is vanilla and that she is the opposite. Annalise tells him that both of them are far from vanilla. Frank starts asking her personal questions but she gets down to the point and lists his more recent charges. She calls him a moron as no one who wants to get out would commit these crimes when they are up for parole. Frank tells her that he has always been a moron. ("It's About Frank")

305SamFrank
Sam comforting Frank. ("It's About Frank")

Sam later returns to see Frank and tells him about what is happening with Annalise and that he will try and get her back on his side. Frank tells him not to worry about it but Sam tells him that he will. Coming to the conclusion that Frank doesn't want to fight to get out of prison, he tells him that he is scared to get out. Frank tells him that that's stupid. Sam then asks him why he keeps messing up in prison if he wants to get out. The only thing that Sam can think of is that Frank is doing it as he still can't forgive himself for what he did. Sam tells him that it was an accident. Sam looks up at him as asks him if his parents told him that. Frank tells the story of what happened the before he tried to kill the guy. Sam tells him that he didn't know what he was doing but Frank tells him that he was planning it for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to run him over. The guy was screaming under the car "like an animal in a trap." Frank then asks Sam if he thinks that he should still get out of prison. Sam nods and tells him that he deserves to get out and that he is there to help Frank see that he deserves to get out. Annalise then gets talked into taking Franks case and goes to see him. She explains that parole cases can take a while and that for some reason, her husband has taken interest in him. She tells him that if she helps him that he can't lie to her again. Frank agrees and Annalise congratulates him on getting himself a lawyer. She then gets out a voice recorder and the file on the attempted murder of his father. She tells him that they need to go over what happened to his father. Annalise pauses for a moment, about to be sick but it passes and continues for a moment and then rushes over to the bin to throw up. Frank asks her if she is pregnant and she agrees. Annalise then later wins Franks parole case and Frank is released from prison. ("It's About Frank")

Mahoney Case[]

211FrankFlirting
Frank flirting with Kennedy. ("She Hates Us")

After being released from prison, Sam convinced Annalise to hire Frank as her paralegal. In 2005, at the Keating mansion, Annalise calls Frank to her office. When Frank arrives, Annalise shows him a suit that she bought for him for their trip to Ohio. Frank answers yes, but she tells him that there will be no bars or girls so that they can concentrate on the case. Sam arrives at the office and hears that Annalise will not be more than a month in Ohio. Sam tells them that he will visit her for a weekend, but she asks him not to do so since they must be totally concentrated. While the Keating 4 work, Frank flirts with one of them: Kennedy and Bonnie awkwardly watches. Later, Annalise tells Frank to go to his office. At the office, Annalise scolds him for not taking the papers for the Mahoney case, but Frank tells her that he couldn't find them in the heap of papers on her desk. Frank asks if she is sure she wants him to accompany her and Annalise confirms, but when asked what flight he bought, she discovers that he did not book it because Sam told him to wait to see what the doctor said. Annalise tells him that he works for her and if he gets confused, she'll hire somebody else, and asks her to stop flirting with the students and start thinking more. In Ohio, Annalise is in the court room. Annalise says that the witness G-34 will declare anonymously live, but should everyone should treat her as equal importance to any other witness in the trial. Annalise turns on the television where Rose should be, but she does not show up. The judge begins to despair but Annalise says that her associate (Frank) assures her that she is ready and insists that they wait, while everyone begins to whisper. Frank arrives at the court and signals to Annalise that he couldn't find Rose anywhere. ("She Hates Us")

214FrankDrinkingAtBar
Frank drinking at a bar. ("There's My Baby")

After the trial, Annalise scolds Frank and tells him that she's taken him to Ohio to prevent that from happening. Frank tells him that Rose went into the bathroom and he could not do anything to keep him from escaping. Annalise stops scolding Frank when Wallace approaches. At the hotel, Annalise tells Frank to take the day off, and shortly after we see Eve arrives in the room while Frank leaves. Another day Frank arrives at Annalise's room at the hotel and asks her what is wrong. Annalise tells him that their main witness in the case is dead. Annalise asks him to leave so she can sleep, but Wallace Mahoney comes to the room without knocking on the door and Annalise tells Frank to let them talk alone. In a bar that night, Lisa happened upon Frank having a drink. She downed her glass and walked over to where Frank was sat at the bar and whispered her room number into his ear and carried on walking out of the bar. Once she got to the exit, she turned around and asked Frank if he was coming. Frank quickly drank his drink and followed her to her room. Inside, the two start to kiss and take each other's clothes off when Lisa asks him what he thinks is better than sex. When he looks at her in confusion, she grabs a duffel bag from beneath the bed and opens it revealing the cash bills inside. Frank smiles at the money and tells her that he isn't a gigolo. She reveals that she knows what he is and that he can change his life with the money if he doesn't want to stay as Annalise's lap dog. Once Frank accepts, she tells him that all he has to do for the money is to plant a bug in Annalise's apartment. After the business is out of the way, the two presumably resume having sex. ("It's a Trap", "Something Bad Happened", "There's My Baby")

215FrankStrangled
Sam strangling Frank for what he did. ("Anna Mae")

The next morning Frank arrives with coffee to Annalise's room and asks if everything is ok, however, Annalise tells him that he will leave her alone. Frank tells him that he is fed up with the deal she made for him and that if she doesn't want his help then she shouldn't have hired him. Annalise tells him that Sam helped him and then managed to convince her to hire him. In a fit of anger, Frank secretly plants the bug and leaves. After planting the bug, Frank returned to her apartment and told her that he did it. She hands him a duffel bag full of cash and reminds him that no one will know that it was him who planted the bug. Frank turns around and prepares to leave when he awkwardly tells her that it was nice to meet her and Lisa ensures him that this wouldn't be the last time that they will meet. That same night, Annalise was involved in a car accident and she was rushed to the hospital. Frank gets there just as she is being wheeled through the hospital to the OR. He shouts at the doctors that are pushing at her to make sure that they do everything that they can. Later, after the surgery is complete, Frank finds out that Annalise lost the baby. He later finds Sam in the hospital getting food for Annalise and tells him that it's all his fault. Sam tells him that he is not to blame her for had happened. Frank tells him it was not an accident, and that he caused it. Frank tells him that they told him they just wanted to make sure that Annalise had their best interests at heart. Sam gets annoyed with him and takes him by the neck and throws him against the wall. Once he accepts that it was Frank, he tells him that Annalise can never find out about it. Frank begs him to tell her, but Sam tells him that if he ever tells her he'll ruin him. ("There's My Baby", "Anna Mae")

Murder of Lila Stangard[]

Assassination of Lila Stangard
Frank taking care of Lila. ("It's All My Fault")

August 2014, Frank was called one night by Sam, telling him to kill Lila Stangard and her unborn baby. Sam made him do it because of his role that he played in the death of Sam's and Annalise's baby. Frank never argued and went to the roof of the sorority building where Lila was staying and strangled her to death. He then disposed of her body in the water tank on the roof and left. Her body was later found by Rebecca but she kept her mouth shut that she ever saw her in the tank. ("It's All My Fault", "Anna Mae")

Season 1[]

Frank 101 01
"Unlike any other teacher you have ever had, I do believe there are stupid questions." ("Pilot")

Annalise Keating introduces Frank as her paralegal whom the students can go to for help. Frank makes it clear that unlike any other teacher those students have ever had, he does believe there are stupid questions, so if they have any then to address them with Bonnie. He is also there, with Bonnie, when the class presents their ideas. That evening, when Wes comes up with an idea to present to Annalise, he enters her office, walking in on her getting ready to have sex with Nate Lahey. The annoyed professor calls Frank, telling him that he didn't lock the doors again. Frank and Bonnie are present when Annalise presents new information, obtained by Connor, to the court. Later on, Laurel goes to Frank about realizing Gina is friends with Agnes Kaufman, only to find out he already knew, and is representing a guilty client this whole time. After Laurel leaves, furious, Bonnie, having witnessed this whole encounter, tells Frank to stop "screwing the students." The following day, after learning Gina bought aspirin the night before the attempted murder, Annalise is upset with Frank for not getting that bit of information out of the client. They end up winning the trial, however, after Nate is brought in to testify. Frank is then present when Annalise reveals who will come to work at her firm and Bonnie gives Frank suspicious looks when its revealed Laurel is one of them. ("Pilot")

Frank 101 02
Frank comes a-callin'. ("Pilot")

After the murder of Sam Keating, the four law students, Laurel, Wes, Michaela, and Connor flee to the woods near the university in a panic and to decide their next plan of action. Wes brings with him the murder weapon, a golden statue, and they decide to return it after cleaning it. The group then argue over whether or not they should dispose of the body. However, a coin toss determines that they bury it. When they go to collect the body, they wrap it up in a carpet and carry it outside, and to the woods and they're almost caught by two drunken teenagers who are there looking for some privacy. Laurel's phone rings, Frank having called her. The others wonder what is going on and why he would call. Once they leave and they're in the clear, they take the body to a secure location and decide for one final time if they want to get rid of the body. Everyone is now in agreement and end up burning the body, disposing of all the DNA. ("Pilot")

In the final episode, Frank is seen killing Lila at the request of Sam.

Season 2[]

In Season 2 it is hinted that Frank is some kind of hitman or bodyguard. Since it is clear he is more than just a paralegal, the Keating 5 suspect that he has a nastier job, but they don't have the time to dwell on it. A series of flashbacks show him involved in suspicious activity - murdering Lila, asking Annalise if he wants her to take care of Hannah Keating for her, and planting Nate's fingerprint on Sam's wedding ring. He's also shown to have many suspicious connections, and after Rebecca is killed, he is the one who disposes of her body. In "Meet Bonnie," he hides meth in Levi's car and frames him for possession of drugs.

Frank admits to Laurel that he killed Lila, then she leaves him.

It is later revealed that Frank was responsible for the car crash that killed Annalise's baby, which is why he had to kill Lila for Sam, because he held this over him.

Frank runs away and takes the suitcase full of cash with him (which he most likely never spent due to his guilt) at the end of the Season 2 finale.

Season 3[]

After fleeing the scene of Wallace Mahoney's death, Frank utilizes a bathroom on his way out of Philadelphia and shaves off his hair and beard. Months later, the man who Annalise Keating had hired to find Frank found him at a motel. Frank clocked the man without him knowing. He was on the phone to Annalise asking her what he wanted to do with him. Frank didn't let her answer and killed him. Annalise hung up the phone, scared. Frank called her back using the Butch Man's phone and told her that she made him do it. She then hung up the phone again. In order to cover up the murder, Frank crashes the man's car. He then moves the man's body from the trunk to the driver's seat and drenches him in fuel before setting it ablaze. Frank then stands there and watches it burn. Laurel later leaves Frank a voicemail telling him to come home, that Annalise forgives him. Sometime later, Frank receives the voicemail and calls Laurel. She answers and he asks her whether she thinks he's stupid. Laurel continues with her facade until Frank mentions a hitman who Annalise sent after him. She tells him to stop and hangs up the phone for fear that her father is listening to her phonecall. ("We're Good People Now", "There Are Worse Things Than Murder", "Always Bet Black")

While in his motel room, there's a knock at the door in the middle of the night. He quickly gets up, grabs a wad of cash from the suitcase full of cash and answers the door. A woman comes in and gives Frank a canister of gas. Frank then gives her the money before she leaves. Later, Frank scores a job at the local prison as a janitor. While he tries to get into the medical wing of the prison, his clearance badge fails to work. One of the nurses catches him and tells him that he doesn't have clearance to be in the area which is why his card isn't working. Later, the two have a quickie while Frank uses the time to steal the nurse's clearance badge. He later uses the badge and uses the gas he bought earlier to cause a man to inhale the toxic substance. The man turns out to be Bonnie's father, Robert Winterbottom. Frank kills him for what he had done to Bonnie when she was a child. ("Don't Tell Annalise")

Bonnie visits her father's body at the funeral home in Coalport and asks the director to cremate him. Outside, Laurel calls her and asks about Frank. Coincidentally, Frank appears at her car. The two embrace and Bonnie thanks him. That then return to Frank's motel room where Bonnie asks him why he would kill Mahoney in front of Wes. Frank tells her that it was so that Annalise wouldn't follow him. While taking a shower, Frank informs Bonnie that Annalise tried to call her. She then calls her back. After Bonnie tries to convince Frank to go back home but he doesn't believe that Annalise will take him back. Its night and Bonnie is sleeping in the bed while Frank sleeps on the floor. Frank has a nightmare and Bonnie wakes him up. He says that he was dreaming about when he hurt his father. The two get into bed together and Frank asks her to run away with him. Frank moves in for a kiss and the two ends up having sex. In the morning, Bonnie goes out and gets breakfast. When she returns to the motel room she finds that Frank and all his things are gone. Bonnie gets emotional. ("It's About Frank")

To try and show Annalise that he is sorry for what he did to her, Frank uses Charles Mahoney's fingerprints and plants them on the weapon which was used to kill Charles' father, Wallace Mahoney. He does this to get Wes off of the NYPD's radar. He then calls an anonymous tip into the police which results in Charles' arrest. Laurel sends Frank a voice message, accusing him of telling the police about Wes, putting him on their radar which wasn't what happened. She tells him that she will never forgive him for what he's done. After, he drives toward Philadelphia. Once back, he first goes and sees Laurel at her apartment, though he finds Laurel and Wes having sex. Sometime later, he goes and sees Bonnie at her house. Once she lets him in, Frank tells her that she was right, that he needed to tell Annalise everything. He felt as if he needed to do something that gave her a reason to trust him again which is why he put Charles on the NYPD's radar. He apologizes for leaving her and Bonnie assumes that Laurel wasn't home, that Laurel was his first stop and that she was his sloppy seconds. He disagrees. Bonnie starts to get emotional. She tells him that he lied to her, that whatever they had in that motel room is gone the moment he left her. She tells him to get out as he begs her to forgive him. She shouts at him to get out. Returning to Laurel's apartment again, he overhears Laurel telling Wes that she loved him. He makes his presence known to her. ("Is Someone Really Dead?", "Call It Mother's Intuition")

Frank turns himself in and gets to prison in seek of getting Annalise out of prison. He claims he killed Wes at Annalises house. Laurel also falsly says the detectives, that she saw Frank in the house that night. After he gets released, he tries to help Annalise even though she does not want that.

Season 4[]

Frank still maintains relationship with Bonnie. While we see him observing Laurel, sitting in his car and looking on her through the window. ("I'm Not Her")

Season 5[]

Season 6[]

At the start of season six Frank is focused on finding Laurel and makes it his top priority, after eventually giving up he finds himself in a relationship with Bonnie Winterbottom who he stays with till death repeatedly saying he loves her. Annalise makes a discovery about Frank and tells Bonnie but orders her to not to tell him. Bonnie goeas against her wishes and tells Frank his birth parents are Sam and Hannah and therefore he's a product of incest. After discovering that Sam and Hannah Keating are his biological parents, Frank threatens Hannah Keating's lawyer to gather information to help Annalise win her case. He obtains a recording of a conversation Hannah had with Xavier Castillo that implicates State Governor Lynn Birkhead in the death of Nathaniel Lahey Senior. After exposing the Governor's corruption, Annalise wins her case. After the trial, Annalise speaks to the press outside the courthouse where Frank appears with a gun and open fires on Birkhead, killing her. As a result, Frank is fatally shot by courthouse security. Frank tells Bonnie Winterbottom that he “had to make it right” before passing away in her arms on the steps of the Courthouse. ("Stay")

Personality[]

Frank, like most of the main characters on the show, has a very complex personality. On the outside, he is a cocky, confident, sarcastic, and macho individual. On the inside, he is a broken man needing to find a place in the world.

Murders Committed[]

  • Sam Keating, Jr.: (indirectly caused) Although Frank did not directly kill Annalise's baby, he is responsible for his death, as he planted the bug in Annalise's room, which allowed Wallace Mahoney to carry out the assault on Annalise that killed her unborn child. ("There's My Baby", "Anna Mae")
  • Lila Stangard : Strangled Lila on top of a roof, killing her unborn child with her, on orders of Sam Keating. ("It's All My Fault")
  • Wallace Mahoney: Shot him dead in the middle of the street as an act of revenge for ordering him to help their assault on Annalise. ("Anna Mae")
  • Butch Man: Killed him after he found him spying on him for Annalise. ("We're Good People Now")
  • Robert Winterbottom: Pretended to be a new employee and got into his hospital room in the prison he was at and heated his lungs until they melted with hydrogen sulfide. Frank did this because he had sexually assaulted Bonnie and sold her off to other men when she was only a child. He did this to try and win Bonnie back after the truth came out about his involvement in Annalise's child's death. ("Don't Tell Annalise")
  • Dominick Flores: Snapped his neck after he got under his skin. Before this, Frank tortured him for information about Jorge Castillo, however, Dominic was only interested in playing mind games, Frank got agitated and killed him. He later disposed of his body along with his car at a scrap yard. He kept Dominic's phone because it had a voicemail from Wes. ("He's Dead")
  • Lynne Birkhead: Shot her to death in the middle of the press conference held outside of the courthouse after Annalise Keating's last trial. The return fire from the courthouse guards lethally wounded him as well as Bonnie, who had attempted to stop Frank right as he opened fire, and they both die embraced by a devastated Annalise. ("Stay")

Trivia[]

  • In the original script for the "Pilot", Frank's name was Frank Delgado, who was described as "a macho, takes-no-shirt type of guy -- a local Philly boy done good."[7]
  • On the ABC website, Frank is described as "a local Philly boy who never thought he'd be the type of guy who wears a suit to work. But he also never thought he'd get to work for someone like Annalise Keating. Forever loyal and armed with hometown connections, Frank is ready to do Annalise's dirty work at every turn. His street-smart, tough-guy exterior makes him the ideal protector for Annalise. His number one vice though? Sleeping with the students."[8]
  • Frank is by far the most murderous character in the entire show, having killed eight (including Lila's unborn son) people. The second most murderous character, Caleb Hapstall, had only killed three people.

Appearances[]

Season 1
"Pilot" "It's All Her Fault" "Smile, or Go to Jail" "Let's Get to Scooping"
"We're Not Friends" "Freakin' Whack-a-Mole" "He Deserved to Die" "He Has a Wife"
"Kill Me, Kill Me, Kill Me" "Hello, Raskolnikov" "Best Christmas Ever" "She's a Murderer"
"Mama's Here Now" "The Night Lila Died" "It's All My Fault"
Season 2
"It's Time to Move On" "She's Dying" "It's Called the Octopus" "Skanks Get Shanked"
"Meet Bonnie" "Two Birds, One Millstone" "I Want You to Die" "Hi, I'm Philip"
"What Did We Do?" "What Happened to You, Annalise?" "She Hates Us" "It's a Trap"
"Something Bad Happened" "There's My Baby" "Anna Mae"
Season 3
"We're Good People Now" "There Are Worse Things Than Murder" "Always Bet Black" "Don't Tell Annalise"
"It's About Frank" "Is Someone Really Dead?" "Call It Mother's Intuition" "No More Blood"
"Who's Dead?" "We're Bad People" "Not Everything's About Annalise" "Go Cry Somewhere Else"
"It's War" "He Made a Terrible Mistake" "Wes"
Season 4
"I'm Going Away" "I'm Not Her" "It's for the Greater Good" "Was She Ever Good at Her Job?"
"I Love Her" "Stay Strong, Mama" "Nobody Roots for Goliath" "Live. Live. Live."
"He's Dead" "Everything We Did Was For Nothing" "He's a Bad Father" "Ask Him About Stella"
"Lahey v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" "The Day Before He Died" "Nobody Else Is Dying"
Season 5
"Your Funeral" "Whose Blood Is That?" "The Baby Was Never Dead" "It's Her Kid"
"It Was the Worst Day of My Life" "We Can Find Him" "I Got Played" "I Want to Love You Until the Day I Die"
"He Betrayed Us Both" "Don't Go Dark on Me" "Be the Martyr" "We Know Everything"
"Where Are Your Parents?" "Make Me the Enemy" "Please Say No One Else Is Dead"
Season 6
"Say Goodbye" "Vivian's Here" "Do You Think I'm a Bad Man?" "I Hate the World"
"We're All Gonna Die" "Family Sucks" "I'm the Murderer" "I Want to Be Free"
"Are You the Mole?" "We're Not Getting Away With It" "The Reckoning" "Let's Hurt Him"
"What If Sam Wasn't the Bad Guy This Whole Time?" "Annalise Keating Is Dead" "Stay"

Gallery[]

Main article: Frank Delfino/Gallery

Promotional Photos[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Season 3[]

Season 4[]

Season 6[]

References[]


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