Annalise Keating is a hard one to nail down, and as “How to Get Away with Murder” goes on, she only gets messier and more complex. She leaps from one murder coverup to the next, landing herself in increasingly dire circumstances, and falling from grace season after season before rising back to claim her throne. But when we first meet her, none of that is clear. 

Let me set the scene: picture Viola Davis in her sharpest makeup and most impeccable blazer, with pursed lips, and a look that could kill. Annalise is a kick-ass criminal defense lawyer and college professor at the top of her game. She’s a force of nature, terrifying her students and colleagues alike, with a pristine reputation and picture-perfect success, trophy husband and all. Or at least, that’s what it seems. In reality, Annalise’s success is hard-won and Davis was intent on proving this point — Black women don’t easily come to find success in the world of white academia, but Annalise has pulled it off and made it look easy. How? By being one person in public and another in private. So of course, a scene where she bares her soul by stripping away her public persona was necessary.

Davis got a call from Shonda Rhimes early in the process when Rhimes and co-creator Nowalk were still developing the sexy, primetime soap opera. She was their dream choice and they were thrilled when she accepted a meeting. But before officially signing on, Davis had a request — she asked for a scene where Annalise would remove her wig. And thus we’re given the gift of Annalise Keating stripping down her armor. Davis explained her thought process in a New York Magazine profile, saying:

“The TV and film business is saturated with people who think they’re writing something human when it’s really a gimmick. But if I took the wig off in a brutal, private moment and took off the makeup, it would force them to write for THAT woman.”

One part of this scene that has stood the test of time is the jaw-dropping (and very meme-able) button that it ends on: why is your penis on a dead girl’s phone? Those nine words are a beauty, and so is everything leading up to them. (You can watch it here.) Annalise has come to the realization that her husband was having an affair with a recently murdered college student and has decided to call him out. But before that,  she takes a seat at her vanity, pulls off her wig to reveal her natural hair, and wipes away her makeup. She caps it all off by breaking out the cocoa butter, staring into the mirror as she awaits her husband’s arrival. 

Seeing her nighttime routine is so simple yet so invigorating — we’ve crept into Annalise’s home and see an entirely new side of her, free from the armor she wears for the rest of the world. And then, when the confrontation comes and those magical nine words are uttered, her strength is still crystal clear — but now comes from her vulnerability.