Frank Delfino

"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.

Biography

Early Life

All of his life, Frank's father treated him like he was a piece of dirt on his shoe. When Frank was 13, he had had enough of how he was being treated and planned to murder his father 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. After this, he was incarcerated for the attempted murder of his father. ("It's About Frank")

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

Around 2004, 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")

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")

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")

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 jiggalow. 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")

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 bit 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")

Season 1

"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 present 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 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

TBA

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"