ABC has gone back to a tried-and-true social media tactic to generate buzz and stoke interest ahead of the midseason finale of one if its hottest properties, How to Get Away with Murder.

The Alphabet network has broken out a new hashtag—#WhoKilledSam—and ask viewers to share their guesses about one of the most-talked about mysteries of the fall season: just who did murder Annalise Keating’s philandering husband Sam?

Sam’s murder has been a central focus of the flash-backs that are one of the storytelling devices employed throughout the season, with tiny and not-so-tiny clues seeping out of Shondaland each week.

ABC’s on-air promos are now actively encouraging the debate by explicitly calling out the hashtag, even though the blogosphere has been informally sharing their own theories for weeks.

And HTGAWM fans didn’t miss a beat.

Twitter exploded Thursday night and into Friday with guesses, artwork, screencaps and GIFs on the topic:

The new promotion harkens back to another successful hashtag prompt in Shondaland: the #WhoShotFitz campaign from Scandal two seasons ago. At the time Twitter went wild with speculation about the shocking attack on the Commander-in-Chief who also loved Scandal protagonist Olivia Pope.

Of course, Twitter is by now an integral part of the marketing of all of the shows associated with Shonda Rhimes, who is herself a devotee of the service and who has gotten her talent and producers to be active social media participants.

A countdown tease featuring a star from the show telling viewers to get ready to tweet appears at the top of Scandal and Murder each week. And cast and crew actually send out apologies to their followers when work or personal commitments prevent them from live-tweeting the broadcasts on both coasts.

As for the rest of the Thursday night Shondaland block, Scandal is promoting next week’s midseason finale by fully embracing its history of shocking and twisty winter cliffhangers. The on-air graphics actually say “There ain’t no finale like a Scandal winter finale.”

The first winter finale was, of course, the episode that gave viewers the #WhoShotFitz in the first place.

Grey’s Anatomy, meanwhile, is playing it a bit more low-key, but still manages to tease out a potentially devastating plot twist for main characters:

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