How to Get Away with Murder

TV Show, 6 Seasons, 2014-2020, TV-14

Premise - A group of law students get caught up in a string of violent murders under instruction of their criminal law professor, Annalise Keating. Both teacher and students must use their knowledge of the flawed justice system to their advantage, as they need every possible advantage to get away with murder.

Review - Whether or not I'm emotionally prepared to write this review perhaps may bleed into the writing a bit here, no pun intended. There is really only one other television show in my life that experientially compares to this, and that is Chuck, my favorite TV show of all time. These are the only two shows I can think of that I watched, from DAY ONE when the pilot premiered, saw every episode live or the morning after to avoid spoilers, and stuck with it until the end, until I watched the finale and cried in bed for hours. Yes, I also watched the whole of New Girl live, but that was a sitcom that didn't hold the same weight as Chuck or HTGAWM. Like Chuck, I followed every social media account for HTGAWM, found an entirely new taste in music due to the show, found new creators through fanvideos, followed the lives of the actors and their work outside of the show to support them, and watched behind the scenes. I think this was actually done to a much greater extent with HTGAWM because Chuck was in an earlier age of the internet, and I was younger. With HTGAWM, I actually made online friends to discuss the show, watched reaction videos on YouTube after every single episode, and helped build theories. So I was absolutely trash for this show. And so was my entire family, who I watched it with. For a show about a whole lot of murder and betrayal, it sure brought a lot of people together.

But what is it about this show, above all others, that made me so obsessed? I was absolutely hooked from the pilot. I had started watching this show from day one because the male lead was played by Alfred Enoch, who had played Dean Thomas in Harry Potter. His role in Harry Potter was so small and insignificant, that he jokes that if you recognize him from those films, you've seen them too many times. But I was very curious to see if he could actually act in a significant role, and he has since become the only Harry Potter actor to be more famous for another piece of work other than Harry Potter, starring as a lead in a massively successful TV franchise.

So I came for Alfie, what did I stay for? At the start, it was the brilliant writing. The entire story is told out of chronological order as we bounce back and forth between two timelines - "Murder night", and the events leading up to it. It was beyond clever, watching the fallout of murder night first and then seeing all the pieces fit together as the night unfolds. And that formula stuck with the show for all six seasons - each season has its own "Murder night" (colored in green), to which we receive flash forwards in each episode leading up to the episode of actual "Murder Night". I feel as though this level of creativity in storytelling is what I absolutely LIVE for. It had just the right level of structure and variation to that structure to keep us on our toes, plot twists, dramatic irony, and breathtaking cliffhangers.

I also live for complicated characters to which you can become so emotionally invested in, losing them is a literal grieving process. I have been crying periodically since yesterday, when I saw the finale, as I have said goodbye to these characters. Every single one of them is special and flawed and unique, even if I have my own particular favorites (ahem, Frank Delfino is my fav fictional character pretty much EVER). This is a show where a lot of characters die, and you often find yourself grieving. It's a hard show to put yourself through, but it's worth it to love them along the way.

And finally, I'll bring it back to the message of the show. Every single character has done horrible things. Many fan favorites are literal murderers. Hell, my favorite character Frank, was a serial killer. But we love them. Or at least I do. From my perspective, we all wanted them to get away with it and live long, happy lives. I didn't want them to commit more murders, of course, but I wanted them to have a chance of redemption and normality. I wanted to change the systems that led these characters to be who they are, not punish the individuals. I believe this show is confirmation of my personal beliefs that people do not ever deserve imprisonment, nor do they deserve death. Of course, everyone will face death eventually, some more prematurely than others, but it is not a matter of "deserve." And if there are people who do deserve prison or death, who are we to know and judge that? Our justice system is an absolute mess where the winner is whoever's story makes the most sense, or is the best told. And a jury's understanding of the stories that make sense are heavily skewed by their own implicit biases. In the vast majority of cases, we can never know truly what happened in the event of a crime, and I would much rather give someone the benefit of the doubt than imprison an innocent person. Moreover, I find guilt to be subjective. Every terrible event that happens stemmed from a previous terrible event enacted by someone else. It's a chain - a cycle - that needed to be broken. How can we blame any of the individual chain links?

Like many long-form television shows, the quality of the show admittedly deteriorated over time. If the entirety of the show was as high quality as those first nine episodes, I would have given this 100+/100. The first two and a half seasons are really the best, which is the moment when (SPOILER) the main character Wes, dies. But I truly recommend viewers to watch the first four seasons if they are committed to the show. You need the first three seasons to find out what happened to Wes, and season four to give the Wes story closure, even though season four is not as strong. And honestly, for a long time I wish the show had ended there. Season four had the happy ending I wish would have happened.

Season five was really weak, and I considered giving up the show more than once. But season six was the final one, and I had to see it out. I'm glad I did, because season six brought everything back to its full circle. I'm still processing the intensity of the finale. It was bittersweet, both immensely sad and also satisfying. The more I read about the meaning of the finale, the more I see its brilliance and how every single character received closure. While yes, I said above how emotionally difficult I find it to blame these characters, they did each need to take responsibility for their own individual actions. It's incredible because, for a show all about plot twists and jaw dropping cliffhangers, we received a solid ending focused on emotions and character arcs. (99/100)

Quote - "Racism is built into the DNA of America. And as long as we turn a blind eye to the pain of those suffering under its oppression, we will never escape those origins. The only safeguard people of color is the right to a defense, and we won't even give them that, which means that the promise of civil rights has never been fulfilled. Due to the failure of our justice system, our public defense system in particular, Jim Crow is alive and kicking - laws that made it illegal for blacks and whites to be buried in the same cemetery, that categorize people into quadroons and octorooms, that punish a black person for seeking medical attention in a white hospital. Some may claim that slavery has ended, but tell that to the inmates who are kept in cages and told that they don't have any rights at all."

What to watch for - The entire cast is phenomenal, I wouldn't know what to say here. I will list them all.

Alfred Enoch as Wes Gibbins is what brought me to the show, and he was an incredibly captivating lead. I loved how everything in this show always tied back to him and his importance.

Viola Davis as Annalise Keating needs no words, she won her Emmy for this role. 

Charlie Weber as Frank Delfino, thank you for bringing this complicated character to life. He has become one of my favorites of all time.

Karla Souza as Laurel Castillo, you were such a female role model, as flawed of a character as you were. And I definitely model my hair after you.

Jack Falahee as Connor Walsh, you were so attractive that I literally could not breathe while watching you in the first season. I thought you'd give me a heart attack.

Aja Naomi King as Michaela Pratt, you were the true black Hermione Granger the world needed and deserved. Fierce boss bitch.

Liza Weil as Bonnie Winterbottom, you make my heart ache.

Matt McGorry as Asher Millstone, you managed to be wonderful comic relief in this incredibly dark show. And you also played the character with his own fair share of darkness and love.

Conrad Ricamora as Oliver Hampton, not a single person on this earth could not like you. You are literal sunshine.

Billy Brown as Nate Lahey, you are ripped, man.

Amirah Vann as Teagan Price, bringing in more WOC female representation into the show to prove that Annalise Keating is not some anomaly of a black woman who doesn't count, she's a forerunner. And plenty of others shall follow.

I also of course give my shout-out to whoever did the music editing for this show, because it is extraordinarily special. Many songs I will cherish always by association to this show.

If you liked this show, I'd recommend 13 Reasons Why! It also nails the mystery element by playing with chronology and perspective!

Created by Peter Nowalk

Distributed by ABC