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How To Get Away With Murder - It's All Her Fault - Review: "A Fantastic Follow-Up"

Oct 4, 2014

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A series premiere is one thing, but it's how a series follows up said premiere that paves the way to success.

ABC's How To Get Away With Murder absolutely nailed this in last night's episode, titled "It's All Her Fault", written by Pete Nowalk and directed by Bill D'Elia. We saw the team defend a father who was found to have committed murder previously, but was now being tried for a murder he didn't commit. The procedural process the series looks to be taking was set more firmly with the students each getting their time in the spotlight when finding their big break.

This episode was paced perfectly. When you watch as much television as I do, your body clock can subconsciously keep track of the time that's lapsed and the time that's remaining in an episode, but last night I found myself a bit off the mark. The episode crammed a substantial amount in, but it didn't feel crammed or rushed at all. The intensity was evident throughout, backed up by an excellent score.

Alongside the procedural process, some interesting progress was made along the lines of the timeshifted murder of Annalise Keating's husband, which played a major role in last week's series premiere. We didn't learn anything drastically new - instead what we saw was a few moments of footage that backed onto what we saw last week. This is clever work by the showrunners. I was worried that too much was revealed upfront last week, but the showrunners found the perfect balance between new information and connecting the dots.

With the sheer volume of content in the episode, character development in the present has taken the back seat for the students, with the timeshifted case telling us precious little instead. Keating's assistants Frank Delfino and Bonnie Winterbottom remain stagnant while Keating and her husband see development in the present.

That being said, Viola Davis carried an immense screen presence in the premiere, but this was toned back slightly last night, and it worked a charm. Viola Davis was by far the biggest selling point in the months of promotions but confidence in the supporting cast to do their bit is just as important. Annalise Keating is the character we know the most about, but for me, it's Rebecca that interests me the most, especially given the scenes we saw in the final moments of the episode.

That's not to say Annalise Keating isn't interesting at all - that couldn't be further from the truth. The character has two sides, one being the lawyer, the other being a timid, vulnerable wife. The two are destined to collide head-on at some point, which I'm really looking forward to seeing.

Lastly, I want to mention the character relationships. The showrunners have found a way to drive wedges of varying sizes between all the characters so far. This has the advantage of making everyone accountable, and vulnerable to someone, but the disadvantage comes in the form of not being able to trust anyone. The showrunners need to be careful not to divide all the characters too significantly, though the flash forwards prove that the students seem to stick together for the most part. Beyond that is anyone's guess.

Thanks for reading! Please do share your thoughts, comments and feelings in the comments section below on the episode. Don't forget to check out the press release and promo for next week's episode, titled "Smile, or Go to Jail", and track How To Get Away With Murder's ratings on my television ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/howtogetawaywithmurder.

Jimmy.
About the Author - Jimmy Ryan
Jimmy Ryan lives in New Zealand. He is an avid follower of drama television and has a keen interest for television ratings and statistics. Some of his favorite shows right now are Person of Interest, Scandal, House of Cards, Orphan Black, The Blacklist, The 100, and Castle. You can visit his television ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com or follow him on Twitter, @SeriesMonitor.
Recent Articles by Jimmy (All Articles by Jimmy)

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review Jimmy I really enjoyed this episode and I don't think I can wait for next week I think every episode is going to be better than the last.

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  2. Good review. There is only one character that I don't him well that is Asher. Right now, the show don't give me more information about him more than He's a know-it-all pretender and a chatty person.

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  3. Hmmm, I can't say I dislike anyone, but there's a few characters, including Asher, that I don't yet like either. It'll be interesting to see whether that changes as time progresses

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  4. Thanks :-) I liked aspects of this episode a lot better than the pilot, but then some aspects are vice versa. I'm like you, already counting down to next week!

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  5. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing the characters getting fleshed out more-I'm one who's big on connecting with characters in the shows I watch, and I'm starting to be intrigued by this little gang of criminals, but I'm also hoping to learn more about them, too, as time goes on. I suspect we will, though.
    And agreed on having them have some moments of honesty and trust to balance out their deceptions if we're going to root for them. There's some really intriguing storylines setting up here, I just want to know that I can be sympathetic to somebody at some point without wondering, "What's their motive?" all the time, too.
    But this show is definitely going in some very good, interesting directions, yes. I get the feeling we're in for quite a few explosive reveals and moments as the season goes on!

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  6. The case of this week was stronger than the pilot,the mystery plot could've been a little more though.I have not her work before but viola davis is giving one helluva performance!Overall,it was very decent follow-up of the preceding episode.Liking it so far!

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  7. Very good second episode. The only thing that bothers me a bit about Annalise is the hypocrisy - she's all up in her husband's face about cheating with a student, while she's practically stalking her cop lover. Oh, and VD, is a true force, but this two-face doesn't make me like the character more. Plus it was weird that she'd suddenly hop on her husband a few minutes after wondering if he's a murderer. Why? Annalise if he wanted to kill you, it would've happened a long time ago. (Plus, I get sense that she is her hubby's golden goose!)

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  8. Good stuff jimmy. I was worried like you that the 2nd episode would not be as good but it was great!

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  9. Agree with everything you said!

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  10. Yeah I thought the case was much stronger too. Its hard to imagine the show without Viola Davis!

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  11. Those FF are the best tbh They sent us to Rebecca and the killing of the husband, that means he was the real killer and did everything to blame Rebecca and the boyfriend? and everything went wrong and ended up dead?... Yeah it's going to be hard to wait to see how those FF go.
    I'm still wondering why the suited white guy (sorry i forgot his name all the time, the one that asked is Connor was gay) is the only one missing on the FF so far, is he out the team? or he is doing something else?.
    Great review!

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  12. PĂ©rola Cardozo AlvesOctober 7, 2014 at 12:38 AM

    So, I actually didn't like the case of the week, the whole time I was getting a "Good Wife's Sweeney's" vibe, and the original is far superior, the daughter twist I saw from a mile. That side, did they witched Rebbeca's actress, does she have a doppelganger or is she some kind of chameleon? In the pilot I was pretty sure that was the same actress that did the Newsroom Lisa, than in this episode I know she is the one who did Maggie (I think that's the name) on The Carrie Diaries, it got me confused.

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