Critics lauded it. Fans loved it. ABC promised it. But could it really deliver?
Unequivocally, without question, yes it did.
How To Get Away With Murder returned with a bang last night, with an exceptional premiere which lived up to every expectation. With Viola Davis fresh off her Emmy Award last week, the anticipation could only grow for the second season premiere, titled "It's Time To Move On".
Showrunner Peter Nowalk wrote the episode that was beautifully directed by Bill D'Elia. In short, the premiere was a magnificent display of how to deliver definitive answers whilst unleashing a whole host of new ones.
A full two minutes of flashbacks opened the 43:54 long episode. While I'd only managed to find the time to rewatch last season's 2 hour finale, this was a great reminder of prior events. I didn't expect it to take up that much time, but in the end it was definitely worth it, and what's shown in that flashback is often a solid guide to reference what specific areas of the story will be followed up on in the coming weeks.
Present day action kicked off in the basement of the Keating household, with a distraught Rebecca having her mouth sealed shut with duct tape and a plastic bag thrown over her head. Throughout the hour, the culprit we were promised multiple times over the past few weeks was revealed. More on that later.
Timeshifting had a much larger role to play than I anticipated in this premiere. While the first season of Murder rapidly became known for its superb flashforwards, showrunner Nowalk had expressed uncertainty in redeploying the technique for the second season. It seems that flashforwards may indeed return in some capacity as the final scene of the hour clearly depicted.
Following the opening scene in the basement, 10 days were skipped as we saw Wes arrive to one of Annalise's lectures at Middleton University.
Why are we more inclined to hurt the ones we love the most?
This opening line from Annalise in the lecture theater served as the theme for this episode, and, one could argue, the series as a whole. As is typical in this series, Annalise's topics relate closely to what herself and the Keating Five have on their plates in the criminal defense business.
Wes entered the theater well after the class began. This was the beginning of a brilliant performance by Alfred Enoch. Contrast his entrance into the theater in the series premiere. A rushed, misplaced guy barely made it in time, but in this premiere, Wes was completely different. He was emotionless, and he felt powerful as he used the height advantage to take a good long look down at Annalise. Later, when Annalise singled him out for an answer to a question, he passed - something Annalise clearly frowns upon. But he stood his ground despite the insistence from Annalise that he answer. This was a completely different character to the one we saw this time last year, and it was fantastic to watch.
With the lecture ended, the stage was set for the case of the week, concerning an adopted son who murdered his parents. The major twist this week was Annalise setting the current defense attorney, Victor Leshner, up to fail, prompting his client to hire her instead. This was one area I didn't like about this episode as it was unnecessary for Annalise to do this. The tactics were too dirty, and went far beyond common competition. I would have thought Annalise was a more decent person than that. I think the creative team could have thought of something better.
Nevertheless, that's the cards we were dealt, so that's what we have to work with, and it was still pretty interesting. The Keating Five weren't on board with the plan, but were set straight by Annalise. In a nutshell, Laurel doctored some footage to damage the credibility of the defense and Annalise ended up on the case. The silver lining to this fiasco is a case which will continue into next week, and likely deep into the season, as it looks like the accused killed a witness to the crime, in addition to the location of the crime scene coming into play in the final moments of the hour.
While this was going on, Annalise's former lover, Nate Lahey, was yet to go to trial to prove his innocence, and Annalise had to act in order to secure his freedom. She called upon a former friend, Eve Rothlow, portrayed by Famke Janssen, who couldn't see through the glaringly obvious (to outsiders) order of events which implicated Annalise and Nate as the murderers of Sam Keating. This was further cemented when Eve sought out Nate's side of the story, leading her to walk away from the case.
But the bigger news here was that Annalise had once been in a relationship with Eve. Later, over a drink they reminisced about their time at Harvard, and how Annalise had left Eve for her therapist, later her husband. Some interesting back story there. The embers rekindled themselves as the pair kissed, followed by the usual awkwardness rife in television when anyone kisses that probably shouldn't. Long story short, Eve successfully convinced the judge to accept her as Nate's new attorney, so things should now get interesting.
All of this, and hardly a mention of the other characters in this eclectic cast. The little relationships and favoritisms that presented themselves throughout last season are well entrenched now. Asher and Bonnie are still a thing, Frank and Laurel still have something going on, and Michaela dislikes Laurel thanks to the engagement ring thing. Asher is still a clueless loon, Connor and Oliver are in the middle of a rough patch over their HIV diagnoses, and Wes is very much the outsider it seems, as in the eyes of his fellow students, all eyes point to him as Rebecca's murderer.
So who killed Rebecca? I was so pleased to see that it was Bonnie. She had been my prime suspect over the summer as I gave it more thought. Rebecca wasn't beaten or bruised and her body hadn't been moved far, ruling out Frank or the other boys as the method of killing had no physicality about it. Bonnie had superior motive to the other ladies because it was Rebecca that was sapping the attention and authority given to her by Annalise. Assumption of Rebecca's death spread rapidly among the group, less Asher, and with Annalise and Frank in the know, what happens to Bonnie will be fascinating. Could she be the next one to meet an untimely demise?
If one thing is for certain, coincidences are very costly in the world these characters live in. It's how they get into sticky situations, and also how they get out of them. In one of the final scenes of the hour, Annalise and four of her students went to a night club. Laurel dragged Michaela to the dance floor, leaving her bad unattended, which contained. Shortly after, two messages come through from the mystery recipient of Rebecca's final text message, the infamous Eggs 911, and Bonnie was trying to call Annalise concerning the murder of a key witness in her trial. Wes, Laurel, Michaela, Connor, and Annalise danced the night away, oblivious to what was happening.But the kicker was yet to come. Flash forward two months to the estate her current clients own. Gunshots. Annalise lies in a large pool of blood, and Wes is seen escaping on foot.
So, who tried to get away with murder? That's coming up, on this season of How To Get Away With Murder.
I think that's a good place to wrap it up! Thanks so much for reading! It's great to be back for season 2 of this masterful show and I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds this season. There are so many questions, and so few answers. I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories on the episode, including anything you think I should have written about, so please share them in the comments below. See you all back here next week!
