Seven has been promoting How to Get Away with Murder for months but is it worth all the hype?
What happens when you find yourself stuck with a deadlock? You flip a coin and that’s exactly how Murder begins. Unsure of what to do with a dead body, four students, Wes Gibbins (Alfred Enoch, Harry Potter), Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee, Twisted), Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King, Emily Owens M D) and Laurel Castillo (Newcomer Karla Souza), get involved in their own murder mystery cover up.
So how did these students meet and become entangled in murder? They all take Criminal Law 100, or as their Professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis, The Help) calls it, How to Get Away With Murder. Viewers discover this piece of information through a flashback where, 3 months prior, Wes is attending Middleton University for the first time and makes quite an impression when he is underprepared for the class. We are also introduced to Connor, a student who will do whatever he needs to do to get results. Michaela is the brainy know-it-all who wants to be just like Annalise and Laurel is the quiet observer. Throw in Asher (Matt McGorry, Orange Is The New Black), a spoilt rich kid, and you have a classroom full of students ready to impress their mentor.
Annalise tells her students that she won’t be giving them theory – they will instead learn how to practice law in a courtroom. Here enters the standalone case of the week which is appropriately called The Aspirin Assentation, in which Gina Sadowski is accused of killing her boss who was also her lover. After the class read through the case, Annalise reveals that Gina is one of her clients and at the end of the case she will choose four of her students to come work with her – so begins everyone trying to get the internship. There is also a side story involving a missing person which may tie into the arc of the students committing murder.
The cast is top notch with Viola Davis fully immersed into the role of the tough as nails Annalise Keating and all the cast give her the respect she deserves and commands
All the students seem confident in their roles with Matt McGorry being the one to watch as the series develops. The show’s quick paced narrative paired with content flashbacks are a bit annoying and it is hard to keep track of the timelines, but they a necessary plot device to grip viewers from the opening minutes. The characters are complex which only raises the question of ‘who do you trust?’ as the motive unravels.
Created by Peter Nowalk, How to Get Away With Murder promises to be one of the best new series of the year and is totally worth checking out – you won’t regret a second.
9 Pm Tuesday Febuary 10 on Seven
3.5 stars out of 5.
