In How to Get Away with Murder, Viola Davis plays Annalise Keating, first seen in a loincloth, a bone through her nose. “MEN BAD,” she howls. “TONI MORRISON’S THE BLUEST EYE GOOD.” Haha, I’m just kidding, Alessandra Stanley, none of that happens! Murder is not, as you might have been lead to believe, the new show from Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes; rather, it comes from Peter Nowalk, a longtime producer on Scandal and Grey’s. It’s not hard to see what attracted Rhimes to Murder, though; the show features a strong, complicated woman as its lead, and takes a fairly nuanced approach to things like interracial and homosexual relationships (and when I say “nuanced” in 2014, I mean that Murder doesn’t act like these things are huge deals).
Viola Davis does play Annalise Keating – that much was true – a law professor/defense attorney teaching at Philadelphia’s Middleton Law School. We’re introduced to her in the same way we were introduced to the Bear Jew in Inglourious Basterds – with everyone talking about how great she is. It’s pretty groan-worthy, but to be fair, Keating is a pretty good character, and Davis is perfectly suited to play her.
The deal is this: Keating, as a practicing attorney, grills her law students (of which there look to be about 200) on how to best present her defense. Those who offer the best ideas will be offered spots at her firm. The standouts are Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee), Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King), Asher Milstone (Matt McGorry, better known as Bennett on Orange is the New Black), Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza), and Wes Gibbons (Alfred Enoch, acquitting himself nicely).
The case at hand is unremarkable, although it does offer some intriguing glimpses into Keating’s character. Is her client, Gina Sadowsky, guilty? And if so, does Keating know it? Davis is fantastic in the role, and absolutely deserves to have a show centered around her. She’s been nominated twice for Oscars (for Doubt and The Help) and she plays Keating as tough, smart, and vulnerable, which sounds hackneyed on paper but is much more engaging in execution. Would that she had a better show to work with.
Murder isn’t a bad show – it’s hard to tell if anything’s a bad show based on the pilot, save for Partners – but it’s pretty rote as of now. The majority of it is a courtroom drama, and while it’s well edited and directed (by Michael Offer, a veteran of Longmire), it doesn’t offer much we haven’t seen before.
There’s a weird murder plot woven into the narrative as well. Three months in the future, we see Wes, Pratt, Connor, and Castillo disposing of a body, and the imminence of the murder is tantalizing, not knowing what’s going on can be a very frustrating feeling, especially when this subplot takes up a good fifteen minutes of a forty-two minute episode.
A few other revelations are made, but the pilot is primarily expository when not focused on Keating. Connor is gay, and not above using his masculine wiles to get information; Castillo is having an affair with Frank, one of Keating’s associates; and Keating herself is involved in affair, with Detective Nate Leahy (Sons of Anarchy‘s Billy Brown), who she calls to the stand in one Murder‘s genuinely tense scenes.
At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that the body the students are disposing of is that of Keating’s husband. I have no idea how these kids will get to this point, and that, plus Davis’ performance, will keep me tuning in.
How to Get Away with Murder has the potential to be quite a show. The problem with the pilot is that it seems content to coast on the name recognition of its star (Davis) and executive producer (Rhimes). Granted, very few shows that aren’t on HBO find their footing in their pilot episode, so I’m willing to stick around to see where this goes.
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