How To Get Away With Murder 2×01 – It’s Time To Move On

Now that’s what I call a fantastic premiere! How To Get Away With Murder returned with all its twistiness, juiciness and bloodiness that made (some of) season one work, and I for one cannot wait to see how this season unfolds.

The best thing about this premiere is how it wastes no time in moving many of its stories forward. Sure, the show may sometimes be juggling a whole lot of stuff and that’s where the first season felt weak and messy but if this hour is any indication, we may be heading into a fast-paced, riveting season. All they needed to do was get rid of Rebecca, apparently, whose killer was revealed way too early.

The reveal, the first of many in this plot-heavy episode, was not a huge bombshell. We all had bets on Bonnie being a creepy, obsessive murderer and her reasons for finishing Rebecca off were valid from a character perspective. In fact, I’m glad the show went down a rather predictable path in this storyline. Not only does it give Bonnie a somewhat intriguing plot this season, but it finally puts down the whole Rebecca storyline to rest. We don’t have to wait a full season to find out what happened on that night because the writers are aware that we don’t care about that so much. I hope we never get to see or hear from Rebecca again.

There are far better things that need to be fleshed out during this season, one of which is Eve’s relationship with Annalise. Famke Janssen (one of the few reasons those Taken movies were tolerable) plays Eve wonderfully, especially every time she’s in the same room with Annalise who, by the way, is her ex-girlfriend! This is the kind of soapy twist that works on this show because it does add more complexity to Annalise, and no one can play such a complicated character better than recent Emmy-winner Viola Davis. Her presence in every scene is reason enough to love this premiere because she’s still as terrific and bold as she was last season. Now how about a flashback to how she met Eve in the first place?

Then there’s the weekly dose of legal crap which was dull, as expected. The adopted brother and sister framed for murdering their parents was too season-one for my taste, but luckily the show knew how to hand us one hell of a jaw-dropper. Not only did this hour somehow tell us that the case of the week is going to be the new mystery of the whole season by flashforwarding to that mansion again, but also the final image of Annalise bleeding on the floor as a gunshot is heard was the exact kind of huge, heart-stopping cliffhanger that I wanted this premiere to end on.

Finally, the stakes are high (but clearly Annalise isn’t going to die because that would mean the show would be buried with her), all the characters seem to have interesting storylines that can be fleshed out brilliantly, and Rebecca is really dead, guys. What more can we ask for?

Sneaky Courtroom Bits

– The “previously on” segment crams so much and is still so confusing, more evidence to how messy season one was most of the times.

– I still don’t like Wes, even the new version of him which includes manning up to Annalise in class. Stop giving us those puppy eyes, dude.

– Conner and Oliver are slowly starting to grow on me as a couple. But I honestly would not have remembered the whole HIV subplot if it weren’t for the “previously on” teaser.

– I also realized I don’t care about Nate’s entire storyline either.

– Michaela Pratt is awesome. I laughed at her bar scene with the gay guy, and it makes sense to text the Eggs911 person right after such an embarrassing moment. I loved that dreadful look on her face right after she pressed Send though. Oh Michaela, what have you done?

– Fantastic scene when Annalise is trying to convince Eve to stay and take on Nate’s case after she found out that Annalise framed him for the murder. Watching that whole thing for the second time after knowing the kind of history these two powerful women share is fascinating.

– Frank is still a huge question mark for me. We still don’t know why he bluntly listened to Sam and murdered Lila (remember her?).

– Who else misses the spinning cheerleader?

– Annalise and Eve’s makeout scene is shocking, raw and incredibly steamy. Every time the show puts Viola Davis with another powerful actress in the same room, the quality rises tremendously.

– Yeah, Bonnie is just creepy. Who tells someone “you need to go” before killing them?

– So, Asher is a spy. Not as interesting as I wanted, but at least it gives the guy something to do other than crack jokes.

– Hilarious: Annalise taking her students to a dance party.

– Not hilarious: Annalise and Wes getting too intimate. What is the deal with these two? Show, just answer us already: is she his momma?

– My bet is on the adopted brother being the guy who slit that witness’s throat. But about that flashforward now, why is Wes running out of the mansion like a puppy (sorry, I had to) after a gunshot is heard and Annalise is on the floor bleeding? Surely the show wants us to believe that Wes shot Annalise after presumably finding out that his mentor hid Rebecca’s body, but I’m not buying it. Maybe Eve? If she sticks around for the rest of the season.

Amusing Keating One-Liners

Michaela: You do realize I’m not scared to hit a bitch.
Laurel: Oh just throw me down the stairs. You did a pretty good job with Sam.

Frank: Where are you going?
Annalise: To get us a murder case that didn’t happen in this house.

Eve (to Annalise): You don’t get to do this anymore. You don’t get to use people and expect them to stick around. Maybe this is who you’ve always been and I was just blind to it. All that ambition to make up for the fact that you knew, deep down, there is nothing good inside of you. Shame on me for expecting more.

Annalise: Statistically, if you’re going to be murdered, your killer will be someone you know. An acquaintance, a friend, a family member, your lover. Why is that?

Conclusion
A fantastic way to start the second season. That final scene alone is riveting enough to keep me on the edge of my seat until the next episode.

Chris Rating
A-