There is certainly no shortage of internet users willing to take the opportunity to land a cheap shot on ABC's Thursday night lineup, but after the episode of freshman series How To Get Away With Murder last night, you'd be silly to give them the time of day. Or night, whichever you prefer.
The series screened its third hour last night, and I have no doubt in my mind that this is its best episode to date. "Smile, or Go to Jail" was very well written by Rob Fresco and directed under the watchful eye of Randy Zisk. The duo did an excellent job of making the major story arc much, much more interesting, while running some tasty parallels involving the personal lives of some of the characters.
I wrote last week that Rebecca Sutter is the character I was most fascinated by, and it seems my intuition was correct. Last night we saw Sutter in the cells having been arrested in connection with the murder of Lila Stangard. The flashforwards last week tied in perfectly with the events of last night, where we saw Wes gain access to an interview with Lila in an attempt to pervert her incrimination by Griffin O'Reilly. Annalise Keating learned of Wes's actions when he was arrested, but he hand done enough to earn Keating's respect, while also changing her mind on who she was going to represent at trial.
Despite the game-changing news in the final 5 minutes, the prior 55 minutes didn't fail to disappoint in character development. Nate Leahy continued his digging into the movements of Annalise's husband Sam, but I get the feeling something still doesn't quite line up. Michaela Pratt and her future husband ran into a few bumps when it was revealed Connor and him had had a fleeting moment years earlier.
I really liked what we saw of Laurel in last night's episode - it was Keating's assistant Frank who advocated for her in the premiere, and came to her defense in front of Bonnie last night. The creative team are continuing to drive wedges between the characters to fracture their bonds but these two haven't fell victim just yet. What eventually conspires between these two will be worth following.
I suppose I should mention the procedural side of the episode, in the form of the weekly case, though its proceedings were well and truly overshadowed by the other events I've mentioned already. In a nutshell, a soccer mom who was tied to a bombing many years before was put on trial, but the case was brought to an abrupt halt when the woman did a runner with her former partner in crime. If you're thinking the pair will return at some stage, I share that opinion too.
At the end of the day, the best a television series can do to silence its critics is to keep churning out quality episodes and storytelling. That's what How To Get Away With Murder did last night, and it's what I'm loving about this series already. Bring on next week!
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to keep tabs on How To Get Away With Murder's ratings on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com. Click here to view the press release for next week's episode, and click here to watch next week's episode promo, and don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments below!
Jimmy.
