TV Tuesday: How To Get Away with Murder

One of our favorite TV shows from last year is back for its second season: How To Get Away With Murder. To give you an idea of how good this show is, our 17-year old son will not watch any TV with us, other than a few half-hour comedies...but he is hooked on this one! He actually sits down with us for an hour each week to see what happens next. It is a show filled with suspense and intrigue, and Viola Davis recently won a Best Drama Series Actress Emmy for her leading role.

On the show, Davis plays Annalise Keating, a law school professor and high-powered defense attorney with a kick-ass attitude. Each year, she chooses five of her law students to assist her in her practice with real cases. She selects those students at the beginning of season one, and they are a diverse group, all ambitious but each with his or her own quirks and secrets. Annalise is also assisted by two lawyers in her practice, Frank and Bonnie (played by Liza Weil, who played Paris on The Gilmore Girls, another current favorite show of mine!). The three lawyers and five law students tackle a variety of cases, all having to do with murder, while Annalise lectures to her Criminal Law class about...you guessed it - how to get away with murder, as a way of teaching them how to be great defense lawyers.

But that's not all. Right from the very first episode, we see that a murder has taken place that involves Annalise and her students. In those first episodes, scenes alternate back and forth between classes and cases and one very frightening night when the five students are trying to cover up a murder and get rid of a body. It takes a while (in fact, the entire first season!) for all of the pieces to fall into place so that the viewers fully understand what happened and who the murderer(s) are, but we were hooked from that very first episode.

But that's not all! So far, two episodes into the second season, there have been a total of 3 murders (so far) committed by various people on Annalise's team! Yup, this is one screwed-up group of people. Meanwhile, amidst all this murder, investigations, and cover-ups, the team keeps trying to act normal, go to classes, and try other cases. Oh, and of course, there is a lot of sex - it seems everyone is getting involved with ill-conceived relationships. Davis is not the only actor on the show worthy of accolades - it is an excellent ensemble cast, and the show is produced by Shonda Rimes, creator of Scandal and Grey's Anatomy.

The rapid-fire way the show is filmed is unique for television, as is its super fast pace. Scandal piles upon scandal, murder piles upon murder. The continuing puzzles in the show - both the ongoing issues among the team and the cases they try - are addictively compelling. You will guess who the murderer is over and over...and probably be wrong every time. If you enjoy reading mysteries and thrillers, you will love this show, though don't expect too many endearing characters!

What favorite TV shows of yours are back for a new season?

NOTE: The second season of How To Get Away With Murder is airing now and available On Demand and on Hulu. Both seasons are available on Netflix, and Season 1 is currently available for the odd price of $0.67 an episode on Amazon Prime.