Critic Reviews

How to Get Away With Murder begins with an actual murder--a group of hypercompetitive law students are fighting over what to do with the body--before it flashes back to their first day in Keating's class, quickly establishing each character before discrediting our first impressions.... Thanks to Davis' powerfully layered performance, it's impossible to read Keating.

Murder has no basis in the reality of the legal system, and just like Scandal, there are probably two too many characters to have to care about. But it manages to continuously elevate the dramatic stakes and navigate the ever-evolving relationships of its principals while rarely allowing itself to become narratively untethered.

It’s not perfect, but it’s never boring.

The pilot is ingenious but at moments maybe a little too smart for its own good.

Smart, slick and sexy.

With admirable economy and keep-up-people pace, creator Peter Nowalk reveals both the imperial nature of his lead and quick sketches of the five students from the opening scene.

The heightened tone, pungent dialogue, extreme characters, twisty plotting and dizzying pace reflect the Shonda philosophy of entertain-at-all-costs, providing a sizzling showcase for Viola Davis as Annalise Keating

Davis is overqualified for the material, and, yet, like Kerry Washington before her, she brings an added dimension to the part of an intimidating yet vulnerable woman. Meanwhile, through the hammy uses of flash-forwarding, it’s barely any time at all before Annalise’s ambitious students are tasked with covering up their own homicidal tendencies.

While it’s so fast paced, you barely realize that it isn’t always credible, you do get that it’s always fun.

A few minutes in, and you can sense a promise of sex, surprises, and a healthy dose of fun. And so far, the show delivers.