How To Get Away With Murder - Season 1 [DVD]

Viola Davis is a brilliant actress in this series. Her character is at once warm and kind and also flawed, scheming and plays dirty.Each episode whips along using the same formula of moving the murder mystery to the next stage whilst using a sometimes rather improbable 'case' for her minions to do the legal leg work and learn about an aspect of law in Davis's university lectures whilst applying it to that case.Each of her minions - star pupils on her course, have their own emotional baggage to contend with along with the big mess they have gotten themselves into which the story revolves around. Each is also flawed in character and a few get a little irritating at times. Each episode has a big cliff hanger at the end, have to admit each one did get a little more far fetched and contrived making me shout 'WHAAAAT???!' but I was hooked well and truly.Interesting to see the series not shy away from having a fairly prominent gay character, one of Davis's student minions is gay and he uses this in a mainly underhand and quite sexual way to get information and dish the dirt for cases being investigated. Having said that, many questionable and underhand actions are carried out by all the legal team, especially Davis's own 'qualified' team, to get ahead in the game.Viola Davis is not afraid to appear stripped of all her makeup and wigs in this series either which lends great pathos to much of her performance. Need to get Series II quickly as this series ends leaving many unanswered questions.

***Spoiler free***-criminology 101 becomes murder 101-The series itself is the peak of modern day television. We've moved past the days when it was a big deal to have a gay storyline on a show, or to have a person of colour face discrimination. Now we have total equality storytelling. All the characters are respected equally; with their traits, lifestyles and religions all accepted as the norm without being a big deal. This in itself makes the show so much more fun to watch because it reflects real life people doing real life things. Everyone can relate to somebody. Viola Davis is extraordinary in the main role and is backed up by an incredible ensemble of younger actors, including the warm and relatable Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas in Harry Potter) and the dangerously mesmerising Jack Falahee as Connor Walsh.The storyline is smart and actually treats the audience like they have a brain instead of spoon feeding them every detail. That means flashbacks and flash forwards but also lets you watch each episode as "the story of the week", dealing with it's on individual case if you don't like to binge the overall series narrative that runs underneath.Well worth your money. You're missing out if you don't get round to seeing this as soon as possible because I'm sure it will continue to grow and develop well ahead of other TV shows.These 15 episodes will never bore you. One character takes off their make up around episode 4, and it's breathtaking.

I like it.But I only gave it 4 stars because although it captured me from the beginning, It took me a while to get comfortable with the main character, Annalise.I don't mean to be critical but there was something not quite believable about her playing that role - it just didn't feel right.I could imagine someone like Jessica Pearson (from Suits) handling that role much better.Saying that, by the end of the first season , she did grow on me.I do like the scenes where her vulnerability is exposed where she is without wig or make up.Overall, the plot is complicated in a confusing kind of way - almost like this would never happen but its so complicated that we forget that it is not really that convincing. But I supposed Grey's Anatomy was the same with so many deaths at the end of every season and yet, I watched that Series too....

Viola Davis has long been one of my favourite actors, and in this series surpasses all expectations as ProfessorAnnalise Keating, criminal law mentor and femme fatale, who with her five top student interns brings a whole newmeaning to the term "criminal lawyer".This drama series has a brilliant ensemble cast, with Jack Falahee playing the part of handsome Connor Walshwho uses his sexuality to seek information for the ongoing cases. Wes Gibbins played by Alfred Enoch, with avery believable American accent, is the protege of Annalise who seems to 'mother' him, and Charlie Weber plays the very dark Frank, the right hand man for all types of dodgy dealings. Cicely Louise Tyson, in her late 80's at the time of recording has a great cameo as Annalise's mother.As season one unfolds we learn almost as much about the characters as we do about the criminal cases they areresearching. Unlike regular crime dramas, where there is usually one case per episode, the viewer is sucked into the lives and loves of each character as the episodes reveal even more, with periods of light, darkness and very little shade.For those who love dark crime drama, HTGAWM is well worth watching.Released in 2015 by ABC StudiosFour DVD's of 15 episodes.With Subtitles.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. What I enjoyed most was the availability of the subtitles because if you miss the original showing on the television, catch up and demand TV do not offer subtitle options, so if I want to watch something I have missed I have to buy the DVD and ensure it does have subtitles (which even in this day and age of technology, many films I want to see, do not have subtitles!). I'm glad this one did, as I thoroughly enjoyed it! It would have been 5 stars if I hadn't had to wait I think from May to November to get it.