How To Get Away With Murder - The Complete First Season

Critics can't stop talking about the multi-layered moral ambiguities in the first season of "How to Get Away with Murder," (HTGAWM) created by Peter Nowalk and TV's golden child producer Shonda Rhimes. But unlike the shows that critics usually rave about, "HTGAWM" is also a popular success, dominating ABC's coveted Thursday night timeslot along with Rhimes' other hit series "Scandal."

A good part of what makes "HTGAWM" so enthralling is its tightly structured plot. Sure it is essentially a courtroom drama, but the genre has come a long way since "Perry Mason." This show learns the important essentials of serializing a procedural drama from such modern classics as "The Good Wife." Yet "HTGAWM" is so tightly serialized - especially in the first half of the season - that the more overtly procedural episodes come as somewhat of a surprise.

The first 9 episodes in this 15-episode series directly revolve around the life-changing events of one evening, with flashbacks, and then eventually flash-forwards, as the story develops.

The legendary law professor and criminal defense attorney Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) chooses 5 students from her competitive classroom to intern at her law firm. This year they are the good-hearted na�f Wes Gibbons, the goofy sycophant Asher Millstone, the suspicious princess Michaela Pratt, the maturing wanton Conner Walsh and the discreet idealist Laurel Castillo.

When the interns work to prevent a small-time drug dealer from being convicted for the murder of a Middleton University student, they get caught in a web of intrigue that leads them to accidentally kill their professor's husband.

Of course in the final six episodes of the season they face the problem of how to get away with it.

Viola Davis is on many critics' lists to win the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at this year's Primetime Emmy Awards, to be held on September 20. Both Mike Hale and Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times are certain of her success even through she is up against such superior talents as Taraji P. Henson ("Empire") and Tatiana Maslany ("Orphan Black"). She's already won the SAG Award and the Critics Choice Award and has been nominated for many others. It's little wonder: Her arch throughout the season is something to behold, especially in the crackling scenes with her mother played by Cicely Tyson (also Emmy nominated for her role).

The other actors don't live up to these two women, but they are nonetheless interesting because the storyline is so compelling.

The complete first season on DVD comes with an introduction to the cast and characters "First Year Law," a humorous music video by the class clown Asher Millstone, deleted scenes and bloopers.

"How to Get Away with Murder"
DVD
Rated TV 14 | 645 minutes
abc.go.com/shows/how-to-get-away-with-murder