'How to Get Away with Murder': Inside that surprising reveal
'Murder' stars Viola Davis as a law professor whose students seem to be involved in a complicated criminal situation.
'Murder' stars Viola Davis as a law professor whose students seem to be involved in a complicated criminal situation.
On Sept. 25, ABC premiered its new Thursday night lineup consisting entirely of programs that are produced by Shonda Rhimes.
The network leads off with the long-running medical drama 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy,鈥� which is entering its eleventh season, at 8 p.m.; followed by the hit drama 鈥淪candal,鈥� now in its fourth season, at 9 p.m.; and ending with the new show 鈥淗ow to Get Away with Murder,鈥� which stars Viola Davis, at 10 p.m.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a show I never would have thought of in a million years,鈥� Rhimes said of 鈥淢urder鈥� in an interview with the Associated Press. 鈥淏ut I feel like it fits exactly in the [Rhimes鈥� production company] ShondaLand brand.鈥�
鈥淢urder鈥� stars Davis as a law professor, Annalise Keating, who teaches a criminal law course at a Philadelphia college. Davis was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in the 2008 movie 鈥淒oubt鈥� and for a Best Actress Oscar for the 2011 film 鈥淭he Help.鈥� 鈥淢urder鈥� creator Peter Nowalk recently discussed working with Davis in an interview with Variety.聽
鈥淵ou write a character on the page and you think its complex and three dimensional but it鈥檚 not, until she turns it on,鈥� he said. 鈥淸Working with her is] the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.鈥�
(Spoilers for the season premiere of 鈥淢urder鈥� follow鈥�)聽
On the show, school student Lila Stangard is discovered dead and Annalise鈥檚 students quickly become involved in crimes outside the classroom 鈥撀爐he show flashes forward to an incident in which four of Annalise鈥檚 students are burying the body of Annalise鈥檚 husband, Sam Keating. Future episodes will presumably reveal who else, if anyone, is involved with the crime.
In an interview with TV Guide, Nowalk discussed revealing the identity of the victim in the first episode.
鈥淚 never wanted the [identity] to be a secret throughout the season," he said. "I think it's much more intriguing and interesting to show who it is and [then] show how we get there."聽
As for the format of the show moving forward, Nowalk said there will be a case for each episode as well as the overarching murder mysteries.
鈥淚 love the cases of the week,鈥� he said. 鈥淓specially if we're raising so many questions in other story lines, I want to give people answers in other ones. It's a little bit of something for everyone.鈥�