By Jordan Simon
In the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, Professor Neil Keating (played by the late Robin Williams) teaches and mentors a group of impressionable teenage boys. Fast forward eight years to I Know What You Did Last Summer, a cult thriller that sees its four main characters disposing the presumed dead body of a man they ran over with their car in the opening scene. It is easy to imagine that these films served as some inspiration for Peter Norwalk, the creator of the latest ABC drama “How to Get Away with Murder.” Whether or not this is the case, the show is destined to become one of the biggest new shows in primetime,
Produced by Shonda Rhimes (“Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy”), the show premiered on Sept. 25 with high ratings and an fresh premise. Academy Award nominee Viola Davis (Abileen Clark, The Help) stars as Annalise Keating, a criminal law professor and defense attorney who chooses five law school students to work at her firm while helping them navigate the world of criminal law. The students soon become embroiled in a murder plot of their own, in which they dispose of a corpse during an annual bonfire.
Davis excels at portraying a woman tasked with the job of discrediting witness testimonies, introducing new suspects and reburying key pieces of evidence. A mastermind at manipulating the jury pool, Keating exhibits poise in her professional life that is nonexistent in her personal one. At one point in the pilot, Keating reveals her marital issues and breaks down in tears over her inability to conceive a child.
If her work in movies like Doubt and The Help are any indication, Davis is a pro at pulling off the vulnerability that is required to play a character with this sort of baggage. But, what makes Annalise Keating an intriguing character is her assertiveness. Bold, brash and unapologetic, Keating embodies the resilience and impulsivity seen in heroines such as “Scandal’s” Olivia Pope and” Grey’s Anatomy’s” Cristina Yang. The type to yell at her client for withholding evidence one day and pursue an affair with a married police detective the next, she is a welcome addition to the pool of cleverly crafted female characters that inhabit the diversifying landscape of primetime television.
The students who work at Keating’s law firm are all equally complex and intriguing, due in large part to the talented actors that play them. Wes (Alfred Enoch), Michaela (Aja Naomi King), Connor (Jack Falahee), Laurel (Karla Souza) and Asher (Matt McGorry) all fill in the additional layers of heart and moral corruption necessary for a primetime drama centered on courtroom politics. Despite being only in its second episode, the series packs a few surprises and a bit of romance, mystery, intrigue and murder to captivate viewers looking for something to watch during the fall season.
Jordan Simon is a Contributing Writer for The Fordham Ram.
