How to Get Away with Murder
Quality
Crime
Mystery
Intense
Bingeable
AdultThe review
Critics found a ferocious, addictive engine in Viola Davis's Annalise Keating — a performance that cleared the show's highest bar and made history, anchoring a twist-heavy legal thriller that prized momentum over realism. The show's signature flash-forward structure, drip-feeding the aftermath of a murder while the present-day story spun forward, was widely praised as a hook that made the series nearly impossible to watch one episode at a time. Reviewers also credited the show with more political sharpness than its melodramatic reputation suggested, noting its pointed critiques of prisons, policing, and the justice system, along with its trailblazing inclusivity in casting and storylines.
The most consistent complaint was convolution. Critics repeatedly observed that the show excelled at beginnings and stumbled at endings — that its mysteries piled up faster than they could be satisfyingly resolved, leaving plot holes, and characters who sometimes felt like walking explanations rather than people. The courtroom scenes were often called out as unrealistic, and more than one reviewer found the unrelenting grimness and manipulation hard to take, with precious few characters who felt rootable. The ensemble could also get lost in Davis's shadow, though the younger cast earned growing praise across the run for rising to the occasion.
Reception was strongest in the first two seasons; the show's reputation for coherence dipped as its web of conspiracies and conspiracies-within-conspiracies grew. Critics genuinely split on whether the convolution was part of the fun or a structural flaw, with the most common stance being that the show was at its best in its quieter character moments and at its worst when its plot machinery ground into gear. The final season and series finale were the most divided ground of all — some found Annalise's closing arc satisfying, others found the ending overstuffed and a few character exits gratuitous. But across the entire run, the consensus was consistent on one point: whatever the plot's excesses, Davis made Annalise Keating one of the most commanding antiheroes network television has produced.
Seasons
- Season 1
Season 1 (2014–15): Introduced the show's signature structural hook — flash-forwards to the aftermath of a mysterious crime intercut with present-day case work — and Viola Davis's commanding, morally ambiguous Annalise Keating immediately gave the series an Emmy-winning anchor. The breakneck pacing and cliffhanger-heavy storytelling made it a breakout pop-culture phenomenon. Some critics flagged the density of the plotting as a concern from the very start.
- Season 2
Season 2 (2015–16): Widely regarded as the show's creative peak, deepening the mythology around Annalise's past while raising the stakes of its central mysteries. Critics praised the darker, twistier tone and the growing cast, with the ensemble increasingly able to hold its own alongside Davis. The season cemented the show's reputation for outdoing itself week to week.
- Season 3
Season 3 (2016–17): The show's boldest gamble — a shock midseason death that removed a key member of the ensemble — dominated the season's conversation and permanently reshaped the series. The back half's investigation into that loss drew mixed reviews, with some critics feeling the show was drowning in its own convoluted plotting. Still earned strong overall marks, buoyed by the emotional fallout the cast was given to play.
- Season 4
Season 4 (2017–18): A deliberate, quieter reset that critics largely appreciated — Annalise, at a personal low point, rebuilding her life through a class-action lawsuit rather than reacting to another whodunit. The season's emphasis on character drama over twist mechanics gave the ensemble more room to breathe. It earned the series its strongest critical reception, albeit from a smaller sample of reviews.
- Season 5
Season 5 (2018–19): A return to sprawling conspiracy territory, introducing new series regulars and a mystery landing close to the Keating circle. Critics were more divided here, with the storytelling called "messy" and the show's tendency to overload plotlines becoming harder to ignore. The emotional character work around Annalise's trauma and recovery remained a consistent strength.
- Season 6
Season 6 (2019–20): The final season showcased both the show's virtues and its vices — strong character moments and a focused arc toward Annalise's reckoning, undercut by an overstuffed plot and a finale some critics found rushed and gratuitously bloody. The series ender drew the show's best ratings in over a year. Critics split on whether Annalise's closure landed, but few disputed that the show went out on its own terms.
Who it's for
Viewers who love twisty, bingeable legal thrillers and don't mind extremes of melodrama. Shondaland fans — the Grey's Anatomy / Scandal DNA is unmistakable. Anyone who wants to see an all-time great TV performance: Viola Davis's Annalise Keating is the single strongest reason to watch. Viewers who enjoy playing detective and guessing whodunits, as long as they don't require airtight answers. People interested in a mainstream network drama that meaningfully engaged with race, the justice system, LGBTQ representation (Connor and Oliver's relationship being a consistent highlight), and gender dynamics.
Who it's not for
Viewers who need realistic courtroom procedure and internally consistent plotting — this show will actively frustrate them. People with low tolerance for soap-operatic twists, manipulative cliffhangers, or characters who are hard to like or root for. Anyone looking for prestige-TV restraint, subtlety, or quiet naturalism — the show is loud, stylized, and relentless by design. Viewers who hate plot holes or anticlimactic resolutions to big mysteries will find plenty to be annoyed by across six seasons. Those seeking a light, escapist watch — the tone is consistently dark, heavy, and morally gray. — Graphic violence · Murder · Sexual content · Substance abuse · Disturbing imagery · Heavy psychological themes
Birds of a feather...
- MusicPet Sounds (1966)
Both works treat criminal enterprise as a corrosive family system that demands moral compromise and leaves no one with clean hands. They share a sleek, shadowy visual style and a refusal to offer redemption, making this a natural recommendation for viewers drawn to dark, stylish tales of power and corruption.
85% - BookCool Machine (2026)
This novel mirrors the show's exploration of characters straddling legitimate success and criminal transgression, and its pointed critique of how race, class, and the legal system trap the marginalized. Both trace the cost of living double lives and end without letting anyone escape consequence.
80% - FilmThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
A glossy, stylized cat-and-mouse in which surfaces are everything and moral lines blur. Like the show, it glamorizes the criminal underworld while keeping emotional vulnerability hidden, and its central relationship thrives on performance, suspicion, and mutual manipulation.
70% - FilmSeven Samurai (1954)
Both are ensemble stories about flawed people navigating corrupt, unfair systems, where survival demands compromise and victory comes at a heavy, unresolved cost. The cynical, weary tone and insistence that heroism is never clean should resonate with fans of the show's moral murkiness.
60%