How to Get Away with Murder Season 1
DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:
From the creators of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal comes a suspense-driven legal thriller about a law professor who gets entangled with four law students from her class. Little do they know that they will have to apply what they learn to real life.
I’ll start out by saying this: the show has some major flaws. It’s clichéd, overdramatized, and features lackluster court room drama. HOWEVER, this all becomes moot when the real issues begin to grace the small screen. Issues of love, betrayal, dishonesty and murder (all the little moral gray areas that make drama so scintillating) are par for the course within evert episode. In fact, one could argue that this is a show about the collapse of five people’s moral compass. The first few episodes may be slightly underwhelming, but the shady, nonlinear narrative will keep you wanting more. Then episode nine happens… by that time, if you’re not hooked, than the show clearly isn’t for you.
How to Get Away with Murder is, in every sense of the word, a mystery. The idea of peeling away layer after layer is put to good use with both the series’ plot and characters. Over the first season’s fifteen episode arch, we slowly begin to realize who each character is, what they are capable of, and why we should not mess with them. We also get an overwhelming sense of foreboding, given to us by the flash-forwards of the first nine episodes. These two factors make watching the season, in full, all worthwhile. In fact, in order to properly assess whether or not the show is for you… you really should watch every episode, if only to get a full sense of the series dynamic storytelling.
Despite it’s errors, How to Get Away with Murder is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the standout dramas of the past year. It features a game cast, stellar writing, and a very good sense of moral darkness. So, if you can get past some of it’s more questionable moments (i.e. the casting/writing of Rebecca) then you’re in for one hell of a ride. Plain and simple.
– Herman Gomez
Compelling and addictive, if a bit formulaic in casting. Storyline keeps you wondering, especially with heavy use of out-of-sequence flashbacks to reveal events. Star Viola Davis is amazing — she’s a multifaceted character and plays all aspects intensely and convincingly. The writers however lower the show’s quality with their insistent portrayal in every episode of sexual urges satisfied on the spot in public. The groping and humping no matter which characters are involved are done with a sameness that renders these scenes comedic after awhile instead of hot. Still, I’m looking forward to the continuation of the plot in 2015.
– mervenmar
When I first saw the previews for the new show, “How to Get Away With Murder,” I dismissed it as totally unrealistic, and figured it wouldn’t last more than one season. I disliked how simplified the show made law school and the training of lawyers, as well as unrealistically portrayed lawyers weaving in and out of drastically different legal specialties, like criminal law one day, estate law the next, and a civil tort case the next. Completely unrealistic. The night the show launched, there was nothing else on TV so I watched it. And was SO surprised!
YES, this series is totally unrealistic. YES, lawyers are not trained like that, and lawyers do not bounce between different areas of the law. But, this show is IMMENSELY entertaining. It has the hallmarks of a great Shonda Rhimes show – a somewhat mysterious setting that the general public likes to get a closer look at (e.g., Grey’s Anatomy – the world of high risk surgeries; Scandal – the underbelly of politics all the way to the President), plus all sorts of amazing twists and turns in the storyline to keep you guessing at every turn. The plot is well thought out, and must be planned for years into the future. Each of the central 10 or so characters are developed, interesting, and you want to learn more about. The way Shonda Rhimes weaves the individual stories and backgrounds of the characters into the greater plot is masterful, just like she has done with her prior shows.
Beyond the page turning thrills of the plot, the actors and actresses in How to Get Away with Murder are excellent! Viola Davis is a force not often seen in television shows. You love her, but fear her at the same time. The handful of law students who become key characters are so different from each other, and have fascinating backgrounds and histories, but, somehow, gel together in a very realistic way that real law students do when thrown together during the first year of law school when you don’t get to choose your classmates and study partners. Their interactions are very realistic, despite that some of the major happenings in the show are not, which lends the show a great credibility. Shona Rhimes did this with Grey’s Anatomy also. Some of the main story lines were completely outlandish – but the interactions and emotions between the characters were real and honest.
If you want to become engrossed in a story with twists and turns, humor plus drama, and always be kept guessing, watch How to Get Away With Murder. I can’t wait for the new season to start!
– HelloReese
DVD Wholesale Main Features :
Actors: Viola Davis, Billy Brown, Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Katie Findlay
Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 4
Studio: Walt Disney Studios
DVD Release Date: August 4, 2015
Run Time: 645 minutes
