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DVD Review How to Get Away With Murder: The Complete First Season DVD Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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How to Get Away With Murder: The Complete First Season DVD Review

ABC’s highest-rated new series for the 2014-2015 season was How to Get Away With Murder, the brainchild of Shonda Rhimes protégé Pete Nowalk who brings to the project all of the positives and negatives which have made her successful series like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal such runaway audience favorites. With an A-list actress in the leading role like Viola Davis insisting on a limited season of fifteen episodes, the show runs like a house afire with overstuffed episodes filmed and cut at a breathless pace and offering very little time for an audience to catch its breath once the murders and cover-ups begin.



Studio: Disney

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 480P/MPEG-2

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Audio: English 5.1 DD

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Rating: TV-14

Run Time: 10 Hr. 45 Min.

Package Includes: DVD

Amaray case with leaves in a slipcover

Disc Type: DVD-9 (dual layer)

Region: 1

Release Date: 08/04/2015

MSRP: $39.99




The Production Rating: 3.5/5

Aggressive defense attorney Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) spends part of her time in the courtroom defending clients with seemingly unwinnable cases and otherwise teaches at the law school at Middleton University. Each year, she selects a few of her most promising students to become her interns running down leads, interviewing witnesses, and basically doing anything the lady commands. The “Keating Five” as she calls these chosen few are the brooding Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee), fresh-faced Wes Gibbins (Alfred Enoch), newly engaged Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King), dour ice princess Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza), and spoiled doofus Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry). Also assisting Annalise in her home-office are lawyer Bonnie Winterbottom (Liza Weil) and Man Friday Frank Delfino (Charlie Weber). While most episodes feature a legal case-of-the-week which Annalise and her team work to solve, the season revolves around investigations into two murders: the death of Middleton co-ed Lila Stangard (Megan West) for which Wes’ girlfriend Rebecca Sutter (Katie Findlay) initially takes blame (though she later retracts her statements) and the disposal of the body of Annalise’s husband Sam (Tom Verica) by four of the “Keating Five,” an event which occurs during splintered flashbacks during the first part of the season followed by the events leading up to his murder following.

 

With the use of flashbacks going back some three months along with each episode’s present-day case investigations and other entanglements between the characters, the program offers labyrinthine storytelling which requires strict attention in order to piece together the wildly disparate situations which occur in any one episode. As we learn early and must continually remind ourselves about as the season unwinds, everyone lies, and the nature and extent of the fabrications keep everyone and everything off balance and out of kilter during the entire fifteen episode season. As is the case in Ms. Rhimes’ other shows (her production company produces the show and she herself is executive producer), the other distinguishing characteristic of How to Get Away With Murder comes with its overwrought tangle of romantic couplings which continually explode into the stories. Before the season is out, each of the characters has the kind of clichéd clothes-ripped-off heated sexual encounters that all of Ms. Rhimes’ shows are famous for (creator Pete Nowalk has studied fervently at the feet of the Mistress). Oftentimes, the pairings make sense only for reasons of expediency (the bodies are there and presently unengaged in other relationships), but the continual need to force these erotic duos onto the stories sometimes seems desperate and, worse, mere filler for episodes where story otherwise is lacking. The cases Annalise tries are usually quite intriguing, and they almost all feature the kinds of twists and turns which makes them seem hopeless until last minute revelations save the day. Proper legal procedure is not one of the hallmarks of the storytelling (Annalise even argues with and ignores a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice who’s trying to get a word in), but the cases are nevertheless grippingly entertaining.

 

Viola Davis has been given a master showcase for her art, and she performs the character to the max, taking Annalise from a galvanizing force of nature in both the classroom and courtroom to her at her lowest ebb as a shriveled, shaking mass of neuroses and indecision as problems overwhelm her. An early episode where Annalise strips off her expensive wig and war paint to face her true self in the mirror is one of the highlights of the season and likely led to the actress’ Emmy nomination (and Golden Globe win) for the season. Of the “Keating Five,” the three male members of the ensemble (Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Matt McGorry) have been the standouts while the enigmatic Rebecca Sutter of Katie Findlay will likewise keep one guessing down to the very end of the season. Two particular guest stars add luster to the season: Marcia Gay Harden as Sam’s belligerent sister arriving to confront Annalise about her brother’s death and Cicely Tyson (who earned an Emmy nomination for her guest performance) as Annalise’s straight-talking mother who comes when her daughter is at wit’s end. Suffice to say that the two big murders are solved to the viewers’ complete satisfaction, but the season ends with another surprising death which will set up the upcoming season two.

 

Here are the fifteen episodes contained on four DVDs in the first season set:

 

1 – Pilot
2 – It’s All Her Fault
3 – Smile, or Go to Jail
4 – Let’s Get to Snooping
5 – We’re Not Friends
6 – Freakin’ Whack-a-Mole
7 – He Deserved to Die
8 – He Has a Wife
9 – Kill Me, Kill Me, Kill Me
10 – Hello, Raskolnikov
11 – Best Christmas Ever
12 – She’s a Murderer
13 – Mama’s Here Now
14 – The Night Lila Died
15 – It’s All My Fault



Video Rating: 4.5/5  3D Rating: NA

The episodes are framed at the widescreen television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and are anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. For standard definition transfers, sharpness is quite excellent throughout, and though the series is dark with many scenes occurring in low-lit rooms or at night, color is solid and consistent in hue with accurate and appealing skin tones. Black levels are for the most part quite good, and contrast has been applied consistently. There are moiré patterns to be seen in tight line structures on occasion, but otherwise, standard definition artifacts aren’t a problem. Episodes have been divided into 8 chapters.



Audio Rating: 4/5

The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix achieves the same quality as the network broadcasts. Dialogue has been superbly recorded and has been placed in the center channel. Throbbing music (often used during the frequent sexual encounter moments) and atmospheric effects get decent spreads through the soundstage but don’t draw undue attention to themselves.



Special Features Rating: 2.5/5

First Year Law (14:59): creator/producer Pete Nowalk and executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers discuss the program’s genesis and structure and introduce us to the ensemble cast, all of whom offer sound bites about their characters and their most memorable moments of the season.

 

“Bye, Felicia” Music Video (2:58): a throwaway rap video with actor Matt McGorry in character as his character Asher Millstone.

 

Deleted Scenes (6:41): nine scenes which may be viewed separately or in montage.

 

Blooper Reel (3:34)

 

Promo Trailers: Scandal, Once Upon a Time



Overall Rating: 3.5/5

How to Get Away With Murder is an endlessly addictive series with mysteries which defy easy solutions and characters which catch one’s fancy despite some occasionally uninspired treatment. The DVD release can’t match the high definition network broadcasts but is a decent compromise for those who want to revisit the show again to see how cleverly the puzzles have been constructed and solved.


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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jauritt

Stunt Coordinator
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Mar 13, 2011
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Location
Warrington, PA
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Jay Auritt
"Proper legal procedure is not one of the hallmarks of the storytelling" is a huge understatement.


Besides the ridiculous and unbelievable theatrics that would NEVER be tolerated in a real-life court of law, the writers expect us to accept that trials for major crimes begin and conclude within a few days of the crime being committed.


Compared to this show, Perry Mason was a documentary about the workings of our legal system..
 
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
37
Real Name
Mike Williams
Very disappointed that this wasn't given a Blu-ray release. A slick, great looking show gets the DVD only treatment again, just like Scandal (another Shonda Rhimes series). I do not buy DVDs of things that can be on Blu-ray, but aren't. NO SALE!!!
 

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