Shonda Rhimes is a television genius and an unstoppable force in Hollywood. I fell in love with Grey’s Anatomy‘s Meredith as just a girl in a bar. Then came Scandal, with my girl Olivia Pope caught in a love triangle with President Fitz and B613 agent Jake, all while handling every single political crisis that could possibly befall Washington D.C. To top it off, How to Get Away with Murder swooped onto our television sets last year and hooked us. But did the writers use up all of their good ideas in the first season? With the winter season finale fast approaching, let’s take a look.
The Flashback Method
We don’t usually see this method in television shows unless it’s a sitcom or a show with different story lines each week, like CSI. With each flashback, viewers learned more about what happened. We kept putting pieces of the puzzle together until we got to the big reveal around the middle of the season, right before the winter finale–two timelines running in opposite directions and finally meeting in the middle. But as soon as I started season two and found out they decided to do the flashbacks again, I spread my arms and shouted to the heavens, “Not again!” I hoped for a more refreshing format because HTGAWM earned a reputation for being different. The flashback concept is still exciting, but it’s already been done so it feels less original.
Annalise’s Girlfriend
For the record, I love Famke Janssen. She did a great job in X-Men and continues her streak in HTGAWM, but her big reveal came out of left field. We got no hint of Annalise’s sexuality or past partners in the first season, so it feels like it was thrown into the plot for season two. I’d love to see a flashback of Annalise’s law school days and see how she became such a powerhouse. If she wasn’t always this way, did Eve play a part in her transformation? Didn’t she also meet Sam around this time? So many questions need to be answered. Eve appeared in that three-episode arc and came back again a few episodes ago, but I want to see more of her. I finally had time to process that relationship but she keeps coming and going, each interaction more confusing than the last.
What Happened to Wes?
Wes started as an innocent waitlist who turned out to be smart and great at finding out information that helped with the cases. Surrounded by Connor, Asher, Laurel and Frank’s drama, Wes led the moral compass amid the chaos. But since the end of season one and the beginning of season two, Wes became someone I don’t like. I’m all for character development, but I can’t see Wes as this guy who talks back to Annalise in class and goes behind her back to find out information on Rebecca. Remember when Eve asked Annalise about Wes, and she replied, “He’s not just some student. It’s him.” And some of you think she meant “it’s him” as in “he’s the one who killed Sam,” but I think there’s more to it. They way Eve reacted to Annalise at the news clearly implied there’s more to the story that we don’t know yet. Whatever that meant, I feel that when Wes finds out, he’ll just continue on his downward spiral.
Who Shot Annalise?
She’s not really going to die. They can’t kill off the main character of the show—or can they? It scares me to think it might happen because Rhimes killed off almost everyone I held near and dear to my heart on Grey’s Anatomy, but there’s no way the creators can kill Annalise. Without her, I can’t see myself invested in the show. I definitely gasped at the end of the first episode of season two. If there’s one thing Shonda Rhimes knows how to do, it’s leave a mind-numbing cliff hanger that leaves us crazy with anticipation over the next week’s episode. Was it Catherine, the adopted sister? Was it Bonnie or Wes? Was it the “inbred weirdo”?
It’s Not That Bad
I’m not going to write off the show completely, because I still adore Viola Davis. And how cute are Oliver and Connor? I’m totally fan-girling, but admit it, watching Connor settle down is adorable. I also like how we’re seeing more of Nate because I wanted to see him with more of an arc. Will we see a future love triangle between Nate, Annalise and Eve? The character development between a lot of the characters plays out nicely, but for some reason I flipped out so much more during the first season. Remember the wallpaper scene? “Why is your penis on a dead girl’s phone?” And my favorite scene: Wes standing over Sam’s body whispering an apology and Annalise emerging from the darkness responding,”Don’t be.”
Season two includes some great moments so far, but there was something special about season one. Shonda Rhimes’s track record for successful shows can’t be denied, and we’ve already gotten this far, so I’ll still give season two a shot. No pun intended.
