Shonda Rhimes begins this season of Scandal by showing us where Olivia and Jake have been hiding away since they left DC. They are on an island that's not on any map where expensive wines can be delivered. The entire viewing audience was most likely envious at this point as opposed to just the heterosexual female portion of the audience that was wondering where their Jake hiding. The two soon find reason to leave their island oasis when Olivia learns that Harrison is dead (much like Columbus Short's career at this point. Let us take a moment... ok).
Olivia proceeds to speak/argue with her old associates who have scattered since her disappearance. Gladiators without a leader are apparently no gladiators at all. Fitz is doing whatever he wants politically (i.e., firing cabinet members and choosing a Democrat for Attorney General) and Mellie is mourning the death of their son in a way that involves wearing a bathrobe everyday. Needless to say, everyone is a mess. Especially Cyrus, who without his more stylish husband has gotten himself the worst haircut ever.
The episode ends with Harrison's funeral and the band getting back together (well, most of the band). David is made the new Attorney General and Jake sees his island-dreams just disappear into the sunset. The episode wasn't life changing, but it was good to see Olivia with a case again. The show lost sight of that formula more than once in the last season. Also, there is no Fitz/Olivia drama in the episode. That is most likely so Shonda can whack us all over the head in a couple of episodes.
::raises glass:: To a season filled with wine, popcorn and the motto that there is always time for sex!
The pilot episode of How To Get Away With Murder premiered tonight and it wasn't everything that many were hoping for, but most likely viewers will be in their seats next week. Coming off of the not-so-high high of the Scandal premiere, viewers met Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), defense attorney and criminal law professor at Middleton Law School. The show begins with four of Keating's students trying to figure out how to get away with a murder they've committed (or so the audience must figure when one of them is holding a bloody figurine and they're discussing getting rid of a body). The audience is then taken 3 months into the past to the first day of Keating's class where she introduces a case of her's and we meet the five students she chooses to have as interns at her firm.
We have the cut-throats, Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King) and Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee), the obnoxious one, Asher Millstone (aka Orange is the New Black's Matt McGorry, the idealistic one, Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza), and the "good guy," Wes Gibbons (Alfred Enoch). They will most likely become much more layered just like there leader Keating who we, and Wes, find out is cheating on her husband seemingly because he is pressuring her about kids.
By the end of the episode, we find out that the body of a missing student has been found, that the student was a student of Keating's husband (he's a psychology professor at Middleton), that Wes' neighbor is somehow involved because the missing/dead student's boyfriend is seen talking to her, and that the body the four law students are about to destroy is none other than Keating's husband.
All of this should have added up to a blown mind, but for some reason it did not. May there is Shondaland desensitization going on, but despite Voila's great acting, a pretty interesting case and the body reveal, the pilot was amazing. Good, but not great. As with Scandal, this was not off of the charts fantastic, but the season is young and Shonda and her team always know how to wow us (or make us fall out of our seats). I like the premise of this show and I look forward to the rest of the season. Watch out Friday, Thursday is coming to get you.
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