The bestie and I just finished binge watching "How To Get Away With Murder" last night and I have some thoughts.
~ I watched every season of "Scandal", which is from the same writer/producer as HTGAWM. I'm not a huge fan of hers because her writing is ridiculous a lot of the time, but then that's what made "Scandal" fun for the first two seasons. Since then, it's just gotten stupid and I won't be returning to watch next season. I was worried HTGAWM would suffer from the same stupidity, but am pleased to report that that chick doesn't write many of the episodes. Because of that, the story is much more believable and the dialogue is a lot better. Still, HTGAWM suffers from some continuity issues in its story and I thought the finale was a bit 'meh'.
~ I don't care for the way the producer writes the same character over and over and people just think it's the most innovative shit ever. Oliva Pope is a no nonsense fixer who can't get out of her own way in her personal life and is lost without a man in her life. The more married or fucked up the man is, the better. Annalise Keating, the lead in HTGAWM, is a no nonsense lawyer who often tells her clients to let her fix things for them and has a mess of a personal life that includes a dog of a husband, whom she began dating while he was still married (you lose 'em how you get 'em, girl). She's also having an affair with a married man. Olivia and Annalise are both lawyers with the same temperament and the same personal issues, the only difference being Annalise was able to take her husband from his first wife, while Olivia forever lies in wait for her man. And is it ever a case of be careful what you wish for on Annalise's end as he husband continues to philander throughout their marriage.
~ Expanding on that last thought, why is every lead woman on a Shonda Rhimes show so fucking dependent on a man?? It's one thing to write shows about strong female lead characters, the world needs more of that. But is it too much to ask that at least one of them be comfortable being in her own skin and not fucking someone else's husband? Yes, we all have our issues but I can assure you that not every chick with a successful work life is A-Ok with banging a married man. There are few things hotter than a chick who has her crap together, knows who she is and what she wants and won't settle for such foolishness in her personal life. But Rhimes' shows never have that. Meredith Grey needed a married McDreamy. Olivia Pope pines for a married President Fitzgerald Grant. Annalise Keating is so emotionally dependent on her cheating, lying, potential murderer of a husband that even after he attempts to physically assault her, she still stays with him, while continuing to bang her married cop boyfriend. Her dependence on the husband is disgusting a lot of the time. I'd kill (no pun intended) for a show where the strong woman doesn't need to be fixed or saved by a man. That would be a way to innovate.
~ Part of my love for the first two seasons of "Scandal" is that it is one of those rare shows whose twists and turns provoke an, "Oh my god" out loud. That show was basically an English telenovela and my Mexican ass, familiar with the formula as I grew up watching such fare, was all in. Yeah, it was crazy ish that could never actually happen, but it was done in a fun, tongue-in-cheek way, like in the novelas when a maid looked directly at the camera after finding out the father of her baby was a priest (because, somehow, she did not know she'd ever slept with said priest). It was when the "Scandal" writers began to believe their own hype and run out of new tricks that the show became awful. Olivia and Fitz went back and forth so many times that I didn't even care anymore, and all of the characters on the show lost any redeeming qualities they'd once had as people. HTGAWM differs in that it's not going for the outrageous and actually has believable storylines. It also finds a way to avoid certain pitfalls. Since the show takes place at a prestigious college, it would be easy to dislike all of the trust fund baby students and their rich people problems. For example, one of the girls has her life all planned out; marrying her handsome (rich) fiance who will go into politics, she'll become a lawyer, they'll have children and live a charmed existence. But you can't help but feel for her a little when you see her life began to rip apart at the seams as she finds out her fiance had some fun with the boys in high school and her monster-in-law demands she sign a pre-nup. (And those are just the appetizers for her, the main course ends up being a million times worse.) It would be easy to write it off as a show about an emotionless and mean professor and her spoiled students, but each one of them has had a reason for you to feel for them.
~ HTGAWM's second season begins on Thursday, but I'm not sure I'll watch it until next year, the same way I did with this season. I don't care for cliffhangers and I know the show takes a two month break around the holidays, and I also don't feel like I absolutely am dying to know what happens next. The first half of the season was great, and the ending unexpected, but I don't know how much meat is left for a second season. Are we doing the same storyline over again? Kinda seems like it. Overall, I'm glad I watched season 1 and we'll see what happens (eventually) in season 2.
