How to Watch How to Get Away with Murder
Hey there, are you late to the HTGAWM party? There’s a lot of back and forth on the show, so here’s how to get with the program. (See what we did there?)
- Learn the show’s acronym if you’re going to Tweet about it. The correct hashtag is #HTGAWM. Who has the time to write out the whole name?
- Understand the timeline. The dark intro bonfire scenes take place in the present. The comparably well-lighted scenes take place in the past. The scenes where we first meet Annalise (Viola Davis) are supposed to have taken place three months ago.
- Get used to seeing those bonfire scenes over and over and over again.
- Pay attention to the wide-eyed kid on the bike. He’s kind of annoying but he plays an important role on the show. I guess he’s supposed to be an audience surrogate.
- Pause for a moment when you see those fliers about a missing girl. There will be a quiz on this later.
- Roll your eyes whenever the rude neighbor is on.
- Feel free to get up for more pie during the case of the week. They aren’t as juicy as the ones on “Scandal” and the procedural part isn’t as convincing as “SVU.”
- Ignore the fact that the law firm seems to take on clients, investigate and get to the verdict in three consecutive days.
- Do not adjust your TV. The show is dark in more ways than one and you’ll have a hard time seeing what’s going on half the time.
- Keep all the episodes on your DVR. You’ll want to revisit them to put the puzzle pieces together.
- Get a thrill when Annalise strolls into the classroom. Enjoy her walk, enjoy her eyes, enjoy the way she drawls the name of the show.
- Get ready for sex. Lots of sex. Sex, sex, sex. Sexy sex. Sex on desks. Sex against walls. Sex in halls. Sex in stalls.
- Practice saying the name of the show the same way Annalise does, it’ll amuse your friends.
- Return to this site for the kind of witty recaps you clamor for. (You do clamor, right? Please tell us you clamor. We’re needy like that.) The recap of the pilot is here and the recap of the second episode is here.
Elaine is the chief editor of TV Recappers' Delight. She's an experienced entertainment reporter, reviewer, editor, blogger, columnist and Bon Vivant.
