Midseason Report Card: Did ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ season 2 get away with greatness?

There are few shows out there that provide the mixed bag of emotions that we get from ABC and “How to Get Away with Murder.” Let’s take a minute to weigh much of what the show presents to us. On the positive side of things, you’ve got a stellar performance from Viola Davis, great mysteries, and also some moments that blow many viewers away. Then, there are the negatives: Too many twists at times, not enough personal moments between the characters, and a supporting cast as a whole that could use more fleshing-out.

Is season 2 actually better than season 1? In the latest chapter of our Midseason Report Card series, this is something that we hope to flesh out a little bit more than we have.

What worked – The story of Caleb, Catherine, and eventually Philip started a little slow, but did it ever deliver by the end! This story was a little bit of a slow burn that eventually exploded, giving us some of the best drama that we’ve had an opportunity to see on network TV this year. Viola Davis continues to be a revelation, and we especially enjoyed Famke Janssen’s performance as her long-lost love Eve.

Also, the show did an excellent job of paying off the “who shot Annalise” mystery, having her actually beg Wes to shoot her in the leg to cover up Sinclair’s death. However, the moment she told him the truth about Rebecca being dead, he chose to act in a far more malicious manner. The “Christoph” twist was the icing on an already-tasty cake.

What didn’t – We still need to understand Frank and Laurel better as characters, and in general, the show is far too obsessed with sex. For whatever reason, ABC series like this and “Quantico” think that we need to have something insane happening every second of the day when you don’t. The series feels at times insecure of its own quality, and afraid to take a deep breath. That makes it harder at times to grow attached to people.

Overall – We actually like season 2 so far more than season 1. The show still has some fundamental style issues, but we’re more invested with Annalise and some of her students than we were a year ago. Grade: B+.