Is How to Get Away with Murder new tonight? Mapping out the future

Is How to Get Away with Murder new tonight on ABC? Wouldn’t it be nice to get some sort of update on this past episode? We were left off on another big cliffhanger, though this time around it’s more about a disappearance solely than a death — Laurel is gone! Where did she go, and what happened to her? These are just two questions to wonder moving into a season 6 — two of many.

For some video thoughts on the finale, all you have to do is look below! Meanwhile, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube so you don’t miss any other updates — we’ve got a lot of them daily that cover a wide array of different shows.

Judging from the fact that we just mentioned a season 6, that should be a fairly-clear indicator to you that there is no new episode tonight. ABC is airing the premiere of For the People instead, and that is a show that will be running new episodes for the remainder of the season. How to Get Away with Murder season 5 is done. The mystery of Laurel (yes, we did just make a Mysteries of Laura pun in 2019) will not be resolved until at least the fall … that is, if they are even resolved at all.

Here’s where we are right now when it comes to the show’s future — nothing is secure. ABC has not renewed, and nor will they most likely for a few more weeks. Why hurry when there is no reason to? At this point, it’s not even just about trying to find a way to lock in the series for a season 6; it’s about mapping out the endgame. How to Get Away with Murder is likely well past its halfway point. Shows like this rarely run for eight or nine seasons — Scandal only ran for seven, and it was arguably a much bigger hit in terms of ratings. It wouldn’t be a shock to learn that season 6 is the final season.

The first order of business for How to Get Away with Murder is for it to get the renewal — creatively, it deserves it. Ratings-wise, it’s on the bubble in terms of live viewing. It needs to validate its place on the air beyond just awesome performances from Viola Davis and the rest of the cast.

From there, you gotta figure out the future, including whether or not season 6 is going to be the final season. Then, you chart out the story — the beginning, middle, and end. If you don’t know whether or not season 6 is the final season, then you have to plan that it possibly is. Maybe you don’t end with an epic cliffhanger that will melt the faces off of all of your collective fans. Give some closure. Give some reason to think that some of these people are going to have reasonably happy conclusions to their stories.

If How to Get Away with Murder is renewed, more than likely production is going to be kicking off at some point in the summer. Meanwhile, the premiere date will likely be in the fall. ABC loves its (mostly) Shonda Rhimes-produced lineup, though they have dabbled a little bit as of late in throwing A Million Little Things in there as well. You’ll find out more when the upfront presentation happens this fall — either it is going to be great news worth shouting off of rooftops, or bad news worth sulking about while programming head Karey Burke tries to conjure up an explanation.

For now, the one thing that is clear is this: the next few weeks are going to be painful for longtime How to Get Away with Murder fans.

If you missed it…

Be sure to visit the link here to read our full take on the season 5 finale.

Are you going to miss How to Get Away with Murder for however long it is off the air? Be sure to share right now in the comments! (Photo: ABC.)