BWW Recap: Viola Davis Teaches Us HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

Time for the verdict on episode number one of HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER which has premiered on ABC. Be aware: there are spoilers ahead so read carefully if you want to see the show first.

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, from creator Peter Nowalk (not actualy Shonda Rhimes), promises an attractive and diverse cast, intriguing plots, and legal thrills. Tonight we met the mysterious law professor and attorney Annalise Keating (Davis) and her young protégées as they move from the halls of Philadelphia's Middleton University Law School and right into a murder investigation. The unconventional Keating chooses four of her students to work for her law firm, and they must prove their worth to earn her trust. This set up should promise a lot of mysteries, so let's go through the first episode, and see if we can find the answers:

Opening: Raucous music, cheers and college students partying outdoors with a raging bonfire place us on the campus of Middleton University in what appears to be a winter festival. The scene shifts to four college students, stressed and disheveled, arguing about what to do about a dead body and a murder weapon. Wes insists they flip a coin to determine whether they will leave the body where it is or bury it. Intriguing? Yes. Consider us teased.

We flash back to a sunnier college campus, now at the start of the school year.

It should be noted that the flashes forward and back continue throughout the episode. This convention is certainly not something new, but it works here as a way to show the progression of the first year law students as we meet them, and their first time working with Professor Keating. It also spreads out the suspense about how, and why, they are dealing with a dead body. And we won't know the identity of the corpse until the final moments.

We also learn that a female Middleton student, Lila Stangard, is missing, through posters and news clips (hold that thought).

Wesley (Alfred Enoch) is wide-eyed and a bit of a fish out of water. By contrast, Jack Falalee's Connor Walsh exudes confidence. Aja Naomi King plays the obsessive Keating wannabe Michaela Pratt. Laurel Castillo, played by Karla Souza, is intelligent and somewhat subdued. They all display the ambition to succeed and impress Keating. Another rival student is Asher Millstone, played by Matt McGorry, who is an Ivy Leaguer and a bit of a know-it-all.

With the lecture hall full of law students, the main cast members watch as their Criminal Law 100 professor (and a successful defense attorney in her own right) strides into the lecture hall and declares her class is not a typical course. She calls the class "How to Get Away with Murder" and throws down the challenge that the class must help solve actual cases in order to earn a place in her law firm.

Thus we meet the charismatic and brilliant criminal law professor, Annalise Keating. The role fits Viola Davis like a glove. Her commanding presence, mysterious air and sexy confidence are all wrapped up in a complex character that will keep her students, and the viewers, guessing her secrets throughout the season.

The case Keating's firm is working on is the case of the "The Aspirin Assassin," where a wealthy businessman has been poisoned and is incapacitated. Keating is defending the prime suspect, the secretary with whom the man was having an affair. Keating questions the class about key points of the defense, and immediately begins to engage the students, to mixed results. Some confidently answer the questions- Pratt, Millstone, Castillo- and Gibbons slips up revealing he is unprepared having only been accepted from the waiting list two days before. Keating is not amused, nor swayed, by their excuses and raises the stakes even higher.

It seems each year the best students are selected to work at her law firm based on how successful they are at providing assistance on the test case, this time the "Aspirin Assassin" defense. Keating lays out her three part plan, and thereby tasks the wannabe attorneys who must prove their worth: "Step One: Discredit the witnesses. Step Two: Introduce a new suspect. Step Three: Bury the evidence."

This plan is ironic since we flash forward once again to the fearful foursome as they begin rolling up a dead body in a rug. In a darkened house, they clean up evidence and try to move the rolled up corpse, and are confronted by a cop just outside the door. What's this? Professor Keating's house is the crime scene and they wheedle their way out of the policeman's suspicions.

The students can use the resources of Keating's firm to assist them, including two of her key staff members, Frank (Charlie Weber) and Bonnie (Liza Weil). We don't learn a lot about these two during Episode One, but I'm sure we will soon.

We flashback again and the students are presenting their theories for the client's defense. One by one, the students are either shot down or are allowed to keep their seat - which means they are finalists for the four student positions in the firm. The four main cast members and Millstone all make the first cut.

Pratt approached Keating to mention that she is all booked up with her other courses the next morning and may not be able to make the 9am trial. Keating retorts that she is not her mother and maybe she needs to stop whining and quit the competition. In court the next day, Ms. Pratt does arrive late but, she slips Keating a key theory that helps discredit a witness. Keating is impressed, and Pratt's classmates realize she is tough competition.

Late at night, the eager Wes, having come up with another angle on the case, slips into his professor's office to share his idea with Keating. Wes discovers her in an intimate (er, very intimate!) encounter with a strapping dude, who barks at the intruding law student. Keating follows him to the door and shoots down his theory quickly as she sends the embarrassed student off into the night.

Another quick flashback shows the four co-conspirators furthering what appears to be their criminal activities. The scene quickly flashes back to the students working on their assignments. The sexually confident, and apparently gay, Connor attempts to pick up a guy in a bar, but he's really digging for more evidence to help the aspirin case. The pick-up target works for the Asprin victim's company, and may have access to important emails. After the two guys access each other (they promised a sexy show!), Connor ends up presenting Keating with an email that helps the defense, and Keating works her courtroom magic to enter the evidence into the trial.

The competition gets more heated as the others try various tactics to get ahead, such as Castillo hiding in a bathroom stall to eavesdrop on the client.

Later, at a dean's party, the first year students, including the very surprised Wesley, meet Professor Keating's husband, Tom Keating, a psychology professor. Wes cannot hide his shock when he clearly sees the spouse was not the man he discovered with Keating. She shoots Wes a knowing glance too.

Flash forward to the wintry night when the guilty gang is traipsing through some woods, dragging the body and Laurel gets a phone call from Frank, Keating's staff member. A quick flashback takes Kastillo back to the law office and an encounter with Frank. Bonnie admonishes him with a firm, "Stop sleeping with the students."

Back at the party, Keating apologizes to Wes and reveals her marital problems and the difficulty she and Tom have with having a baby. She breaks down and Wes is not sure what to make of the moment between them.

At this point, the viewer sees another side to Keating - her vulnerable side - which just contributes to this well-acted and complex character. I say again, the character is perfectly matched with Viola Davis and she has been given a fitting vehicle to show her ample gifts.

Back at Wesley's apartment, we are teased somewhat by his neighbor Rebecca. He tries to get to know her but she seems passive-aggressive and aloof. Rebecca is played by Katie Findlay and we know she will be more prominent in the future.

The trial continues with the calling of a new witness to the stand: Philadelphia police detective Nate Lahey. Guess who? Yep, he may be a detective, but he is also Keating's late night visitor that Wesley interrupted. He is also married, and has a wife suffering with cancer. Keating herself grills Lahey on the stand about doctored surveillance footage. His testimony helps Keating win the case.

After the verdict is declared, Keating makes her announcements: Walsh. Millstone. Pratt. Castillo get the four spots at the law firm. Keating announces that the caseload has grown, and she also hires Wesley as a fifth staffer. Wes confronts Keating outside about the ethics of putting the detective on the stand knowing that she is having an affair, and tries to tell her that he won't take the job. Keating says she won the case because she did her job, and if he wants to really do something, he should take her offer.

News reports announce that the missing student, Lila, has been found in a water tower on campus. Lila, we discover, was one of Tom Keating's students.

The final flashback takes us to the dark forest where Wes, Michaela, Connor and Laurel are dumping the body. They plan on burning the corpse to eradicate the evidence, and in a momentary flash of match light, Tom Keating is revealed as the dead body about to be torched. The screen fades to black as the body is engulfed in flames.

Was this Keating sleeping with the missing/drowned student? What will the next case be for the firm and the first year law students? What other clues will rise to the surface in the next episode? Class will be in session again next Thursday night at 10 pm (Eastern).

What did you think? Let us know in the comments below, or you can follow me on Twitter @jeffwalker66.

Check out a promo for next week's episode below!

PHOTO CREDITS: ABC

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