Narrative Complexity In How To Get Away With Murder

- How to Get Away with Murder is a narrative complex show, falling on “a continuum [rather] than [in] an either/or situation" between episodic and serial programs (Kozloff, 71). Similar to the show Alias, which "offered a strong example of narrative complexity, juggling both ongoing and episodic stories of espionage with arcs of relationship dramas mapped onto both family and spy politics," How to Get Away with Murder will contain ongoing and episodic elements (Mittell, 61). Many episodes will involve individualized cases handled by Annalise and her team, while other storylines carry from episode to episode. The bulk of the serialization will center on the murders of Sam Keating and Lila Stangard. Like other narratively complex programs, "a
The first half of season 1 will take place on the night of Sam’s murder and flashback – beginning three months prior on the first day of school and include an investigation in Lila’s murder – to a different case in each episode. Midway through, an episode will take place where the two timelines meet; however, prior to this the series will "invite temporary disorientation and confusion, allowing viewers to build up their comprehension skills through long-term viewing and active engagement" (Mittell, 62). During the pivotal episode the audience will finally be clued into how the events chronologically progressed the night of Sam’s murder – however, some interactions will be withheld and will be revealed in the second half of the
There are many, they are messy, and they are complicated. Just like friendships, no one actually trusts the person they are in a relationship with – at least not fully. Take the love triangle between Annalise, Sam, and Nate, everyone is involved with more than one person. Annalise is sleeping with both men, but it is unclear if she really loves either of them. Nate has a sick wife at home (who works mainly to demonstrate the lack of faithfulness in this triangle, we do not actually meet her in the first season). And then there is the relationship between Sam and Lila, both of whom are dead in the first