Viola Davis's Annalise Keating Turns Out Far More Human Than We Expected

Going into these episodes, we expected an entire season of watching Annalise Keating operate as a master of her craft. That is not what we got. By the fourth episode, things were already falling apart for her, and that shift in expectations became the biggest takeaway from watching episodes four through six together.

Annalise Keating Is Not the Untouchable Figure We Expected

We went in thinking this season would show off Viola Davis's character as a queen of the courtroom before slowly cracking her open. Instead, the vulnerability showed up almost immediately. "That's what I thought we were getting," came first, followed by the correction: "That's the show is like she's in a bad situation... like that's the actual show."

We compared the structure to Sherlock Holmes, where you spend a long stretch admiring the detective's genius before the show starts digging into his flaws. "Whereas here we don't get much of that. We're like already in the trenches of her skeletons." We also set her against Olivia Pope, calling Pope "more superhero," while "Viola Davis is more human," playing in the gray area rather than a cleaner black-and-white role.

The Wig and Makeup Removal Scene Was a Standout

One moment singled out for praise was Annalise taking off her wig and makeup near the end of the run. "Viola Davis did such a nice job with that moment... it was almost like she was shedding her, for lack of a better word, her disguise." The scene ended with her turning to ask a pointed question, and it left a feeling of being "in a really good spot" and "wildly curious" about what that conversation is going to be.

The Slow-Burn Pace Feels Very Different From Scandal

Coming off Scandal, the pacing here stood out as a contrast. "Each episode feels like we went forward 10 episodes" on Scandal, whereas this show "really feels like you're going episode by episode and there's a slow reveal of information, like breadcrumbs." How to feel about that difference is still being figured out: "I don't think I'm mad about it," though the repeated present-day beats can feel like they are not moving the story forward as much as they could.

A Few Threads Left Us Confused

Detective Nate's decision to lie about Sam's alibi drew skepticism. The best guess offered was that he didn't want to make things worse for Annalise given how upset she was, but that explanation was called "thin," with a request for the story to eventually justify it better. And the running joke about whatever Connor did that made another character's eyes water was never resolved, which led to a comparison with an Indian web series where a comedian's supposedly hilarious joke is never revealed on screen because, as a friend once put it, "there's no joke they could have told you in the show that would have lived up to it."

Is he covering for Annalise, or is something else going on with that lie?