O'BSERVATIONS - "HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER"

With Shonda Rhimes' third series on ABC (Technically, she's only producing this one.), 'How To Get Away With Murder' returns to Earth Prime-Time to join 'Gray's Anatomy', after 'Scandal' took us to an alternate TV dimension with its President Grant.

The only proof of this so far is that one of the students in Professor Annalise Keating's class spent the summer workng for John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

With the pilot episode, it felt more like Viola Davis as Keating was a supporting player to one of her new students, Wes Gibbons.  But he was just being used as the audience's entry into this world of law school and the focus should be more on Ms. Davis with the second week.

The temptation was there to make the claim that Wes was actually a transfer from the Cineverse and that he actually was Dean Thomas, a former student of Hogwart's school of magic from the "Harry Potter" movies.  But that would have been not only confusing, but too unsupported by anything more than the fact that Alfred Enoch plays both roles.  At best, maybe I could have claimed that Wes Gibbons is Toobworld's Dean Thomas, but that he was given up for adoption after his wizard father was killed by Death-Eaters - hence, the name change.  

However, I try to adhere to the rule of Occam's Razor and all of that would have been more complicated than this character needs.  O'Bviously we're not going to see magic... in this show, at least.

Likewise, I can't claim Enoch is playing Grenadier Bainbridge seen in my favorite 'Sherlock' episode, "The Sign Of Three."  It's still my shaky contention that 'Sherlock' takes place in Limbo and that we're seeing the adventures of Sherlock Holmes' soul (looking nothing like his corporeal form) as he mentors a new Doctor Watson through this world of the after-life.  But to be both Bainbridge and Gibbons, Wes Gibbons would have to be already dead.

I know what I just said about complications.  Shut up.

'How To Get Away With Murder' takes place in Philadelphia.  If only 'Bodies Of Evidence' was still on the air (Stupid move, ABC!), the Alphabet Network could have had a November Sweeps crossover that might have benefitted both series.

The major contribution to the expansion of the main TV universe from this show will be Middleton University and its law school.

At the pep rally bonfire in the opening scenes, the school's football coach incites the students into a frenzy by citing how their team is going to beat the players from Ohio.  Sure, this could be the televersion of a college from the real world, but where's the sport in that?

Unfortunately, the only pozz'bility I've found so far would be 'Blue Mountain State' but that's still nebulous as to where the school was actually located.  No matter.  The info will always be there, just waiting for an Ohio university to call its own.

Final take?  I'll give it a few weeks to see if it can really hook me, but I doubt it....

BCnU!