TV Show Review

TV Review: HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER: Season 4, Episode 7: Nobody Roots For Goliath [ABC]

Viola Davis Jack Falahee How to Get Away With Murder

How To Get Away With Murder Nobody Roots For Goliath Review

How to Get Away with Murder: Season 4, Episode 7: Nobody Roots for Goliath sees Viola Davis back in form as Annalise at the top of her game.

After spending much of the season struggling to get back on her feet, it’s gratifying to see the disgraced attorney up and at ’em, so to speak. While it is absolutely vital that we see the personal demons and weaknesses that haunt Annalise, seeing her do what she does best reminds us not only why we fell for her in the first place but emphasizes the strength she must have to take her issues and channel them into something worthwhile. To paraphrase Chumbawamba, she gets knocked down but she gets up again.

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And if her performance against state attorney general Chase (Oded Fehr) is anything to go by, they aren’t going to be able to keep her down. In fact, even those seemingly least susceptible to her influence are proving to fall under her spell: namely, Isaac (Jimmy Smits). As Annalise’s therapist, Isaac has had his fair share of screen time this season, enough to understand his evolution from hardass rehab counselor to just another one of her reluctant minions. Even so, I almost didn’t believe it when he testified in favor of her ability to work on her class-action lawsuit against the state, and feel it might have been a bit more plausible a few more episodes into the season.

For whatever reason, the camerawork this season hasn’t been particularly noteworthy, and “Goliath” is no exception. Although it is certainly a strong episode, the way in which it is shot is not so, with me struggling to come up with even one memorable shot from it. In fairness, a program as story-driven as How to Get Away with Murder might not warrant film-quality cinematography, but when you look at what other shows like this past week’s episode of Mr. Robot are doing, it’s hard to not wish that the producers could add compelling camerawork to this season’s list of strengths.

Benito Martinez figures only secondarily in the action this time around as ADA Denver, but he gets a scene that is pregnant with possibility and danger. Interested in replacing Chase as attorney general, Denver agrees to assist Annalise in her case, although he warns that he will come down on her harder than Chase ever would. Nevertheless, Annalise accepts his terms, cementing an unholy alliance between two of the wiliest characters on How to Get Away with Murder, to say nothing of television, today.

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Reggie Peralta

**** We hired Reggie, fulfilled our obligations to him, and he quit in the middle of covering two TV series w/ no notice and no explanation. He then ignored our emails asking him to complete his coverage (we had no one else to cover those TV shows). He didn't care. We regret hiring him and we regret putting our trust in him. **** An aspiring writer, longtime film junkie, and former UCLARadio.com disc jockey (where I graduated with a BA in Political Science), I've made the jump from penning book reviews and current events editorials for HonorSociety.org to writing movie and TV news and reviews. When I'm not working towards my certificate in Radio and Television/Video Production at Fullerton College, I enjoy reading (horror, science fiction, and historical/political nonfiction are particular favorites), participating in my school's TV and theatre clubs, attending movie screenings, plays, concerts, and other events, and trying to come up with pithy things to say on social media. Believe it or not, there are occasions where I find time to write for my own leisure.
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