Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Thursday, May 13. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
How To Get Away With Murder (ABC, 10:01 p.m., series finale): Who murdered? How did they murder? Why did they murder? Will they murder again? What is murder, really? And how, pray tell, does one get away with murder?
It’s possible that How To Get Away With Murder will answer only a few of these questions (we’re definitely going to learn who killed Annalise, and why.) But that’s okay! How To Get Away With Murder was always at its best when it was focusing on the characters, not the procedural stuff, and at the eleventh hour, it seems to have returned to that most reliable well with a vengeance. Here’s Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya on the penultimate episode:
Introducing a brand new storytelling device during the penultimate episode of a six seasons-long series is a bold move, but How To Get Away With Murder loves to go big, especially when it has backed itself into a narrative corner. The show is undeniably good at blowing shit up. And it does so spectacularly in this episode. But with explosions come debris, and that’s the part that How To Get Away With Murder has difficulty dealing with.
As for that brand new device, we’re suddenly let into the inner thoughts of none other than our complicated anti-hero Annalise Keating. Her voiceover reiterated the character’s paranoia, ego, feelings of contempt toward the system. The sequence of her trying on different blazers in the beginning and ruling them out because she knows how they’ll be received (reactions that take both the jury’s sexism and racism into consideration) taps into the kind of character intimacy that has been largely missing from the show. The voiceover device is used unevenly, but it’s effective, yielding both humor and tension.
So sure, bring on the answers. But as long as we get a few more great character moments from Viola Davis and company, we’ll be satisfied. Look for Kayla’s finale recap tonight—the capstone on six seasons of terrific coverage. Congrats, Kayla!
Can you binge it? Yes, the first five seasons can be found on Netflix, while the five most recent episodes of the current season live on Hulu.
Regular coverage
On stage At home
Fun Home (Victory Gardens Theatre via Vimeo, ongoing through May 24): Cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s wonderful graphic memoir might not scream “musical!” when you first pick it up, but thank god that Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron had other ideas. Their remarkable adaptation, which picked up five Tony Awards in 2015, can be seen through May 24, thanks to Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater, which has made their 2017 production available for streaming. This one’s not free, but a ticket purchased for any “day” between now and the 24th (though the production can be streamed at any time) will help support a terrific arts organization. Having seen this particular production, we can verify that it’s well worth the $20. Hankies at the ready.
Wild card
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (ABC, 8 p.m.): Catherine O’Hara is on a winning streak. In life, sure, but also on Millionaire, where she’s raising money for Upward Bound House, an organization devoted to ending family homelessness in Los Angeles. And she’s Catherine Fucking O’Hara—we’d watch her mow the lawn with pleasure.