How to Get Away with Murder season 4

The fourth season of the ABC American television drama series How to Get Away with Murder was ordered on February 10, 2017, by ABC. It began airing on September 28, 2017, with 15 episodes like the previous seasons and concluded on March 15, 2018, as per a deal with Viola Davis that the series would be a limited series with only 15 or 16 episodes per season.

Plot
Annalise (Viola Davis) and the Keating Four are still dealing with the aftermath of Wes's (Alfred Enoch) death. Annalise works with a therapist, Dr. Isaac Roa, to see through her recovery from alcoholism, and cuts ties with her associates. Connor (Jack Falahee) declines Oliver's (Conrad Ricamora) proposal, Laurel (Karla Souza) expects Wes's baby, Michaela (Aja Naomi King) and Asher (Matt McGorry) team up for internships, and Bonnie (Liza Weil) seeks her professional future. Laurel deduces that her father, Jorge Castillo (Esai Morales), is responsible for Wes's murder and hatches a scheme to steal incriminating evidence with Michaela, Oliver, and a reluctant Frank and Asher. During the data heist, classmate Simon Drake (Behzad Dabu) accidentally shoots himself with Laurel's gun, leading to Asher's arrest, and Laurel goes into premature labor after being accidentally struck by Frank. Though Annalise successfully saves the baby, Jorge takes custody of the child while Laurel is in the hospital.

Main

 * Viola Davis as Annalise Keating
 * Billy Brown as Nate Lahey
 * Jack Falahee as Connor Walsh
 * Aja Naomi King as Michaela Pratt
 * Matt McGorry as Asher Millstone
 * Conrad Ricamora as Oliver Hampton
 * Karla Souza as Laurel Castillo
 * Charlie Weber as Frank Delfino
 * Liza Weil as Bonnie Winterbottom

Recurring

 * Jimmy Smits as Isaac Roa
 * Esai Morales as Jorge Castillo
 * Benito Martinez as Todd Denver
 * Behzad Dabu as Simon Drake
 * Amirah Vann as Tegan Price
 * Nicholas Gonzalez as Dominic
 * Lolita Davidovich as Sandrine Castillo
 * John Hensley as Ronald Miller
 * Glynn Turman as Nate Lahey Sr.

Special guest

 * Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope

Guest

 * Cicely Tyson as Ophelia Harkness
 * Roger Robinson as Mac Harkness
 * Gwendolyn Mulamba as Celestine Harkness
 * Julius Tennon as Desmond
 * Stephanie Faracy as Ellen Freeman
 * L. Scott Caldwell as Jasmine Bromelle
 * Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Virginia Cross
 * Cristine Rose as Wenona Sansbury
 * D. W. Moffett as Jeff Walsh
 * Jim Abele as Ted Walsh
 * Luna Vélez as Soraya Hargrove
 * Kathryn Erbe as Jacqueline Roa
 * Oded Fehr as Chase
 * Alfred Enoch as Wes Gibbins
 * Cornelius Smith Jr. as Marcus Walker
 * Tom Irwin as Spivey
 * Sharon Lawrence as Ingrid Egan
 * Yolonda Ross as Claudia
 * Tom Verica as Sam Keating
 * Melinda Page Hamilton as Claire Telesco
 * Rome Flynn as Gabriel Maddox

Development
How to Get Away with Murder was renewed for a fourth season on February 10, 2017, by ABC. Production began on May 8, 2017, when one of the writers of the show announced on Twitter that the writing staff was in full swing mapping and writing the fourth season. The table read occurred on July 14, 2017. Showrunner Peter Nowalk revealed the title of the season 4 premiere: "I'm Going Away".

Casting
The cast features nine major roles receiving star billing, all of them returning from the previous season. Viola Davis portrays the protagonist of the series, Professor Annalise Keating, a high-profile defense attorney. Billy Brown portrays Detective Nate Lahey, Annalise's boyfriend. There are four students who work at Annalise's law firm. Jack Falahee portrays Connor Walsh, a ruthless student. Aja Naomi King plays Michaela Pratt, an ambitious student who aims to be as successful as Annalise. Matt McGorry continues portraying Asher Millstone, a student from a privileged background. Karla Souza portrays Laurel Castillo, an idealistic student. Charlie Weber plays Frank Delfino, an employee of Annalise's firm who is not a lawyer but handles special duties requiring discretion. Liza Weil plays Bonnie Winterbottom, who is an associate attorney in Annalise's firm. Conrad Ricamora portrays Oliver Hampton, a hacker who is in a relationship with Connor.

In July 2017, Jimmy Smits was cast in an unspecified role. He plays Dr. Isaac Roa, Annalise's court-requested therapist. In August, Davis' husband, Julius Tennon, was confirmed to guest star. He plays Desmond, a man who flirts with Annalise during a flight. In September 2017, Natalie Abrams of EW.com revealed that D. W. Moffett was cast as Connor's father. In January 2018, it was announced that Lolita Davidovich would recur in the second half of the season. She plays the role of Sandrine Castillo, Laurel's mother.

Scandal crossover
On January 3, 2018, Scandal star Kerry Washington tweeted a photo to Viola Davis of herself in a "familiar" setting, that being a courthouse used for the set of How to Get Away with Murder. Fans began to speculate a possible crossover episode being in the works, which was only heightened when Davis tweeted out a photo in response, that being her on the set of Mellie Grant's (Bellamy Young) Oval Office. Later that day, the crossover was officially confirmed through a tweet by Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes.

How to Get Away with Murder creator Peter Nowalk later went on to share in an interview with Deadline:

At the beginning of the season, my writers and I were planning out Viola's entire arc and something in her story organically came up that was very appropriate for Scandal. When I went to Shonda, she heard it. I said, we don't have to do it, Viola's arc doesn't need this, but it's possible that their stories could cross really organically. She actually pulled up a clip of something from Scandal and their side of the story coalesced perfectly. So it was one of those serendipitous things where we both realized it was good for both characters, and it almost felt like we had been planning it since last season.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the season a 100% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.9/10 based on 8 reviews. Maureen Lee Lenker of EW gave the premiere a B letter rating. Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, writing for The A.V. Club, rated the premiere a A−, commenting, "It's a strange but ultimately satisfying premiere, standing out from the show's past premieres by going the slow character drama route rather than murder party." Ali Barthwell of Vulture rated the premiere a 4 out of 5 stars, glorifying Viola Davis' performance. Meghan De Maria of Refinery29 also praised Davis' acting, naming it the "glue that holds the series together".