The sixth and final season of the American television seriesHow to Get Away with Murder premiered on September 26, 2019, and concluded on May 14, 2020. Ordered in May 2019 by ABC, the season consisted of fifteen episodes, like its predecessors, due to a deal made with Viola Davis that the series would be limited to only 15 or 16 episodes per season.
ABC renewed How to Get Away with Murder for a sixth season on May 10, 2019. After initial rumoring, it was announced on July 11, 2019, that the series would end with the upcoming season.
Writing
Besides the plans of following up with the previous season's cliffhanger on the whereabouts of Laurel Castillo and her son, other storylines are intended to be depicted in the sixth season, including Tegan Price's past, Michaela's father and his relationship to Annalise, and Vivian Maddox's life and background. According to series creator Peter Nowalk, "Every crime will come up for grabs, be answered for, and will have to be paid for," he previews. "Each character will have to decide what they're willing to do and to see if they're willing to sell other people out." According to TVLine, a different mystery will be introduced by the end of the season premiere. "There will still be a flash forward in the first episode," Nowalk shares. "It's a mystery that's really big, the biggest one we've done. It makes us get on a high-speed train toward the end of the show." In the meantime, Annalise is "in bad shape" following Laurel's disappearance, and Nowalk says "we're going to see what Annalise's version of falling apart is." Plus, the FBI's ongoing investigation into Annalise and company "is front and center." Nowalk teases, "They know a lot, clearly. The question is, do they have the evidence to finally charge them? And who are they going to charge?" Additionally, one of Michaela's birth parents will come into the picture in a storyline that Nowalk describes as "very twisty, but also very emotional and surprising. I don't think the parent is going to be anyone you would expect."
Casting
For the sixth season, Timothy Hutton left the starring cast after his character's death. Karla Souza, who had portrayed Laurel Castillo since the series' inception, also exited the main cast, coinciding with Laurel and her son's disappearances in the previous season's finale. In an interview with TV Insider, Nowalk revealed that Marsha Stephanie Blake would guest star in the season in a "great mystery role", later revealed to be that of Sam's ex-lover and Gabriel's mother, Vivian Maddox. In October 2019, Cas Anvar joined the supporting cast as Robert Hsieh, "an in-house lawyer of a popular dating app". In January 2020, it was announced that Lauren Bowles had been cast as Assistant U.S. Attorney Montes. In March 2020, Anne-Marie Johnson was cast as Kenda Strauss, a "chic, high-powered defense attorney", and Cicely Tyson's return was announced.
Reception
Critical response
Reviewing the first episode, Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly complimented Viola Davis's performance, writing, "We will never get tired of watching her deliver week after week. To be honest, it’s probably what we’ll miss most about the show." The A.V. Club Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya gave the first episode a "B+" rating, stating "It would make sense for to go fully off the rails one last time in its final season, especially as it attempts to weave together every story that’s still open. But maybe this will finally be the season that the show doesn’t lose itself in its own madness."
