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Viola Davis at a table read for "Murder" last year. P H O T O : A B C 48 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E episode. "It's just taking it and bringing it to its core. This show can only be 42 minutes on-air, so we have to not only tell the story but tell the story at its best possible way." Fo r s e c o n d - s e a s o n m u s i c e d i t o r Britany DuBay, "How to Get Away with Murder" has offered opportunities to tap into her deep well of music knowledge — as well as her passion for opera, fos- tered during her youth in Virginia. The show doesn't feature opera, but, like the ancient art form, it tells its stories in big, bold strokes. "I was a vocalist growing up," DuBay said. "Even during my inter- view, we talked about how this show has an operatic, very dramatic feel." In contrast to most television music editors, DuBay works on-site, allowing her face-to-face interaction with her colleagues. During a given week, DuBay might add temp music to one episode and scour Spotify or SoundCloud while searching for the perfect song for anoth- er. "Brittany has been amazing," Nowalk said. "I just love to go huge in emotions. We're dealing with life and death here, we're dealing with people's inner trau- ma, so I love a big, sweeping score and so does Brittany." For an episode last season, Nowalk sought a powerful piece of music for a scene in which the son of one of An- nalise's students, Laurel (Karla Souza), is baptized in a church. After sifting through numerous options, and prepar- ing a list of around 25 possibilities, DuBay happened upon the song "Dear God" by Lawless. "It could not have been any more perfect," she said. "There were choral parts of it. It even sounded like it had been maybe recorded in a big room or possibly even a church." Crew members are sorry to see the show come to an end, but grateful for being able to end it on their own terms. "It will definitely be hard to say goodbye," Nowalk said. "But we're lucky that we get to at least know we're saying goodbye. So many people, their shows end and you don't know." The team, then, has graduated — not just from Annalise Keating's course in crime, of course, but also from a singu- larly distinctive television drama. "Just like graduation, I can't wait to see what's next out there," Pevic said. "I'm excited and enthused by that. But, of course, I'm incredibly nostalgic for all that we've done so far." ■ Peter Tonguette is a freelance writer specializing in film and television.