3 Quick Reasons You're Going to Fall in Love With ABC's Conviction

By Quinn Keaney

Updated on 10/3/2016 at 10:15 AM

ABC
ABC

If you can't get enough of the political and legal twists and turns in female-lead shows like Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, prepare to fall deeply, deeply in love with ABC's new legal drama, Conviction. It's scheduled to premiere during the network's Monday night lineup on Oct. 3, so if you've been itching for a new TV obsession to add to your roster, this is it. Although it's not helmed by the great Shonda Rhimes, it sure feels like something she'd make, so with so many new shows flooding our TV screens this Fall, allow us to make a case for one of the most addicting TV shows of 2016.

  1. The plot feels simultaneously familiar and fresh. The show centers around brilliant attorney Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell), a former first daughter and out-of-control wild child who hasn't lost her rebellious streak. After getting busted for cocaine, she's blackmailed by NYC's dashing DA (Eddie Cahill) into leading a high-profile legal team that aims to overturn wrongful convictions. It's procedural style with each week introducing a new case that the team has to solve within a five-day time limit. That TV formula certainly isn't new, but the quick pace of the plot should keep things from feeling too stale.
  2. It has star power. Atwell is the main attraction of Conviction thanks to her beloved work as Agent Peggy Carter in the eponymous TV show (which sadly got the ax last season) and Captain America. In addition to her, there are a smattering of actors from your favorite movies and TV shows making up the rest of the cast: Emily Kinney from The Walking Dead, Shawn Ashmore from X-Men, Cahill from CSI: NY, Manny Montana from Graceland, and Merrin Dungey from Once Upon a Time.
  3. The drama is pretty much nonstop from start to finish. The pilot episode opens with Hayes biding her time in a jail cell and ends with her giving one seriously cutting monologue to the DA. In between? Oh, just a whole lot of bloody pigs, betrayal, mother-daughter issues, and a parade of gorgeous gowns. The usual.

Will Hayes Morrison be the next Olivia Pope or Annalise Keating? You're just going to have to watch to find out.