by Conan Simmons – August 10, 2020 – 12:55 pm
Los Angeles, 1932. A crowd tussles around in front of the courthouse waiting for the doors to open. Inside the trial of the year is underway. A baby has been murdered and the mother is pleading innocence. A megachurch has supporters competing for the crowd’s attention. An instant eruption as the crowd surges forward at the opening of the doors.
‘Perry Mason’ makes a strong case for being the show of the year. Sure, there’s still time for competition to emerge and take the crown but the bar is set pretty high after last night’s season finale.
Starting at the holidays of 1931 our titular hero is a private investigator working a routine sleaze case involving a has-been Hollywood star. In another part of Los Angeles kidnappers make off with ransom money before anyone can find out the victim is already dead. This begins the sensational trial of the Murder at Angel’s Heights.
Matthew Rhys stars as the famed lawyer of fiction. In what could turn out to be an award winning performance he is supported by a magnificent cast that includes John Lithgow, Juliet Rylance, Tatiana Maslany, Stephen Root, Robert Patrick, Matt Frewer, Shea Whigham and many more. Really the entire cast does a superb job. This show is going to be a major competitor in the Emmy race.
Executive producer Robert Downey, Jr. chose the right project to back for his Downey Street Productions. Based on the characters from the Erle Stanley Gardner novels the showrunners wisely keep the setting in line with the original publication of the novels.
Every episode has the budget of a mid-tier feature film and the craft line does not disappoint. The cinematography is high quality giving off a somewhat halcyon sense of memory. The production design brings its A-game making everything look appropriately lived in and the costume design gives every character their own look without being a distraction to the overall picture.
There are moments of gruesomeness as is befitting with serious murder cases. The effects department does a standout job making things look ultrarealistic almost to a fault. Whatever chances the realism has of bringing fault to the show is covered by the superior writing.
It’s the writing that carries this series to the top of must-see TV this year. The writers do a wonderful job of making every character their own unique self. None of the every-character-sounds-the-same that some popular screenwriters engage in. The twists and turns of the story keep the high stakes of the plot alive with drama. The setting may be 1932 but the issues are just as prevalent today. Everything from racial oppression, sexual identity, media sensationalism, corruption in law enforcement and controversy surrounding megachurches are examined.
The writing does exceptional handling on the issue of being black and a cop in America. This provides a memorable role for Chris Chalk as beat cop Paul Drake who discovers the scene of a grisly multiple homicide. Never taking off into naivety the story addresses very real concerns.
‘Perry Mason’ has been renewed for a second season on HBO and it’s going to be a challenge to match the quality of the first.