User Reviews

I thought this was a very good episode. First and foremost, give Tatiana Maslany that mf Emmy right now. She was absolutely robbed for Orphan Black so the Academy has some serious making up to do, and now that she's on a big broadcaster like HBO I expect that's exactly what will happen. I am extremely biased btw. Anyways, this episode opened up a lot of plot threads and angles and takes its time with each one of them, fleshing them out and introducing new and interesting characters. I don't think it was that dragged out or tedious though, unlike what other reviewers seem to think. I think the flashbacks for Perry were maybe a bit unnecessary because all it's seemed to do so far is give context for his Dishonourable Discharge and maybe reveal his incentive for becoming a PI. The introduction of Officer Drake also didn't bring a whole lot to the episode but I'm sure we'll get more. The dialogue was brilliant at times, especially for Sister Alice's speech at the funeral (Emmy!!!!) and the overall production of the show is very good and feels very authentic. This whole conspiracy has been laid out nicely and I'm definitely intrigued to see where it goes. Based on this episode, I'd assume we're not ever going to really get a concrete answer but I guess I'll find out

Low 8

I do not know what was Perry Mason's background in the books. In this series he is part Welsh, I guess something to accommodate actor Matthew Rhys.

There are flashbacks in this episode. It shows Perry being brave in battle during World War One and there are hints pointing to his dishonourable discharge.

This episode also has secrets that Perry the investigator unearths in this episode. The church elder Baggerly (Robert Patrick) was actually the dead baby's grandfather. Matthew Dodson is his son.

The grandstanding DA Maynard Barnes has Matthew unceremoniously arrested. Knowing that his father Baggerly would come up with the ransom.

Perry follows another lead and discovers that Emily Dodson was having an affair with another man, that man is dead.

By the end of the episode, the DA has her arrested as well just after the church service of the baby takes place. Well I did think in the first episode that at least one of the parents will become suspects, they both did.

You see an abrasive relationship between Perry and Della Street in this episode. Paul Drake is also introduced, he is a black beat cop who discovers evidence that his superiors discount.

I have a sense where this is going in its own merry sweet time. It does look great and I am sure the producers were aiming with one eye on the awards season. The pacing is just lethargic.

One has to wonder if the writers of this Perry Mason ever read one of the Gardner novels or even watched the TV series or later TV movies with Raymond Burr. Like many new shows seem to include some aspect from a classic movie to set the feel for their period piece. Having this set in the early 1930's we have some shades of Elmer Gantry with an Evangelical woman running a large church that seems to be hiding something under it glossy religious exterior. I can only guess they all want to toss in something that could be seen as actually historical! In this version of Perry Mason and well as new Penny Dreadful: City of Angles set in 1938, we have a woman leading a large radio broadcast Evangelical church. I guess this is to give the feel of the era when Sister Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson was riding high on the radio and racking in the money. At the start of Chapter Two as the writers named this episode we see Perry Mason having flashbacks to the battlefield of time in WWI Europe. Which seems to interfere with Mason doing his job. Once again it brought out that Mason got a Blue Discharge from the US Army and that it was a discharge for homosexuals and blacks. Where the client of EB says Perry is not black so he must be a homosexual. So far we see Perry picking door locks every chance he gets which would have cost him PI License. Even EB the lawyer for whom Perry is being a PI warns him that his ways could cost him his PI License! So far this series is extremely slow moving. What could have been a great two hour movie is being dragged out into 8 hour long episodes! In this episode we greeted with another name for the books and TV series as Paul Drake is introduced. Not as a PI but as black beat cop, who is married.