The Best New TV Shows & Movies This Week: 'Perry Mason'

Image via Complex/HBO

Where to Watch: HBO Max

In the first half of HBO’s Perry Mason, the gritty, True Detective-esque vibes felt tired and perfunctory, stunning Matthew Rhys performance and incredible visuals notwithstanding. That may have just been bait to hook early viewers, though. The show kicked into a whole new gear once this reboot started to more closely resemble the OG, lawyer version of the titular character that men 50+ all know and love. Rhys-Perry’s transition from P.I. to Public Defender clicks the series into place in a fun way—insofar as an often dour show like this allows itself to be fun.

A lot of that joy comes from the chemistry between Perry, Della (Juliet Rylance), and Paul Drake (Chris Chalk) as Perry Mason’s back half turns into a well-oiled ensemble piece. Watching the trio work together imbued the show with a fun hangout dynamic but smartly served as a window into the social politics of the era. What does it mean for Della to be a closeted queer woman in the 1930s? Hell, what’s it like for Paul Drake to be a Black beat cop? Perry Mason explores those issues with a depth other series may have only scratched the surface of, adding a layered richness to the show for future seasons to mine. 

Less successful is the ultimate conclusion of the Dodson case itself and the Sister Alice (Tatiana Maslany) subplot. As the trial continued, it became clear the resolution was to have the case either end with Emily Dodson’s (Gayle Rankin) innocence or a mistrial for Perry to continue to have any sort of career moving forward. Not to say it wasn’t a satisfying conclusion, but it certainly was a predictable one. The church-related plots where a great way to explore some of the religious-zealotry of the era and give Maslany a decidedly showy part, but the show itself felt a little bored with that particular storyline as the Dodson case drew to a close and shifted its focus to the origins of Mason & Associates.

As I watched the finale of Perry Mason, I found myself legitimately eager for what the (officially greenlit) sophomore season will hold for these portrayals of these specific characters. I’m not entirely sure why this first set of episodes was so dead set on providing the audience an origin story when the ending is so much more interesting than the journey we took to get there. The previous seven episodes have their moments, sure, but the conclusion felt stronger than everything before it. Still, I can’t stop thinking about how much more vibrant and robust Perry Mason could have been right out of the gate if the series didn’t primarily function as one extended pilot. In the closing moments, Perry lets the string he’s been holding onto float off into the wind. It’s a fitting conclusion—I’m keen to discover what thread Perry, Della, and Drake pick up next. —William Goodman