#Perry Mason Review: A Season Brimming with Untapped Potential

Perry Mason is coming to HBO, and as the first season gets underway, you’ll never recognize him.

Emmy winner Matthew Rhys steps into Mason’s shoes, and his scruffy private investigator is nothing like the smooth, cunning attorney who ruled the courtroom from 1957 to 1966.

Rhys’ Mason comes from Ron Fitzgerald and Rolin Jones, who worked together on Weeds, Friday Night Lights, and the United States of Tara.

Together, they create an origin story for Mason that has never been established, either in the novels or the book series on which it was based.

Erle Stanley Gardner’s books were works of detective fiction that took place mainly in the courtroom, and the series that sprung forth from them followed suit.

On HBO’s Perry Mason, though, we catch up with Mason when he’s working as an investigator for attorney E.B. Jonathan, played by John Lithgow, who gives the older fellow a flair for the dramatic.

Della Street (Juliet Rylance) is on board as Jonathan’s “associate,” and Mason shares his investigations with his partner, Pete Strickland (Shea Whigham).

When the illegitimate son of a wealthy businessman gets tagged for the kidnapping and murder of his infant son, Jonathan and the team jump on board, believing it’s a fairly simple case.

The only problem is that Jonathan gets the guy off while implicating his wife, which is not a simple case.

Jonathan’s defense of Emily Dodson (Gayle Rankin) begins to fall apart in light of corrupt cops and the shenanigans of a megachurch led by Sister Alice (Tatiana Maslany) and her mother, Birdy (Lili Taylor).

Mason, Street, and Strickland tackle each new obstacle placed in their way, but they also discover some support from a black beat cop with more smarts than all of the force’s detectives combined, Paul Drake (Chris Chalk).

While the original series was a procedural that tackled one case per episode, this Perry Mason focuses on the kidnapping and death of the infant and all of the eccentricities surrounding it.

The 1930s of Perry Mason are slick and tortured, with segregation and religious zealots with a little too much clout.

Through the first half of the eight episodes, the team works together to keep Emily Dodson out of jail by investigating leads counter to the district attorney (Stephen Root).

The case itself almost takes up too much time because it’s hard to imagine by the end of Perry Mason Season 1 that we’ll ever reencounter any of them. This is a procedural in which the case comes and goes per season, perhaps, instead of by the episode.

With so much attention on the case-specific characters, getting to know the core seemed a little more futile than I would have liked.

This Mason suffers from World War I-driven PTSD, lives on a worthless farm, and makes his living taking photos of celebrities at their worst (including a reference to Fatty Arbuckle).

The character that seems closest to expectations is Rylance as Street, a thoroughly competent and in-charge woman who never lets the testosterone in the room play to her disadvantage.

The series is at its best when focused on the gumshoe investigative work that includes Mason, Strickland, and Drake, all at different times exploring different parts of the case from various angles.

It’s a shame that the mystery is the most compelling part when it also seems like the part in which the writers were least interested.

It’s hard not to be bowled over by the impressive cast, but a stronger mystery propelling Mason to his rightful place in the courtroom would have held more weight.

Instead of the DA’s case going head-to-head with E.B.’s case against the Dodson’s, it plays more like Mason and friends taking on the systemically corrupt justice system.

Not to say there isn’t a virtue in telling that story, just that it pulls a little away from the mystery when the competition seems more incompetent instead of building a sold, if different, case from Mason and friends, which is usually the way the original series unfolded.

Perry Mason is beautifully filmed, and Tim Van Patten brings the setting alive with his direction. The season-long arc, though, is somewhat scattered and unfocused.

By the end of the first eight episodes, we get a clearer picture of what subsequent seasons might look like. It’s not a surprise that Mason switches gears, passes the bar, and lands his own firm, but how it happens is a bit of one.

Della’s skillful hand is guiding the puzzle pieces together.

Disillusioned police officer Drake was never going to stay on the force for long, as his destiny is to work alongside Mason and Street for the greater good, protecting those whose cases are the most difficult to win and who cannot find representation elsewhere.

Once all of those characters are in the same room together, it begins to make sense. And that’s when the curtain draws to a close on the freshman season. A high-profile series like Perry Mason would have to get a second season, and with the ending, there’s reason for more.

It seems likely that future seasons will continue featuring Root as the DA, perhaps see an expansion of Weeds alum Justin Kirk’s character, and possibly revisit Matt Frewer’s judge.

Getting to know more about them or see them from different angles would add more value to the traditional Mason courtroom opposition and proceedings.

Rylance is breathing new life into Della Street, and her background offers a lot of avenues for the character to become far more than Mason’s right hand. Chalk’s Drake is merely beginning, and the expected role at Mason’s side with plenty of growth potential.

After a starring role as captivating as Philip Jennings on The Americans, finding an equally fitting role was always going to be tough for Rhys.

But now that we’ve gotten a bit of history and moved Mason to the courtroom where he belongs, the character should live up to the man portraying him.

It’s not the Perry Mason that you’d expect or even the one that you’d probably desire, but it’s a decent foundation and brimming with potential.

Perry Mason Premieres on HBO Sunday, June 21 at 9/8c, only on HBO. Watch the drama unfold!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.