Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk, Shea Whigham, Eric Lange, Diarra Kilpatrick, Justin Kirk, Gayle Rankin, Molly Ephraim, Katherine Waterston, Paul Raci, Jen Tullock, Mark O’Brien, Veronica Falcón, Peter Mendoza, Fabrizio Guido, Onahoua Rodriguez, Jon Chafin, Jee Young Han, Hope Davis, Stephanie Hoston, Wallace Langham, Kersti Bryan, Amber Friendly, Tom Amanes, Gretchen Mol, Mona Lee Wylde, Anthony Molinari, John DiMaggio, Jack Eyman, Brian R. Norris, Christopher Carrington, Tommy Dewey, Sean Astin.
Perry Mason is an American icon, based on a legendary criminal defence lawyer, and to whom was a staple of television in the guise of Raymond Burr in the title role.
That sense of embodiment of the undying search for truth and justice for those accused of crimes they did not commit arguably though was too wholesome, and in a different age, one more attuned to the cynical eye that sees history as not a celebration but as the truth unveiled of desperation and the disease of corruption weaves its way into every avenue and fibre of American life. Perry Mason could be seen as a relic, from pulp fiction to the fare of television and film in which the crime did not fit the age.
Aside from Raymond Burr, who epitomises the character in a post-World War Two myopic surrender to aggressive popular culture, no one really has been given the opportunity to change the narrative, to frame the attitude and progressive sense that went hand in hand with one of the most desperate eras in the last two hundred years.
What is obvious is the sheer insight to the relationship between the minority communities that inhabited the Los Angeles skyline as the city became the boom town of the 1930s on the surface, but which underneath had its own seismic issues of racism and its dealing with the poor in society.
The much needed 21st Century adaption of the Perry Mason legend is one of grime and glamour, of the dichotomy between that of the Mexican and Latino people and the rich white upper echelons who dictate policy as a reflection of national pride. The fact that the case at hand in the second series sees 2 young men of Mexican heritage accused of murdering a man with his own dubious past, but who gets away with his crimes because of his connections, his race, and his money, is not lost on the viewer, and one in which brings the attorney’s ease of adapting to the grubby war required into sharp focus.
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the series is the immersion of Della Street, Perry Mason’s partner, into the world of her sexuality, whilst for the world at large watching her case, maintaining a relationship of convenience with the District Attorney, this is a mirror to the world that refused to acknowledge the truth of its own diversity, that the underground clubs of persuasion were just as enlightening to many as that in which promised justice to those accused of murder, of helping one minority, of assisting them all in their fight to exist.
A terrific second series of this acclaimed period judicial drama, one that unfortunately seems to be the last, and which is detrimental to the scope and depth of acting which involves the superb Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, and Chris Chalk.
Ian D. Hall