Perry Mason on HBO

Cafe Society
,
141

From reading recaps of the episode, I learned that the woman who visited the offices at the end seeking assistance was from the first novel. The ending was satisfying although the trial was ridiculous, in that there was no evidence that she was guilty of anything to do with the kidnapping or murder. In a sense, she was on trial for adultery, for purely sexist reasons.

And I wonder a bit about the timing; George Gannon talked to her on the phone so he could keep her occupied while the kidnapping occurred, which they did because they knew that the baby’s grandfather was good for the money. She said on the stand that she recognized that there was no genuine interest on his part, that she recognized that she was only a pawn. But how did he know to go after her? How did he know about the husband’s father?

142

I’m mixed. I liked a lot about the series, but as a procedural/courtroom drama it was lacking. Yes, nobody confesses on the stand (and that opening sequence was a tease for those who were expecting a TV-version finale), and a mistrial was the best reasonable outcome. But most of Perry’s good detective work was never presented in court, including the matchbox thread he’s been carrying around. Violating Chekhov’s Gun, and not good, dramatically.

The entire Sister Alice / Mother/ resurrection story line could have been excised without affecting the outcome in the slightest. It would have just removed 40% of the run time.

We heard the TV theme music for the first time, over the closing credits.

143

You’re right; that wasn’t established in any believable way. We’re left wondering if George and Emily simply met at a Sister Alice service and ‘clicked,’ with George later taking advantage of what he learned from Emily (about the wealthy father-in-law). That’s plausible, but it’s annoying that we have no clue as to whether it’s the truth.

Yes, another annoyance. As a red herring, the Sister Alice plotline turned out to be quite thin. Supposedly the kidnapping plot wouldn’t have been hatched if Sister Alice’s ministry were financially sound. I guess. Maybe.

And do we know if Ennis actually turned over most or all of the ransom money to Seidel (for the Radiant Assembly)? Was that established? If so, why would he have done that? Why not just keep the money for himself? What would have stopped him from keeping it for himself?

And did his partner decide to have him killed out of disgust at the kidnapping-resulting-in-child-death, or for some other reason?

It was all kind of fuzzy.
.
.
.
Still: good cast, pretty solid production. I will look forward to the second season.

144

I wondered about that myself. I figured it was the partner’s idea of justice – he knew from a previous episode that Ennis was involved, and couldn’t stomach the idea of him getting away with it. I guess.

I’d watch Season 2, although I hope Perry spends less time drunk and angry and shouting.

145

BTW, what did the note he left for Lupe say?

146

Yeah, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. It being a Robert Downey Jr. production leads me to suspect he knows a lot about being drunk, angry and shouting, which leads to a more intimate knowledge of the inside of courtrooms. :wink:

Seriously, I love Downey Jr. as an actor. Not sure I’m as impressed with him as a producer, at least so far as this series goes.

I agree the courtroom scenes were… not good, although I did like Perry’s closing argument.

My overall favorite part of the series was the Paul Drake story line. And I did enjoy hearing the music from the original series at the end.

I’ll probably keep an eye on Season 2.

147

Paraphrasing: “it was a fair price, look after the cows”

148

Thanks for that. As for Perry Mason being drunk, angry and shouting, I think we will see less of that in the next season. I think that he accepted the loss of his family home is a sign of his maturity and growth.

149

Holcomb made it pretty clear in the garage scene that he didn’t want him or his family dragged into any of it, even saying that Ennis needed to murder any loose ends. So I don’t think it was a moral decision, I think it was a “that lawyer confronted us outside the courthouse & knows something, let’s just put an end to any further investigations” decision. Sorry, partner, but I’ll take care of your family.

By the way, back to Sister Alice, some of these pictures from Aimee Semple McPherson’s ministry in LA around the same time will look familiar. Also, some of the descriptions of interactions with her mother, and her disappearance, etc.

150

I finished this series last night in a four-evening binge. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to Season 2.

I obviously, however, missed something rather important. Who dug up the baby’s body? Sister? Or was an empty casket buried, as has been suggested upthread? In that case, who pulled off that shenanigan?

151

Perry asked Sister Alice the same thing and didn’t get a straight answer. It had to have been Mother. (And there were stains on the fabric of the casket, indicating (to my non-forensic eye) that decomposition had taken place – not that an empty casket was buried.)

152

Yeah, that makes sense, as she (Mother) masterminded the plot to procure a new baby for Emily.

153

As I wrote above, there’s an apparent continuity error, as the interior of the baby’s coffin initially looks completely spotless when it’s first opened, but then appears stained (and not, as the scene unfolds, because someone kicked dirt into it or something).

Nice callback to the original series with Hamilton Burger standing up and saying, “No one confesses on the stand” in the dramatization of what Perry’s cross-examination of Det. Ennis might look like (with Ennis visibly sweating by the end, just as Perry would want), and the original TV show’s theme music over the final credits.

Perry could have done a redirect examination of his client to repair some of the damage done by the DA on cross, but didn’t. He also shouldn’t have spoken in his closing argument (which was otherwise pretty good) about his personal belief in her innocence. Defense lawyers aren’t allowed to do that (otherwise it would be remarked upon when they didn’t). The judge also could have given the jury a further instruction to redouble their efforts and try again before declaring a mistrial, but I suppose, after five days of deliberation already, he thought it would be futile.

When Perry closes his briefcase after the mistrial is declared, was that supposed to be E.B. Jonathan’s briefcase, perhaps with his initials on the clasp? I couldn’t quite see.

I guess Strickland paid off one of the jurors at Perry’s behest, to force a mistrial? But Perry also won over two other jurors honestly.

It looked like Mrs. Dodson, having initially recognized that the “miracle baby” wasn’t her own, just decided to roll with it - out of maternal yearning, or the chance to cash in on Mother McKeegan’s new outdoor-revival operation?

Nice scene with Paul Drake quitting the LAPD, including returning the envelope of payoff money. I also liked the setup for the next season, with Drake as Perry’s investigator and Della going to law school at night to eventually join the firm as an attorney herself. I thought the name of the new client (Eva Griffin) was probably significant, as Dewey_Finn confirmed above. Here’s more on that: Perry Mason Season 2: Who is Eva Griffin and what is her story?

Using three guys to drown Ennis didn’t make a lot of sense. Would Det. Holcomb really want three people who could connect him to the murder? Easier to just shoot Ennis in a dark alley one night and blame some criminal who got away.

Good to see Sister Alice again at the end - some definite sparks between her and Perry. A possible love interest for S2?

So. A decent conclusion to the season, and I look forward to the next.

154

Various recaps confirmed that it was E.B.'s briefcase.

155

Thanks. Any in particular you’d recommend?

156

Keeping in mind that not every publication recaps every show, I usually look at the websites for the New York Times, The AV Club, Entertainment Weekly and Vulture. Sometimes I just Google “[show name] recap”. And the recaps themselves vary from literal descriptions of the plot, which can be helpful if I was inattentive while watching, to more detailed analyses of the show. Some point out references to earlier episodes that I may have missed because it’s been a while since I saw the earlier episode. The AV Club used to recap more, but there was a big staff cut a few years ago and now they don’t do so as much.

157

OK, thanks. Any particularly good one(s) for the Perry Mason season finale?

158

I think that judges have a sense of the “should be” length of deliberations. If the jury is out longer, it’s likely there is someone stubborn enough to hold out indefinitely.

In the episode, it might have been more interesting for the judge to have asked the foreman for the count (as I understand it, at least in California, the count, without reference to which were guilty votes and which were not guilty votes, can be requested and used to help the judge to determine whether to continue). A public count would have been more dramatic than the reveal in the episode and also helped Perry’s reputation as an up and coming defense lawyer.

159

For Della, USC , Loyola Marrymount and Southwestern Law school were there in 1932. I wonder if any had night school. UCLA Law started in 1949. Women in law school were very rare back then. RBG started at Harvard in 1956 and there were 9 women out of 500. She transferred and graduated from Columbia law.

160

My dad had just two women in his U. of Michigan law school class, graduating in 1963. One of them later became a Federal appellate judge.