The first episode of season 2 of Perry Mason arrives on HBO Max Spain on March 7. And with it, a series that has matured like fine wine over the last 3 years. I have been able to see some episodes of this series focused on a lawyer with somewhat questionable methods and I want to explain what have been my feelings in this review.
A qualitative leap compared to the first season
Perry Mason It was born as a reboot of the homonymous series from the 50s and 60s without knowing how to find its identity. During a part of the whole season, seemed to be seeing another version of Sherlock Holmeswhile in the second half, finally the figure of Mason was glimpsed as a capable and very intelligent lawyer. Definitely, the most wrong decision back then his showrunners was introduce a character stuck for so many chaptersgoing from being a detective from three to the room to a lawyer without a good explanation in between beyond the legacy.
This error (with which I did not quite fit), more specifically, was the process of transformation of Perry Mason: beyond being a series without identity (yes, very pretty and with elaborate scripts), I was surprised to close my eyes, and when I opened them again, to see a character who had already been examined as a lawyer with practically no idea of law. Surely it is related to the original character created more than 60 years ago. However, this sudden change in tone was striking to say the least.
And season 2 arrives Perry Mason with a new case to investigate and taking a qualitative leap that I did not expect. It has gone from being a correct series about law set in the 1930s, to becoming a solvent breakdown of the American society of the time, with a more focused script and very clear ideas.. Without a doubt, the change he needed Perry Mason and HBO Max to continue trusting in one of its star series.
Perry Mason is a complex lawyer who continues to weigh on his past
Already in the first season we discovered that Perry Mason was a person tormented by his past in the war. However, in this second batch it is due to the events experienced a year ago: the death of a mentor, a trial as complex as it is surprising in its outcome and a very difficult relationship with the mother of his son. Although she has started a new life in a Los Angeles apartment, Perry feels that he failed in what he set out to do.
For this reason, I think that Perry Mason is the best person to defend the two new accused of a murder that they are only because they belong to a very low social class. Because obviously the series continues to explore that duality between the elite and the peoplebut instead of exploring the figure of the corrupt police (be careful, this archetype continues to be exploited as well), it does so by pitting high society against a shanty town. And the darkest forces are behind everything pulling their strings. A case that will help Perry Mason mature as a lawyer, and as a person.
I don’t think I need to comment much more about the Perry Mason Season 2 script., the true pillar of the entire series. just say that I liked it a lot more than the first seasonwith a clear and realistic exposition of the facts and that focuses all its efforts on making each and every one of its characters evolve towards a new destiny. Mason is still Mason, a man who does not hesitate to face the edge of the law with his somewhat questionable methods, but deep down, he is a very good person who feels lonely..
Perry Mason is better Perry Mason than in 2020
And finally, say that Perry Mason’s narrative development is satisfactory in its second season. The revelations work and push us into an increasingly complicated puzzle. If Perry Mason continues down this path, the character gives a lot more of himself. Of course, as long as it is possible to maintain the originality and coherence that we have seen in these new chapters.
However, Perry Mason is a series exclusively for adults in this second season as it was in the first. Not because of its crudeness, nor because of its nudity, nor because of its violence. It is for adults because it requires a concentration that has rarely been seen: Here the important thing is the dialogues, the looks and the silences. There is no action, there is no reaction. Just Perry Mason doing his thing.
