Diksha Sundriyal
HBO’s ‘Perry Mason’ returns after three years with its second season, where another high-profile murder leads the titular lawyer to get to the bottom of the truth to save innocent people. The first episode connects with the previous season, underlining the personal demons that Mason still struggles with. He maintains the same relationship with alcohol, and guilt has also become his constant companion. He has tried to maintain a distance from the darker side of the job, but the end of the episode means that, once again, he will have to navigate the world where greed and corruption decide what happens next. Here’s a look at the events in the first episode. SPOILERS AHEAD
Perry Mason Season 2 Episode 1 Recap
Perry Mason might have kept Emily Dodson from going to prison, but he couldn’t save her from the grief of losing her son. Her loss took her over, and the court case broke her down so much that she died of suicide by drowning. This was Mason’s wake-up call, and he has vowed to avoid criminal cases. He keeps himself to the civil cases, with his latest client suing his ex-employee for starting a similar-looking store.
Meanwhile, Della has promoted herself and is focusing on legal work. Paul, on the other hand, has resigned from the police force and is now a private investigator, and a rather good one at that. However, the lack of a proper job has set his family back, and they are forced to live with his brother-in-law. Seeing that he can’t get Paul the right jobs, Mason sends Pete Strickland along his way. While Mason gets busy closing his civil cases and getting enough clients to stop himself from going bankrupt, the murder of a rich man shakes things up in the city.
Perry Mason Season 2 Episode 1 Ending: Who is the Victim?
The second season of ‘Perry Mason’ opens with a crowded boat being burned by some mysterious figures. Later, we discover that this act was orchestrated by a man named Brooks McCutcheon, the son of an oil tycoon who has grand ideas to change not just his fortune but also the face of the city. And he will not hesitate to get his hands dirty to accomplish that.
Brooks aims to create a baseball team in Los Angeles and is hell-bent on seeing the plan through, even though his father warns him against it, predicting that it wouldn’t end as profitably as Brooks wishes. His father advises him to stick to philanthropic causes and step down from taking charge of the company due to the lack of understanding it requires for someone to lead. Instead of heeding this advice, Brooks becomes even more adamant about proving himself.
It also turns out that he has been collaborating with Gene Holcomb, the LAPD detective we met in the previous season, who is as corrupt as they come. Holcomb invested in Brooks’s plans, so he is more of a partner than a hired hand to do Brooks’ dirty work. Holcomb was the one who saw to sabotaging the boat of the McCutcheons’ rival. The officer also clarifies to Brooks that he has given all of his savings to his cause, which means there is no room for incurring a loss. Indirectly, if Brooks cannot see his plans through, it wouldn’t end well for him.
By the time the episode ends, someone seems to have made well on their promise of dire consequences. Brooks’s dead body is found in his car by a girl coming to the beach to picnic with her family. The night before, it was revealed that Brooks’ plans for the baseball team were not quite panning out as he had hoped. He invested a lot into it, and it looks like a lot of money was from other people. While baseball is a big enough sport, the investors are not yet interested in a team out of LA. It looks like all the money, his as well as that of other people, that he put into this project is now down the drain. There is little hope of getting it back, which means that many people have the motive to kill him.
Money, however, might not be the only thing that factors in as the motive. Despite being married and having two sons, Brooks doesn’t mind spending time in adultery. He has his kinks, and the presence of a mistress creates room for a wronged lover scenario as well. Then there is Brooks’ father, who wanted him to step back when there was still time. Could it be that the tycoon found his son’s actions unsuitable for the future of his company to which he had given his entire life? Could he have gotten his son killed?
It remains to be seen how this case will find its way to Perry Mason, but it will be another case of him fighting on behalf of innocent people. This is especially considering that he has given up on criminal law. To bring him back into that field will require a strong moral pull, and this is where his guilt regarding Emily Dodson will come into play. He helped her win the case, but the victory was bittersweet because she died soon after. The chance to save another life and right a wrong will make Mason take this case.
With all the pieces in place, ‘Perry Mason’ is set to enter the phase the first season had been building up to. Mason is now well beyond his PI days, and Paul is well-placed to use his talents for good, something he couldn’t do as an underappreciated black man in the police force. With all this, the first episode sets a grand stage for a thrilling mystery to unfold over the season.
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