Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of ‘Perry Mason’ ends with its eighth episode, where the titular lawyer has to find the best possible outcome for his clients. He knew the Gallardo brothers were doomed from the beginning because they murdered Brooks McCutcheon. Because Mason couldn’t prove it otherwise, he stuck to the strategy of shifting the blame elsewhere, hoping that the jury would be forced to consider the involvement of other parties. In the end, exposing the real culprits is Mason’s best bet. He and his clients have to accept whatever is coming their way. Here’s what the ending means for Mateo and Rafael Gallardo, and Perry Mason. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Perry Mason Season 2 Episode 8 Recap
At the end of the previous episode, Lydell McCutcheon told Perry Mason that Camila Nygaard was behind his son’s murder. He couldn’t do anything about it because she was too powerful, and both of them were connected to something that could upturn their life’s work if the details came to light. Della finds it hard to believe that Camila would do something like this, but when Paul and Clara Drake walk in with the final piece of the puzzle, all doubts about Camila’s involvement are cleared.
Mason is allowed to see the case to its conclusion, but he has a hefty punishment waiting for him at the end. He has little time to prove that Camila paid the Gallardo brothers to kill Brooks. Meanwhile, Della tells him about Hamilton and how he is being blackmailed. They know that the jury will find Mateo and Rafael guilty of murder. So, their best chance is to strike a deal with the prosecution. However, Hamilton can’t do it unless the threat of blackmail is removed.
Perry Mason Season 2 Finale Ending: Are Mateo and Rafael Gallardo Found Guilty?
When Mason found out about the gun the Gallardo brothers had rented to kill Brooks, he knew the only way to make things easier for his client was to strike a deal. At first, Hamilton and Milligan didn’t agree on a deal because they were sure they’d win the case. The next time Hamilton offered them the deal, it was a ploy to tie things up to remove the spotlight from the McCutcheon family. He was forced to do it because someone had pictures of him with another man. If they came out, he would be ruined.
With the odds stacked against them, Mason and his team know that Hamilton is their only chance to keep the Gallardo brothers from ending up on death row. They must remove the threat to him, so they go straight to the source. They know that Mr. Phipps is Camila’s right-hand man. He does everything she asks, including giving money to people to kill Brooks. So, Mason, Della, and Drake show up at Phipps’ house and convince him to get the pictures with negatives from Camila’s place. He is the only one who knows where they are and how to get them out.
It doesn’t take much for Mr. Phipps to turn against Camila. The resentment against his employer had been building for a while. So, when the time comes, he doesn’t just retrieve Hamilton’s pictures. He takes away the entire stash of photos, revealing how Camila has been keeping an eye on everyone, which includes Mason and Della. She was looking for their weak points and was planning to use them against them when the time came.
Mason and Della give Hamilton the pictures, convincing him that the danger has been removed. As a gesture of gratitude, he agrees to strike a deal. He knew that only one of the Gallardo brothers could have pulled the trigger. If one confesses to the crime, he agrees to let the other go. This is the best he can come up with, especially because one of the Gallardos did kill Brooks, and the case is so public that any punishment that seems too lenient wouldn’t sit well with the public.
Mateo doesn’t hesitate before claiming sole responsibility for the murder. He receives thirty years without the possibility of parole. However, he is happy that Rafael will not spend any more time in prison and will be able to build a life for himself and his family.
Is Mason Disbarred? Why Does He Go to Prison?
When Mason took the case to defend the Gallardo brothers, he believed them innocent. Later, however, Drake brings in the murder weapon, and to protect the clients, Mason hides the gun. He’d hoped that the prosecution wouldn’t find out about it, and without a murder weapon, he could twist the facts to look like the Gallardo brothers were being framed. He knew if anyone found out he’d been hiding an important piece of evidence, he would be in trouble, but he kept it to himself.
Eventually, a desperate Milligan gets a resentful Strickland to break into Mason’s office and find the gun. Discovering the blunder that Mason has made, Milligan is happy to know that he will be winning the case. The judge is angry at first but eventually softens enough not to have Mason disbarred. This means he will still be able to defend people and fight cases on their behalf. However, he still made an illegal move, and for that, he is sentenced to prison for four months.
In the end, once the case is concluded, Mason says his goodbyes, spending his last night alone in his apartment. He patches things up with Ginny, whom he’d accused of betraying him. She indicates that she will wait for him, and when he comes out after four months, they could perhaps go somewhere together. Strickland, who has left Milligan’s employ, drops Mason off at the prison, warning him not to tell anyone there that he is a lawyer, or he’ll have every criminal in there begging him to take their case and prove their innocence. It remains to be seen whether Mason will heed the advice.
What Happens to Lydell McCutcheon and Camila Nygaard?
Knowing that the Gallardos killed Brooks, Mason and his team focus on bringing down the people who ordered the hit on Brooks. It leads them to a bigger picture than the oil scion’s murder. To help them, Mr. Phipps gives them enough evidence to build a case against Camila. Mason and Della pass on that evidence to Hamilton, who gives it to the Feds, who’d been waiting for this opportunity since they subpoenaed Brooks and Goldstein.
When the trial is over, and Mateo is sent to jail, Della visits Camila Nygaard, expressing her disappointment about ever looking up to her. Just as their conversation comes to an end, we find the Feds storming into Camila’s case. She is wanted for questioning. While she seems confident that no one can touch her, the evidence that the Feds have her against now proves otherwise.
Lydell McCutcheon anticipates this and leaves the country before the Feds find him. He had advised the same to his son when he was subpoenaed. Brooks didn’t listen, but Lydell knows better. He flies to Japan and is constantly updated by his people regarding the situation in LA. He is advised to remain in Japan for the foreseeable future, which means things are heating up, and it’s not going in his favor. This means that Camila underestimated the gravity of the situation and might end up in jail, while Lydell tries evading the law by never returning to the country.
Read More: Is Perry Mason Based on a Real Lawyer or Detective?
