Perry Mason (TV Series) Chapter Five (2020) User Reviews

This show gets better with every episode

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 20 July 2020]

This week 's episode was pivotal. I was completely unimpressed with the first three episodes, but now the script and the players are hitting this out of the park and I see where they were going with this from the beginning.

There are some real transitions in play in the script. As for Paul Drake, it was good to see more of him in this episode. Here he is an intelligent talented insightful African American man, an officer of the law, and he is thrown off of a public beach like he is a loud obnoxious drunk. I love the scenes between Paul and his wife. She's brave and insightful too.

I was looking at the actors playing these characters - I am so glad HBO didn't populate the roles with people that looked like fashion models. They are attractive enough physically, but they are real and it enhances their performances.

There is a clever piece of casting with John Lithgow's actual son playing E.B.'s son. They look alike AND sound alike.

Watch out for a speedy but important scene with Hamilton Burger - yes THAT Hamilton Burger. Something tells me he is going to spend years kicking himself for what he did and take to heart the phrase "No good deed goes unpunished".

If you want to know what I mean by all of this watch and find out. Highly recommended.

Prismark10 gives a recap not a true review of Chapter 5

[bhfred1 · 8/10 · 21 July 2020]

This series started off slow but is now working very well and seems to be a prequel to the popular classic tv show. Characters are coming into place and the writing is on target. I'm not sure if F-bombs were popular in 1932 but they could tone it down a bit. If you enjoy a good Noir Detective show or a John Grisham novel you won't be disappointed.

Now we've got something!

[acking3 · 9/10 · 22 July 2020]

Like many other reviewers I was frustrated with this series. There were many things that I liked about it, especially the cast. I also liked the look of it, it seemed to capture the feel of the time period. But, it just didn't appear to be getting to a "point". To me the story was adrift.

However; based on episode 5 we seem to be finally getting somewhere. The foundation is built, now they can start building the structure of the series. I now believe this series is going to be really good. Matthew Rhys is going to nail this role just like most of us thought he would. I am a big fan of Burr's Mason and, I am glad this is different and not just a copy or parody. This is a totally different animal and, that's a good thing.

What's Legal and What's Right

[sbgardne · 9/10 · 26 July 2020]

By the beginning of Chapter 5, we've seen the good and bad in every major player and learned nearly everyone's back story. Paul Drake is a conscientious, by-the-book beat cop struggling with his wife's admonitions to get along with his white superiors, including the creepy and corrupt Detective Ennis; Perry's sidekick and former vice cop Pete Strickland has a foul mouth and an appetite for indiscretions, but is repulsed by the LAPD corruption he sees and has delivered promising leads and background on George Gannon, Emily's lover and would-be patsy among the trio of kidnappers responsible for Baby Charlie's demise. All the while, Della Street has been heroically holding together E.B. Jonathan's law firm, returning home frustrated and angry, finding respite and quiet comfort with Hazel.

To this point, down-on-his-luck Perry has done little to convince Della that he's aiding Emily Dodson's case or cause as Emily is vilified by Barnes and a scandal-hungry press for love letters with George Gannon. E.B. is desperate and without financial means to bail out Emily, and D.A. Maynard Barnes is poised to discredit and isolate him further with revelations of financial misappropriation and the threat of disbarment. And while Della answers phones, picks up dry cleaning, writes and files motions, saves Emily from being brutalized in jail, and keeps E.B. Jonathan & Associates otherwise afloat, Perry is never far from a flask, estranged from his ex-wife, and is seen by Della as a guy who peeks in windows, sells salacious photos, and turned over the love letters that hang Emily in the press before she's even tried.

To this point, Della Street has been the conscience and moral compass in the dirty, depressed Los Angeles of newly 1932. Echoing Perry's explanation of his ethics, "There's what's legal, and what's right," an inspired and resourceful Della sets in motion the events (and a surprise tutorial) that transition E.B. Jonathan's lead investigator into Perry Mason, Attorney for the Defense.

Music

[senorcabeza · 10/10 · 22 July 2020]

Did anyone notice the hint of the original Perry Mason theme music at the end. BTW, not written by Jerry Goldsmith.

Justin kirk

[faruktopak1998 · 10/10 · 21 July 2020]

Good choice hamilton burger and can 't wait the last 3 episodes and maybe peaple this is not origin or this is not perry mason stops saying Thanks hbo , thanks t.v.p and deniz gamze, thanks rdj and m.v.p matthew rhys and amazing cast

1x05

[formotog · 7/10 · 1 August 2020]

Not a bad episode. Another quite slow one but the ending was great and I think now Perry Mason is going to be the absolute driving force now. EB had a fair amount of screen time and now that's all going to go to Perry. He'll handle the detective side still (I assume) and now the legal side, so I think the pace will certainly start to pick up. However, I do still feel that aspects of the show have been shoehorned in. Perry visiting his kid at the start was a bit pointless in all honesty. It's nice to see he actually has (or had) a life outside his work but really, what was the point in having him see his kid for 5 minutes? Similarly, the church, while delivering some great scenes like the 'miracle', still isn't closely tied enough to the story I feel. We do have Emily now in the church's custody, and it does look like the threads are coming together slowly but surely. Officer Drake also really doesn't seem to be contributing much to the story as of now either. I do think though, that the depiction of racism may very smartly tie in with the main story by having his interests align with Mason's. I have to say that that plus the church really immerses you in the world that's being depicted. This episode was definitely a turning point and I'm looking forward to the rest

Mid 7

Chapter Five

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 20 July 2020]

Life's a gas as E. B. would say. I did mention E. B. was standing in the way of Perry Mason being a lawyer. After all the name of the show is Perry Mason and it is billed as a courtroom drama.

Fortunately for E. B. Della and Perry make his suicide look like a natural death so his family can inherit from the life insurance.

A public defender has been appointed for Emily Dodson now out on bail thanks to Sister Alice McKeegan. Della has little time or trust for the public defender who is a weasel.

With no other defence lawyer prepared to take on Mrs Dodson as a client. Della only views one man for the job. Perry Mason gets a brush up as a trial lawyer from one Hamilton Burger. He might drink lemon tea but Burger does not mince around.

Burger eyes the top job at the DA's office and Mason could be the man to get him there.

It is episode 5. Officer Paul Drake is considering his future with the police after encountering racism in an all black beach. Sister McKeegan pulls a miracle but the biggest miracle was how did Perry Mason get sworn in as an attorney so quickly?

Well the show has found momentum but all this should had all happened much earlier. The series has so far has been smug with its casual pace.

I thought at the funeral scene the actor playing E. B.'s son really looked like actor John Lithgow. It was his real life son.