After much hype, HBO's Perry Mason( in name only) has arrived with a big thud. If you are going to pimp the show as Perry Mason lets at least have some semblance to the character the show was named after. Instead of a brilliant, articulate well dressed attorney, we are shown a dirty, depressed, self-loafing human being. The scenes are depressing and over the top. Dead babies with stitched up eyelids, obese naked men running down the street, same naked obese man eating whipped cream from a young ladies genitals, 30 sex positions in a single bed, or some lame brain torture all within the the first 30 minutes doesn't necessarily make for an interesting show. I also believe there was electricity and sunlight back in the 30s, but this show lacks both of these factors , thus everything is dark and gloomy just like the main character.
The whole episode was very disjointed. We are not introduced to our characters but just subjected to little bits and pieces of information none of which are very helpful. Any semblance to the Perry Mason of early TV is not to be found anywhere in this show. Perry is not an attorney but a milk cow, air stirp owning private detective. He is also portrayed as a bad father and husband, dishonorably discharged army vet of WW1, a bad dresser and all around unlikable person. Again another attempt to take a beloved character from fiction and TV and make them into something edgy that fell flat. We loved the original Perry for his sharp mind and dry wit, but this new Perry doesn't come off as the sharpest tool in the shed, he's just comes off as a tool.
Queen of the South's Veronica Falcon is Perry's "love" interest ( 30 sex positions) and is not believable in that capacity. Matthew Rhys does a good job at being the down and out Perry, but the script was lacking depth. I will give it another go next week and hope it improves but not holding my breath. Maybe Perry will take some night classes to get his law degree. I do think the time period for Perry as an attorney would have been interesting, with prohibition and crime leading up to WW2. Dead mutilated babies, oral sex, f-bombs, bad lighting, and unlikeable characters do not add to this show's appeal. A hodgepodge of dark (literally) disjointed scenarios without a well written story do not make for an interesting Perry Mason.
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