The network will rerun the acclaimed historical crime thriller Perry Mason in February, according to a recent tweet. Since its first season’s conclusion of the Dodson case in August 2020, the show’s titular detective, portrayed Matthew Rhys, won’t be back in action until then. After a critically lauded debut season that received four Emmy nominations, there is a lot of anticipation for the series’ return.
The series is set in the early 1930s, when the Great Depression has already devastated the majority of the United States. As he navigates the judicial system of Los Angeles, one of the few areas thriving despite the Depression, Mason struggles with the trauma from his experience in the Great War as well as his most recent divorce. Season 2 shifts to 1933 after the well-known Dodson case involving a kidnapped infant, with Mason “in the soup again,” in the words of Rhys’s co-star Shea Whigham. Thanks to the dependable Della Street (Juliet Rylance), Mason transitions from the criminal court system to civil trials in order to temporarily escape the mayhem while still being plagued by the ghosts of World War I.
With the departure of the original showrunners Ron Fitzgerald and Rolin Jones in favour of Michael Begler and Jack Amiel of The Knick fame, Season 2 will see some changes. The great surprise, though, was Tatiana Maslany’s resignation, which she likely had to do because of her past obligations to She-Hulk. She portrayed Sister Alice, the mysterious faith healer who attracted a large following thanks to her sermons that mixed religion with entertainment.
The series was developed by Fitzgerald and Jones based on the well-known figure established by Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s the second time Gardner’s detective stories have been used as the basis for a television programme; Perry Mason, one of the first one-hour programmes on television, made waves in 1957. Along with its superb actors and creators, HBO’s adaptation has benefited from the work of director Tim Van Patten, who is largely responsible for evoking the look of 1930s Los Angeles.