Perry Mason Chapter Seven Review

For our review of the last episode of Perry Mason, click here.

Synopsis: Hoping to expose the hidden link between the Radiant Assembly’s staggering debt and Charlie’s ransom, Mason puts Herman Baggerly on the stand. Sister Alice faces mounting pressure from the church elders about her promises for a “resurrection.” Strickland loses track of a key witness, while Drake’s detective work opens a new avenue in the case. (HBO)

In this penultimate episode of Perry Mason, we pretty much know what happened to Charlie Dodson but that knowledge doesn’t necessarily guarantee Emily Dodson’s freedom as far as the corrupt powers that be and the court of public opinion are concerned. Meanwhile, the relationship between Sister Alice and her mother is put under a spotlight as we near her attempted “resurrection”. Suffice it to say that the slow burn is starting to pay off as this episode definitely delivers an exciting hour as things get kicked into high drive, offering a greatest hits episode that ties just about everything together in a very satisfying way. While the writing is superb, the performances have been extraordinary with Matthew Rhys and Juliet Rylance leading the way as Mason and Della. Their relationship is one of the best things on television at the moment.

Chapter Seven began with a flashback of Alice and Birdy stranded on the side of a highway that highlighted the fact that Birdy was not afraid to use her daughter even at a young age (though she didn’t seem thrilled about it), offering her to a good samaritan asking for something in return for his help. Meanwhile, Mason’s encounter at the end of last week’s episode appeared to possibly not end well but that was not the case. Hicks rather offered him evidence of further shady dealings involving George Gannon (Aaron Stanford) and other members of the church which were a stack of ledgers. Drake also got the Dodson file from his precinct’s secretary for whom appeared to have an eye on him.

Back in court, Mason had Hicks on the stand where he aired the church’s dirty laundry to the jury, revealing how the church essentially stole from itself and was in considerable debt. Elder Seidel (Taylor Nichols) pressured Hicks to cook the books though when he refused, Gannon was given the job. They covered for one another while Seidel bought Hick’s off by gifting him a parcel of land from their previous doomed real estate investment. Meanwhile, Barnes was left powerless and the mic drop moment of dropping all those ledgers was also a nice touch. Strickland also found even more damning evidence that connected Seidel and Ennis. As a result, Mason asked him to tail Seidel, leading to an exciting sequence ending with Strickland losing Seidel in the midst of a protest (the argument that followed appeared to cause a rift between the two as he suggested he put Drake on it which was something he did in the original series).

Back in court again, the hits kept coming as Baggerly revealed that he was financing the church despite their flurry of bad deals but three weeks after he stopped, Charlie Dodson kidnapped with the ransom coincidentally being the same amount in which the church was in debt. A smoke bomb would cut the proceedings short. Meanwhile, as the “resurrection” neared, opposition to Sister Alice heightened. Mason and Della pleaded to Emily that she stay away though she remained adamant that Alice would come through. On a personal level, Mason was hit with the news that his sort of girlfriend Lupe (Veronica Falcón) bought his property unbeknownst to him (though he hadn’t allegedly paid his property taxes in five years). Meanwhile, Della went to dinner with Burger.

Thanks to the file, Drake tracked down the hotel where Charlie Dodson’s kidnappers likely stayed. A maid informed him that they were there along with a crying baby while another man and his Chinese wife allegedly came later. They determined that this other man was Ennis and the woman was a milkmaid from a Chinese whorehouse. Meanwhile, Ennis killed Seidel under the guise of a robbery gone wrong while pretending to help him. Drake and Mason visited that whorehouse. After a beating (and an I-told-you-so from Drake), Mason found the identity of the milkmaid, a heroin addict whose milk very likely killed Charlie Dodson.

The climax of the episode was the aforementioned “resurrection”. It was definitely an event and while Mason and Della wanted Emily Dodson to leave, she wasn’t listening. As far as the “resurrection” was concerned, Charlie Dodson’s casket was empty. From there, chaos ensued and fighting broke out. Birdy and Alice went one way while Mason, Della, and Emily went another. This whole ordeal broke Alice (kudos to Tatiana Maslany), so much so that she didn’t react as their car stopped near a crowd of people surrounding a stranded baby. While Birdy proclaimed that the baby was Charlie Dodson (she said she’s take care of her), Alice would have none of it and glared at her in the same was as that flashback and ran away.

Everything worked here in what was the best episode of the series so far. With a season 2 on the way, one would think that this mystery should be wrapped up in next week’s finale but who knows? It will definitely be interesting to see where it all goes from here.

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, follow us on Instagram, and also like us on Facebook. Also subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.