Perry Mason
2020
Original language: English
- drama
- mystery
- crime
The story
Set in 1932 Los Angeles, the series focuses on the origin story of famed defense lawyer Perry Mason. Living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, Mason is haunted by his wartime experiences in France and suffering the effects of a broken marriage. L.A. is booming while the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression — but a kidnapping gone very wrong leads to Mason exposing a fractured city as he uncovers the truth of the crime.
What it’s like
Sun-bleached and sweaty, with the grit of Depression-era Los Angeles pressing in from every frame: dusty boulevards, smoky dive bars, cramped offices lit by slatted blinds and the flat afternoon glare of the California sun, while the glossy new money of the city's hillside mansions glows in contrast. The palette runs warm ochres, faded blues and sepia shadows, with night scenes falling into deep amber and neon. Camera work is patient and handheld-adjacent, often sitting close on a worn face or a tense conversation, and the period sound design (distant trolleys, radio dance bands, the hush of a courtroom) is layered over a restrained, mournful score. The overall feel is melancholy and simmering, with a slow-burning unease that rarely tips into the lurid. Violence is present and sometimes sudden, with a kidnapping and a few brutal fights, but gore stays limited and the menace lingers more than it explodes. Episodes move at a deliberate, methodical pace, suiting a rainy weekend binge or a late-night watch alone. It suits viewers who enjoy character-driven period noir, a haunted protagonist slowly rebuilding his conscience, and the texture of a city in the middle of its boom and its bust.
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