HBO's 'Perry Mason' Episode 1 fails to impress but Matthew Rhys's brilliance is a saving grace, say fans
'Perry Mason' starring Matthew Rhys premiered on HBO on Sunday and so far, fans seem to love the actor portraying the titular role in the show. Based on Erle Stanley Gardner's work, the show 'Perry Mason' varies from the novels as it sets up the lead character as a detective who assists a lawyer. It is, in a sense, an origin story for Perry Mason, but fans do not seem too excited about this. In fact, some even wondered why this couldn't just be another detective series instead of borrowing the title of the popular 'Perry Mason' novels.
Fans reacted to the show on social media with an appreciation for the lead actor's work and even claimed that despite the show being moderate, they would probably continue to watch it for Rhys' performance. Some have even observed that the show's production value is excellent, especially considering the fact that it is set in the '30s. One fan wrote on Reddit, "Loving the '30s Period aesthetic so far. Just wanna soak it all in. It's been a long time since we got a good, expensive-looking noir (Motherless Brooklyn didn't do it for me), so I'm loving this. Matthew Rhys is so good."
Another also observed that it was only the sets that looked stunning while the script wasn't that great. This fan wrote, "Seems the budget so far went to the gorgeous set design and not so much to the script." One fan who liked the premiere episode noted that they would have liked a tad bit more humor in the show. The fan observed, "So far I like it. It's a little darker than I think I would like, but I see what they're going for. And really, we don't know that much about Perry Mason's background from the books, so all this made up back story is kind of interesting. The show was very beautifully shot and the music and cast are great. I wished they could have injected a little more humor into it in spots to balance it out a bit (Mason gets in a few good lines but for the most part it's somber)."
Many fans took to Twitter to write about the show with one writing, "The critics are probably right. The story isn't great. But watching Matthew Rhys taking over the screen in #PerryMason @HBO is worth my time. This series has other fine actors, but Rhys is just standing out so much in Ep1. Plus the production looks great. I'm eager for more." Another fan lamented, "#PerryMason Who are they trying to kid? I would like this a lot better if they had just used another name and not made something totally removed from the real Perry Mason. Why do that?" Another fan agreed, "Just watched the East Coast feed of HBO's #PerryMason, and my question remains: WHY name it 'Perry Mason?' It has nothing to do with either Erle Stanley Gardner or the Raymond Burr TV series. Might as well call it #Chinatown or #LAConfidential."
Will things look up for the show in the upcoming episodes? 'Perry Mason' airs at 9 pm on Sundays on HBO.