'Perry Mason' Episode 8 Finale abandons an idea central to the novel and it works brilliantly for the show
'Perry Mason' finale's opening scene plays on the dramatics of a confession on the stand and offsets it with pulling Mason (Matthew Rhys) back to reality with Hamilton Burger's (Justin Kirk) "No one confesses on the stand!” exclamation. The scene encompasses the spirit that drove the book as it kept the reader hooked until the end guessing who is the real culprit. But now, it is this exact feeling that the show abandons in a cathartic opening scene. What Mason wishes for, is, in reality, something that cannot be achieved easily and how he has to change gears if he hoped to defend Emily Dodson (Gayle Rankin) satisfactorily is what the finale rests on.
Instead, what Mason does, at Della Street's (Juliet Rylance) asking is the fact that he puts Emily on the stand. This decision might have very well ruined the chance of defense but Mason manages to get a mistrial verdict. While this doesn't mean that Emily is off the hook, or that she is proven innocent, she can definitely breathe free now.
The episode is also more than the trial that brought District Attorney Maynard Barnes (Stephen Root) down (as Burger had hoped for). It is about all the loose ends that the show manages to tie up and the one that is the most impressive is Sister Alice McKeegan's (Tatiana Maslany) fate. The rift between her and her mother Birdy McKeegan (Lili Taylor) has grown wide after how her mother faked the rebirth of Charlie Dodson by involving a stranger's baby and disappearance of Emily's own baby. Alice seems to have given up on being the mouthpiece to God's words because she leaves the church, changes her hair color and of all things, she becomes a waitress.
One of the final scenes between Mason and Alice is another gem from the finale as it sees two people who have failed in relationships and life at large in many ways, and have different beliefs wonder how and what could have really happened to the real Charlie. While Mason wonders this, Alice asks him if it is really important to dig into the truth when it might not even serve the best interests of the innocent people involved. You see, Emily has decided to call the baby that Alice's mother made appear her own. She takes up the offer of going along with what Birdy's asks for the moment, especially after receiving Charlie's footprint. Beyond all that, however, Emily just wants to be a mother.
We see some great moments in the finale that are part of what makes a beautiful whole and another of my favorite ones was Detective Paul Drake (Chris Chalk) quitting the force and then switching over to Mason's side by becoming his investigator. The fact that we will see him in the next season of the show as well is definitely something to celebrate but beyond that, it is about how Drake had provided Mason and Della with hope and evidence about the real murderer who was the mastermind behind the kidnapping. So it is fitting that he would find respect and understanding on Mason's side. Mason's former partner, on the other hand, joins his Burger's side as an investigator too.
The fact that the episode was not only driven by the trial but other moments that make this season a beautiful whole is what really sets 'Perry Mason' up to become a stunning success.