Perry Mason's Matthew Rhys Knows What He'd Like To See In Season 3 (If It Happens)
For nearly a century, defense attorney Perry Mason has been the fictional face of the wrongly accused, a crusader for justice who's determined to clear his clients' names using every trick in the book. The character was first created by author Erle Stanley Gardner, whose works were adapted into a radio show and, eventually, the formative CBS courtroom drama starring Raymond Burr. No matter the circumstances, the Perry Mason of the halcyon days of television could rise to the occasion.
But television has changed a lot since the 1960s, and so has Perry Mason. HBO's reboot of the series, now in its second season, stars Matthew Rhys as a version of the attorney who's both deeply jaded — there's a noirish tone to the updated show — and deeply committed to the cause of justice. A bit like Atticus Finch if he had a death wish and a penchant for dramatic courtroom reveals, Rhys' Mason balances a liberal idealism with a tragic understanding of the limits of a justice system that's often anything but equal. The show's second season is still unfolding, exploring all of these themes as it does, but in an interview with Collider, Rhys recently explained where he'd want the character to go if the show's renewed for a third season.
'You can either walk away from this or you can try to work from within it'
Rhys told the outlet:
"If there were to be a third season, it would be an interesting moment for Perry to reflect on the explosive way he became a trial lawyer, how he then dealt with that and the aftermath, and the sacrifices he had to go through, in order to do that again."
The HBO series imagines a version of Mason who's not a polished defense attorney, but a private investigator who takes a circuitous route to the courtroom after his mentor asks for his help with a disturbing case involving a possibly murdered baby. When Mason's mentor, actual lawyer E.B. Jonathan (John Lithgow) dies by suicide right before the trial is set to take place, Mason ends up taking over instead, fast-tracking his bar exam so he can set things right for the wrongly accused mother at the story's center.
As Rhys points out, Mason hasn't had much time to reflect on his sudden career change and subsequent rise to fame, but a third season could tackle the fallout of his time in the spotlight so far. "For me, the hope that springs from Mason is that he makes a choice," Rhys shares. "He goes, 'You can either walk away from this or you can try to work from within it, to do what's right.'" While we may not know exactly what choice Mason makes until season two concludes, the current storyline follows a pair of Mexican-American brothers who are accused of murdering a business tycoon's apparent screw-up of an adult son. In his conversation with Collider, Rhys alludes to a moment when, "Mason being Mason," the lawyer decides, "'I'm gonna stay and I'm gonna try to make things right, at whatever cost.'"
Mason is a cynical and hopeful character at once
According to the actor, Mason's choice to stick with what he's started will "come at a high cost for him." In the first three episodes of this season, we've already seen Mason come face to face with a racist judge and a prosecution team that seems eager to pin the murders on the Gallardo brothers regardless of the truth. It's also worth noting that the victim's father (Paul Raci) is going around town torturing potential witnesses, so there's certainly a lot stacked against the defense here.
Rhys seems to think Mason's so far rocky relationship with the justice system would be a good starting point for a third season. "It would be interesting to see where he would go, as a lawyer," Rhys says, "if there were to be a third season with him going, 'I can't put myself through that every time there's a trial, but I shall now try to work the system in a reasonable way.'" He might be a hotshot lawyer capable of getting Sean Astin's grocery store mogul all the money he wants, but Mason still has a few lessons to learn when it comes to not getting too emotionally invested in his work.
While Rhys' vision of season three appears to be purely theoretical at this point, "Perry Mason" is an extremely stylish and morally complex mystery show that deserves a third season. The actor gives a great performance as a man who's cynical about the mechanisms of justice but hopeful that it still exists — even if it doesn't often cross paths with the legal system as it stands. "Perry Mason" definitely deserves another day in court. The show airs on HBO and streams on HBO Max" on Mondays at 9/8 p.m. central.