Perry Mason S1E2 recap: The Dodson's are in hot water

Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 2 recap: The Dodson’s are in hot water

Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 2 takes a deep dive into Mason’s wartime memories. The episode is bookended with cinematic flashbacks to his time serving in France.

Haunting and gritty, they are some of the hour’s most profound sequences as we learn Mason killed several of his fellow soldiers to put them out of their misery. He was discharged for his deeds and carries the weight of those deaths on his conscience.

In present-day, Mason makes several startling, and gruesome, discoveries in the ongoing case of Charlie Dodson’s murder.

It appears neither of Charlie’s parents is as innocent as we were led to believe in the first episode. Matthew Dodson is arrested for conspiracy kidnapping, as District Attorney Maynard Barnes (Stephen Root) drops the bombshell that Matthew is the secret son of Herman Baggerly.

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Neither Matthew’s lawyer, E.B., or even his father believe Matthew is actually capable of harming anyone. The truth is, Matthew is an illegal gambler and that’s where he really was the night of Charlie’s death.

For now, Matthew is under arrest for what they called a “hanging crime,” although Maynard offers E.B. a deal. If Matthew pleads guilty, they’ll pin the murder on one of those dead bodies procured by corrupt cop Ennis from last week’s episode.

As a refresher, you’ll recall that Ennis killed several men and shot a suitcase in an apartment complex. Well, Officer Paul Drake, a policeman we are first introduced to in this episode, stumbled upon the bloody crime scene while handling a domestic dispute.

Drake is a Black cop who suffers from the times. Holcomb and Ennis aren’t exactly kind to him and Ennis even tries to dissuade Drake from believing what he saw at the crime scene. Drake followed the blood trail out of the room and saw that it led elsewhere, meaning there is likely another body — something we know since we saw the murder scene play out in the first episode.

Obviously, Ennis doesn’t want that getting out so he tries to convince Drake that he saw wrong, that perhaps the blood led from the roof down to the room instead of the other way around. Drake pretends to agree with him, despite being much smarter than either cop would give him credit for.

He is also forced to change his official report, something he admits to his wife, who is pregnant. Still, Drake can’t shake the feeling of something more ominous occurring in apartment room 206, so he returns to the blood trail down the ledge later.

In the stairwell, he discovers what looks like a dental plate, one that looks strikingly familiar to one discovered by Mason elsewhere in the episode.

Perry Mason – Photograph by Merrick Morton/HBO /

Mason discovers that Matthew Dodson is not the only Dodson to have a dark secret. He trails Emily and uncovers her infidelity with a man named George. At George’s residence, Mason uncovers one of the most grisly scenes on the series yet.

Inside the house, he finds yet another corpse, this one has taken a shotgun to the face. George is definitely dead and mason starts poking at the remains — ick. He finds a strange dental plate embedded in the carnage. Hm, might that be related to the one Drake picked up in the stairwell?

Also hidden away inside of George’s home is an alligator figurine, one crafted similarly to the turtle figurine from Charlie’s bedroom. Funnily enough, they both come from the same place, the Los Angeles Alligator Farm.

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According to Entertainment Weekly‘s recap of the episode, Mason also found “a dented car, the same getaway ride that swiped the trolley,” from the opening hour of the season. I did not see it myself but I thought it worth mentioning for more eagle-eyed viewers who may have taken notice.

Tucked inside the alligator are damning love letters between Emily and George, highlighting their torrid affair. Mason confronts Emily and she tries to deny it but is obviously horrified and heartbroken when she learns George is dead.

Perry Mason – Photograph by Merrick Morton/HBO /

Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 2: The church’s involvement

Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 2 also dives deeper into the Radiant Assembly of God and its involvement with the characters’ lives. We finally get to meet Tatiana Maslany’s charismatic character Sister Alice, who is beloved by many.

Her invigorating sermons are seen as prophetic and of utmost importance by many. Toward the end of the hour, she goes off-book, much to her mother’s annoyance, and during the ceremony held for Charlie, Alice begins talking about the men who hold the power. She empowers them to find the real culprit behind the man who killed Charlie Dodson, casting her doubt on Matthew’s arrest.

Sadly, as Alice leads Emily out to see her son’s burial, they’re intercepted by Holcomb and the other police officers who arrest Emily for similar charges to her husband. She doesn’t even get to see her son be moved to his final resting place, something Mason appears to feel guilty about in the aftermath.

The final moments of the episode see Della Street visiting Emily in prison, giving her what looks to be Charlie’s blanket.

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Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 2: Odds & Ends

Mason mentions he was “queer only once” during one moment of the episode. I’d definitely like to know more about that.

What did you think about Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 2? Do you think the Dodsons may have been involved in Charlie’s death? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

New episodes of Perry Mason air Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. Episodes can also be viewed through HBO Max.

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