# Perry Mason (2020)

> A broke, war-scarred private investigator in 1932 Los Angeles stumbles into a kidnapping that exposes a city divided between boom and depression.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/72927

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Rolin Jones, Ron Fitzgerald
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk, Shea Whigham, Justin Kirk, Tatiana Maslany, Diarra Kilpatrick, John Lithgow
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2077823/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: melancholic, gritty, atmospheric, tense

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, praising the period atmosphere and lead performance while the later season is rated lower than the first.

## Synopsis

Perry Mason (2020-2023) is an American period neo-noir crime drama created by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald for HBO, a two-season limited run that was canceled after its second season. Matthew Rhys plays Perry Mason, a low-rent private investigator living check-to-check in 1932 Los Angeles, haunted by his wartime experiences in France and the wreckage of a broken marriage. Juliet Rylance plays Della Street, and Chris Chalk plays Paul Drake, the associates who help him chase a kidnapping case that goes badly wrong. Shea Whigham and Eric Lange bring a hard-edged police and underworld presence to the streets. Each season is built around a lingering investigation that unfolds across the city, with cases that pull Mason through booming, glittering Los Angeles and the poverty spreading through the rest of the country during the Great Depression. The atmosphere is smoky, rain-slicked and morally murky, with a restless, melancholic tone that sits between hardboiled mystery and origin story. Fans of Chinatown, L.A. Confidential and Boardwalk Empire will find resonance in its corrupt city power, period texture and compromised heroes, though the series' lasting pull is the slow reveal of a fractured metropolis.

## Shows like Perry Mason

- [The Crowded Room (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/102294)
- [The Alienist (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/62634)
- [Perry Mason (1957)](https://ember.film/tv/3971)
- [Matlock (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/144696)
- [True Detective (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/42264)
- [Sugar (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/126679)
- [Big Little Lies (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/58469)
- [Miss Scarlet and the Duke (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/81397)
- [The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/67671)
- [Lady in the Lake (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/100150)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt