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Reviews
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lawful Lazarus (1963)
Slow plot
I agree with other reviewers who said that the story was slow and uninteresting. There were too many characters and not enough involvement of Drake and Street. I really miss Tragg, he of the smug smile and sarcastic comments, who sometimes joked with Perry toward the end of some episodes. Wesley Lau as Lt. Anderson just doesn't cut it. He played the role with way too much tension, too serious, almost snarling at Mason and the defendants. Get your undies out of your butt, Wesley! But hey, there's always the childish, impertinent, almost whiny Ham Burger to lighten the mood. In this episode, he was in classic form, overreacting to Mason's proper objections and throwing verbal tantrums. Overall not one of the best plots.
Mannix: Out of the Night (1973)
Far fetched plot but so what?
Gail Fisher did an excellent job in this spisode, where Joe was not much more than an observer. None of the cast detective regulars appeared at all. There were four major plot holes:
First, Peggy poses as a hooker and gets arrested in order to go undercover. Doubtful that the police would allow a private citizen to go undercover in a drug ring, and second plot hole, even more doubtful that a major player would recruit a pinched hooker based on a chance meeting in jail. Third, later in the episode, the detective on the case who asked Peggy to go undercover remembers the house depicted in a painting and goes to poke around in it. Really, no backup, just stroll in? Of course he gets shot. And fourth but not least, one of the main drug ring participants gets a conscience and says "...but we're selling to kids..."? Where has he been?!?
In the end, it's a fictional cop show that always wraps up neatly in an hour with some good guys but mostly bad guys dead or captured, and the plot details are not always on the realistic side. Witness episode 2 of this season, where a hit man tries to kill a priest who wouldn't even recognize his confessor let alone the hit man the confessor hired. That plot completely derailed the whole episode. Peggy as a hooker/drug dealer? I can live with it.
Mannix: Lost Sunday (1972)
Decent plot
To Zombiemocking, who inaccurately stated that the sheriff was corrupt when he wasn't even in on the blackmail scheme, if you don't like the episodes, then stop watching them, or at least watch long enough that you can review them properly. I agree that the plot was recycled, but Mannix still had a fight, got knocked cold, got shot at and still found some useful evidence that the world's dumbest blackmailers left behind. And the sheriff was clean for once, unlike previous episodes this season. I like the show and will keep watching. No detectives, no Peggy, but not bad. The car Mannix drove, looked like a Monte Carlo, wasn't his 'Cuda, but I like seeing any car from the 70s.
Mannix: Cry Silence (1972)
Plot holes
Season 6 is not off to a good start. Episode 1 was not very good, and this episode doesn't inspire confidence for episode 3. First, why would the hit man try to kill a priest who couldn't identify his confessor, let alone the hit man himself? Second, he's a pro? He tried to kill Mannix three times. Horrible shot. Third, why show up at Mannix's office, where Peggy can now identify him, and why not kill the priest there, along with Peggy? Mannix explained that away when Peggy asked him, but the hit man could have gotten Mannix later with attempt number four. Then, fourth, this supposed professional hit man exposes himself to a shot in not knowing where Mannix is after he shot at him, and Mannix ran, at the abandoned radar site. And of course after he shoots at Mannix however many times (remember, a pro), Mannix levels him with one shot from the hip with a snub nose revolver. I know these shows are fictional and far-fetched to begin with in that they always wrap up neatly, but at least make us think through coherent plots. Oh, and he could have saved himself a lot of effort and ammunition by killing Maross' character. HE was the one true witness.
Mannix: The Open Web (1972)
Bad first episode
I love Mannix, and am currently watching every episode from season 1 on. So up to season 6 episode 1. Not a good start. One of very few Mannix duds. First, a young cop, detective, whatever, is shot when Rip Torn mistakes him for Mannix. But then he becomes an afterthought, never mentioned again, no Mannix revenge, no anger or grudge, nothing. Then, where did the perps get a helicopter and uniforms? Far fetched. Then, Torn, a great actor, was given a horrible script, must have been titled "the world's most stupid criminal." Lets the kid play with the gun, doesn't check the woman's tea towel, yells and screams a lot, fails to properly enter a helicopter and falls out as it ascends. Please. And how would they have paid the guy in on the scheme; if the plan had gone without a hitch, the woman and her son would not have even been there, thus no ransom money, no payment. What, the check's in the mail? Love Mannix, but a very unsatisfying opening episode with no tension. I hope episode 2 is better. There's nowhere to go but up.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Misguided Missile (1961)
Plot Confusion
I thought this episode was OK, but I enjoy the typical criminal court setting with Tragg's smugness and Burger's petulance and hissy fits when Perry outsmarts him, which is, like, every episode. But there were also a few technicalities and plot holes, or at least unexplained occurrences. Early on, the proceeding was called a trial, which is not accurate, since a court martial is not considered a criminal trial. Also, military time was not used at all, i.e., 3AM should have been referred to as 0300 hours. As far as the plot, who sawed the bolts? They never explained that. Maybe it was implied that it was Bradbury? And why was Morgan so upset about Caldwell's findings? The bolts were sawed through so they would fail, which was viewed by many in the episode as obvious tampering. So Morgan should have been relieved that his baby didn't fly because of the tampering, not because of any deep scientific or technological issue. And yet he pleaded with Caldwell not to report the bolts. I don't get it. And why did Bradbury bail out of rhe failed test so that Reynolds could step in, if he was already hired by Huxley anyway, who by the way always plays a sleaze? There was no need to make Reynolds look bad, only for the missile to crash and burn. Last point: this episode was virtially devoid of pretty ladies. Even Della was absent. Sheesh!!
Perry Mason: The Case of the Credulous Quarry (1960)
Incompetence
I love watching Mason episodes, and this one was terrific, especially the courtroom examinations and crosses. There was one plot inconsistency, where the murder victim's husband said under testimony that he didn't know who the passenger was in his wife's car, but toward the end Perry said that the husband had threatened to tell the guy's wife. If true, he would not have needed his wife for the blackmail even earlier. Anyway, what I'm always amazed with is how incompetent the DA and his main detective are. Tragg consistently comes across as smug and sarcastic as he whips out his murder warrants, and then goes down in flames as usual. He seemed particularly smug in this episode. And Burger, the Washington Generals of the courtroom, was particularly petulent and peevish in the courtroom, which as referenced above showcased some of the best back-and-forth of the entire series. Burger was almost to the point of throwing down his pencil, stomping his feet and storming out of the courtroom. In real life, these two would be jobless.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Violent Village (1960)
Plot holes
One reviewer said the plot was well-written. I beg to differ. It was never explained why the two pages of serial numbers were substituted and yet some matched the 20s that Mr. Skull had in his little backyard cubby hole; how Mr. Skull got those 20s, since Thurston said he didn't buy anything because he couldn't find Mr. Skull; or where the third bullet, fired by Thurston's wife, ended up. And how could Beecher be framed for a payroll he didn't steal? Thurston apparently couldn't wait to spend the money, somehow spending it at Skull's store even though he couldn't find him. Makes perfect nonsense. Love Mason, though.
Mannix: Memory: Zero (1969)
Who's blackmailing who....
Lousy confusing plot. Martel tells Mannix he hired Benson to find out who was blackmailing him, but later we find out Benson was the blackmailer, after he found out about a citation Martel had Benson's secretary pay that would have foiled his alibi. So why did Martel really hire Benson, and why did he send Mannix with a blackmail drop later on? Maybe the latter was a ruse to get him to the drop location so Connelly could tail him to later find Maggie, but not clear, even though the characters spend a lot of the show discussing who was blackmailing who. Oh, and two goofs pointed out on the imdb site are wrong - Mannix calls Peggy "Peggy" twice, not Maggie, that's what I heard, and he's holding his gun, not the murder weapon, at the end, he used it to knock Martel's gun away from him. Martel's gun is on the floor somewhere. They all ignore it.