The Case of the Lucky Loser

Somebody ought to have fired the LA Medical Examiner. Young Tyler MacDuff the youngest of the wealthy Balfour clan is tried and convicted of vehicular manslaughter of a man who'd been seeing Uncle Bruce Bennett's wife on the side. But later he's found to have been shot.

A legal dilemma greets Hamilton Burger. If MacDuff was tried for the wrong offense and now clearly not guilty if MacDuff is freed on the Habeas Corpus writ that his family wants, can he be tried for the second more serious offense without double jeopardy?

Usually the judges in Perry Mason stories have minimal dialog. In this one Morris Ankrum gets a bit more as he decides that this decision is above his pay grade. Raymond Burr who's been retained by the Balfours who are like a west coast Kennedy clan also is a truth seeker.

Douglas Kennedy has a strong part in this as the Balfour family fixer. He and Raymond Burr have a great scene together as he tries to tell Perry Mason how to run the case and take the loophole option. Big mistake, no one tells Perry Mason how he conducts his trial.

I guarantee you won't figure this one out. I will say that Douglas Kennedy is quite the fixer.

Some reviewers noted they were let down by seeing the apparent crime unfold in the first few minutes. But of course that was an illusion. That is one aspect that makes this episode different. Another is the court ruling against Perry on double jeopardy. Perry cites a real case, State v. McDaniels, 137 Cal. 192 (1902), that is right on point and controlling precedent. The judge did not have discretion. In almost all Mason episodes, the judges are dead on right in their rulings, and neither Mason nor Burger wins via a bad call. But this ruling adverse to Perry, but wrong, sets up the pivotal scene between Perry and "Evil Steve," the Balfour family fixer, who is the embodiment of an anti-Mason. Steve wants Perry to present no defense for Ted Balfour and win on appeal, which will minimize exposure to the Balfour family and to "Evil Steve." Steve has made it clear to Perry that Ted is innocent and recounted to Perry what the viewer saw in the first few minutes. Perry tells Steve that Perry does not suborn perjury but relies on truth. He hands Steve a subpoena. Steve gets Addison Balfour to fire Perry but Perry continues to represent Ted. Perry wonders why Lawrence Balfour, the killer in Steve's version, has not shown up. Paul helps Perry to learn why. To viewers of shows like CSI and NCIS, the mistakes made by the State in this episode are unbelievable. Curiously, for the plan of the culprits to succeed, the culprits had to rely on the State making these mistakes.

This episode has everything - suspense, obvious lying and not so obvious lying, head scratching moments when you wonder exactly what law school Hamilton Burger attended, and red, green, and blue herrings.

Lawrence Balfour (Bruce Bennett) is getting on a train headed for Mexico and kissing his wife. Harriet, goodbye. But it is just a ruse. Lawrence gets off of the train and follows his wife in a car he has stashed nearby. He follows her to a remote cabin, she greets her lover, and Lawrence waits for her to leave. Lawrence, armed with a revolver, goes into the cabin to confront the other man, that other man shines a bright light in his eyes, there is a struggle, the gun goes off, and the other man falls to the floor dead. Lawrence frantically calls - not the police - but the Balfour family fixer as to what to do. The fixer, Steven Boles, tells Lawrence to catch the same train that he got off of at the next stop, try to get on unobserved, and act as though he never got off of that train. Boles says that he will take care of the body. Did I mention that the Balfour family is very wealthy, thus they can afford an able and loyal fixer.

Things don't go as planned. The body is discovered too soon, somebody sees the license plate of Steven's car as it speeds away from the dead body - the license plate belongs to Lawrence's nephew Ted. Ted was out drinking that night at the goodbye party for Lawrence, and can't account for his time during the accident. Ted is charged with vehicular manslaughter.

There is a hung jury before Perry gets involved in this case of the wrong man charged with the wrong crime. How does Perry figure out what actually happened? He doesn't have to figure out what I just told you. The fixer actually TELLS Perry everything just to let him know who has all of the power in this situation. It is the only time I can remember that somebody told Perry Mason to sit down and then he does so.

If you know what to look for in an episode of Perry Mason, some "tells" will hit you, as in - This is a common situation on Perry Mason, why did they do this scene in this particular way? Also note that, in the age of DNA and hard rules about forensics, the kinds of mistakes being made here by the prosecution would simply not be made today, or even in 1958.

Perry goes against a guy whom we would call a fixer. He earns a huge salary to get rich people out of trouble by manipulation, no questions asked. When he butts head with the great Perry Mason, he face a worthy opponent. As viewers, we get to see Mason accept the challenge, horns out. I like to see the disreputable mighty fall.

I enjoyed this episode a lot. One of the most cohesive plots and endings, yet still, for me, a complete surprise.

This isn't a fun episode with lots of interplay with Street and Drake. It's all business and lots of it. And a bit on the dark side. Shades of Chinatown with lots of corruption and a very dysfunctional family. Lots of levels to uncover, but it didn't feel contrived (as many episodes do). Really first rate story.

Not that it doesn't have some small plots holes. But they are forgivable, if not undetectable. I didn't notice them until I read another review here. The red herrings are palatable, minimal, and suit the story.

And, for a change, no blackmail.