The Case of the Lucky Loser

This is an absolutely top-notch episode, the kind that marks this as one of the very best mystery shows ever to come to television. In this episode, we have: action; a complex legal concept, explained so the audience can grasp it (not easy! I'm a lawyer!); beautiful women (well, Della, as always, plus gorgeous Patricia Medina and classy Heather Angel)and a tough antagonist for Perry; and an outstanding story. The pacing is swift. This is one you will remember.

This is a different kind of episode than we are accustom since we know the facts early in the show instead of a who-done-it kind of mystery. But we know that the wrong person has been accused of the crime and Perry has been brought in to defend the lad.

To give you some background without giving away the crime, the story involves a powerful family with the named of Balfour's. Ted Balfour was first convicted of hit-and-run manslaughter charge into the killing of George Egan. Hamilton Burger has questions about the death and revisits the body to find a gunshot wound to the head. Now Hamilton Burger issues a murder warrant on Ted Balfour.

Now we, as viewers, know the circumstance of the murder, this is when Perry will enter the picture. When the murder trial begins, Perry will move for dropping the charges on the grounds of double jeopardy. Ted has already been convicted of the death and cannot be retried. The Judge makes a ruling to go ahead with the trail and a higher court would rule on the double jeopardy request. So the court hearing will continue.

During the trail we hear some strange testimony from the witnesses. Since we know the details of the incident we know most are committing perjury. But Perry, with much help form Paul Drake Detective Agency, will have to fight off all the lies in order to get his client cleared of not only the murder charge but also cleared of the manslaughter case. But before the end of the episode there is a bizarre twist that will have each viewer flabbergasted by the evidence and event of the murder.

At first I thought knowing the details of the murder early in the show would diminish the value of the show. However I was proved wrong as this episode was strangely interesting. And one person that could have had perjury charges against them will be facing much worse. And we, the viewer, will be entertained to the fullest.

The "Lucky Loser" in this case is the defendant, who--while trying to get assistance to repay a $20,000 gambling debt, is framed for manslaughter, which becomes murder.

I've seen (I believe) all 281 Perry Mason series episodes, as I used to watch them every day way back when TBS cycled them endlessly. There were only 82 Perry Mason novels, and this was novel number 52. I always go back and watch the episode matching a novel to see how they compare. Sometimes they're not all that close, at times even changing the murderer to a different character.

This episode happens to roll along very close to the story in the novel, only eliminating one important character and changing the role of second, combining it into the character dropped for the TV episode. The other main difference is the order of things in the novel are scrambled in the TV episode, so you see certain events at the start of the episode which you only learn about in the last half of the novel. There are a few sequences of dialogue in the novel which were adapted almost word for word into the TV episode, and that is QUITE unusual.

The episode itself is a good mystery, and off the normal plotting track from many Perry Mason mysteries. It's a good show.

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.

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.