The Case of the Mischievous Doll

This is one of those episodes where a ditzy, frantic person takes center stage. At first I had trouble being engaged, but as things transpired it was hard to look away. A pretty good episode to conclude the Eighth Season.

Perry Mason got to show that his ethics are of the highest caliber in this particular episode. When client Mary Mitchel wants to blurt out everything he cautions her that he is an officer of the court and might have to give evidence against her at some point. Lawyer/client privilege only goes so far. But it is a truism that if you are in trouble and in need of an attorney only answer what you're asked, no more no less.

Over the course of those nine seasons Raymond Burr got to defend a few really dizzy clients. Mary Mitchel is one of them, a woman who bursts into his office, rushing past Barbara Hale and demanding he identify her. Her story is that she was hired by a bottom feeding private investigator played by Phil Arthur simply to wear certain clothes and be seen at certain places in said outfits.

Of course it's all quite a bit different and it has to do with the blackmailing of an heiress by the PI who later with another woman is found dead. Mitchel really needs the services of Perry Mason at that point.

I really can't say more lest I give too much away. But Perry Mason's advice to Mitchel proves quite sound. The writers came up with a really interesting plot with more twists than a pretzel.

Perry Mason is in my top five favorite shows, but this ditzy blonde was over the top. So much so that after a while I couldn't stand to watch it at about 30 minutes into it. Everything about her was annoying, her voice and her over kill explanations were more than I could take, I would think Perry would feel the same way. Nope, I couldn't be in the same room with her. Shows like this one making an example of girls like this only serves co condone that behavior and there are already too many of them.

I love the PM series, and enjoy the unfolding of many of the mysteries, but I have to say this one was a slight disappointment. While it starts off well, as soon as the murder was committed (which was expected), the story collapsed into a predictable mess immediately. It was far too easy to figure out from that point forward, and thereby destroyed the usual mystery or surprise elements common to the show.

While Dorie's character was a bit over the top, it wasn't completely unbelievable. The airport scene provided some suspense, but it was set early in Act 1 and was the high point of the episode. It went downhill from there.

Even Lieutenant Anderson seemed confused and not his usual confident self.

I liked some of the characters, but the plot simply let me down...

A great way to end season eight. -- After 241 episodes you know that the writers have done, and redone, about every way Perry can solve the mystery of the week. You know the regular actors have played the same part for eight years and know that the series is getting stale. You even know that the viewing public must be getting tired of the regular way that nearly each story ends. But I have to say that episode 241 is just as good as any episode in the entire series.

It is a simple plot that is seen on nearly all long playing sitcoms or dramas. It is when a character plays two parts and you either have a twin or someone trying to play a part of a twin. In this episode we have a young beautiful actress, Mary Mitchel, playing two roles. We first see her as Dorrie Ambler, a young nutty girl that claims she has been hired to impersonate a rich famous heiress. Then she also plays the part of the heiress named Minerva Minden, a rich spoiled young girl that seems to be in trouble with the law at every turn.

And with this simple plot we learn that Minerva, the trouble girl, is trying to use Dorrie, the nut, in order to escape the wrath of a hit and run crime. The only problem is that she runs into much more serious problem trying to get out of a small problem.

Minerva said she hired Joe Billings to help her in the scam. When Joe is found dead in Dorrie's apartment the true mystery begins. He was killed by a gun that was in possession of Minerva. And with the death of Dorrie from a fiery car crash and some other evidence that Lt Anderson discovers, Minerva is put on trial for the murder of Joe Billings. And Perry, somewhat reluctantly, takes the case.

I do not want to give too much away for the viewer. The story has a very interesting twist and some very good acting by the entire cast. This was one of those times when I was sorry to see the ending of the show.

Mary Mitchel was candy to the screen in this episode. Ben Cooper, who played Clyde Jasper, did a great job acting the part of the tough guy that is ruled by his wife. And Wesley Lau, who of course played Lt Andy Anderson got more face time in this episode that any other show that I remember. Perhaps since this was the last episode for Wesley Lau the writers gave him a 'thank-you'. I am sure by this time they knew that Mr Lau would not be returning since he already had plans to be on another TV show for the 65-66 fall season.

Season eight ends on a very high note. This is a good episode for any Perry viewer. If you only see one episode from this season this is the one to watch.