The Case of the Unwelcome Well

This is one of those episodes where the murderer should have been rewarded with a pardon instead of jail time. It would seem that the world is now a better place- but that is a judgment call.

Anyway, the story is about a older farmer, Jason Rohan, who is mad that his wife let an drilling company test his ground for oil. At first he is upset to the point of shooting at the men. But when told that the land has oil and could be worth millions, now Jason is all in. He buys cars and new clothes as the test continues.

The person that is financing the drilling is a oil baron named Jerome Klee. He is the nasty man that only cares about money and steps on everyone in his way. He decides to cap the oil on Rohan's land instead of drilling. This is going to put Jason Rohan, the land owner that has spend thousands, near bankrupt. When Allan Winford, of the drilling company, wants to announce the oil find- Jerome threatens him with 'never working in the industry again'. Jerome Klee is use to getting his way and no one is going to stop him or change his mind including Perry Mason.

Then for some strange reason, the oil baron gets a note and goes out to his oil company at night. Jerome gets hit over the head with a wrench and dies. The wrench belongs to Allan Winford and he is seen driving off right after the murder. Perry will defend Allan in court for the murder charge.

Nearly everyone in the cast is a suspect. In fact most people feel relieved that Jerome is dead which will have Perry's plate full as he takes this murder to court. Perry will cross-examine most of the suspects on the witness stand in order to get to the truth of the matter.

The only problem with the story is perhaps a little too crowded since there are many people to choose from. When the final moments of the show appear, the circumstance surrounding the murder would be something the viewer would not know until Perry presents the evidence. But with that said it was still a good watch for viewers.

Perry Mason had no business drawing up the original legal contract between the property owner's wife and oil exploration company without consultation or signature of the husband. It was also a terrible contract in that exploration rights were assigned for a 10 year period. GIven the ederly husband, a shorter time frame contract would allow the man to enjoy the profits while alive. Mason should have been disbarred over this one.

We're rapidly getting close to the end, and it shows. This story can be summed up pretty well in one word: Greed. The circumstances in this particular tome are pretty far-fetched. While it starts off okay, it starts to unravel fairly quickly. Trying too hard, the writers have turned many of the players here into caricatures. An old hick rancher, his too-young and pretty wife, a diabolical oil man and a middle-eastern potentate get into a tangle that only the likes of Perry Mason can sort out. A few surprises lurk within, and of course justice wins out and leads to a happy ending. Isn't TV wonderful..?

A previous poster said Mason should have been disbarred over substandard legal work and poor ethics. LOL! He should have been disbarred for improper courtroom procedures and unethical investigations before the series even started! It's obvious Erle Stanley Gardner and the writers of this show never studied law or set foot in a real courtroom. (I don't think the writers ever studied writing - the idiotic dialogue throughout the series supports that theory). Just too funny! (But, Della looks fetching in this one)

Others have already pointed out some of the stuff that just wouldn't pass muster. I also wondered who fired the rifle in the assassination attempt on Klee. Otherwise, the fact that Klee was a megalomaniac trumped just about everything. When you have someone for whom money is the only motivator, It's hard to come up with human motivations. This one ultimately gets down to hatred for a person with little soul.