Perry Mason (Season 2 Finale) Episode 8: Recap & Ending Explained

Perry Mason (Season 2 Finale) Episode 8: The Gallardo brothers’ case is finally coming to an end. After dealing with many challenges, Perry Mason finally finds the puppet master behind Brooks McCutcheon’s murder. The previous episode ended with a superb montage that gave us a hint about this person. Paul and Clara found that the OD’d woman is Phipps’s wife. Della learned how Hamilton was being forced into bringing a particular verdict. Perry, meanwhile, went to Lydell McCutcheon’s house to know the person who ordered the hit on Brooks.

The season finale deftly ties the knots of all their revelations to bring us to the end of the Gallardo case. Perry, Della, and Paul find a way to sway the prosecution’s case. Besides, Perry faces the consequences of his relentless pursuit of justice.

Perry Mason (Season 2 Finale) Episode 8 Recap

Perry Mason’s Chapter Sixteen begins with Camila Nygaard (Hope Davis) in her lavish villa, enjoying the luxury of her riches. After an oddly eerie look into her beauty regime, we come back to Perry’s (Matthew Rhys) office, discussing with Della (Juliet Rylance) that Camila made the Brooks McCutcheon murder happen. In the past, Della looked up to Camilla and idolized her. That makes it difficult for her to see Camila in this light. Perry still believes that Camilla would have done it for money or power. 

That’s when Paul (Chris Chalk) arrives with Clara (Diarra Kilpatrick), who is shaken by seeing a woman OD’ing in front of her. Paul hands over the letter that she snatched from the house. It solidifies Perry’s claim that Camila is behind the murders. Paul says that Melville Phipps’s (Wallace Langham) wife, Constance (Andrea Gabriel) is the junkie that Ozzie Jackson told him about. Della remembers Constance Barbour, the pianist, and feels bad for her fate. 

Anyhow, Perry now sees it clear that Camila used Phipps to carry out the murder. He wants to seek help from Hamilton Burger (Justin Kirk), by sharing all the evidence they have against Camila. Della hesitates since she knows how Hamilton is being blackmailed with his intimate photos with a man. Perry has an inkling of Hamilton’s sexuality and understands why Della is scared to speak about it. Since she beats around the bush, Perry reveals it, but only on the promise that this secret won’t leave the room. 

Meanwhile, Thomas Milligan (Mark O’Brien) is overconfident about his win as a prosecutor for having found the murder weapon in Perry’s locker. He smugly refuses to talk about any new case. Sensing that smugness, Hamilton asks how he found out about the gun in the first place. He talks about his snoop, and Hamilton sees how Milligan is outdoing Perry in shrewdness. As a viewer, you can’t help but see Milligan as a highly ambitious man squandering values of justice for his personal gain. 

Before their discussion about a possible mistrial, Perry joins Judge Durkin (Tom Amandes) for a shoe polish. He brings up the issue of fairness in the trial to make Durkin notice how he has been betraying his oath of being impartial. Through that, Perry touches just the right nerve to make Durkin reconsider his decision. He was prepared to declare a mistrial but now gives a chance to the prosecutors to speak about the gun without naming the source. 

Milligan brings fairness into the equation as if he has been fair in being provocatively racist against the Gallardos. Anyhow, Perry reveals that the gun was obtained from Hooverville. Durkin puts the matter to rest, opens the case for a session, and meanwhile, charges Perry with a four-month prison time for concealing the evidence. Della sees how Perry is okay with making this sacrifice for the greater good. He wants to use the time to get hold of the pictures now. 

Phipps gets grilled left, right, and center. As always, he tries to live up to Camilla’s unreasonable demands. He also tries to comfort his bedridden wife, which is when he finds Perry, Della, and Paul in his living room, who ask for Hamilton’s photos. Finally, Phipps confesses his involvement in Brooks’ murder because of Camila’s orders. Perry asks for help in exchange for keeping him out of conviction. 

Also, Read: Do Revenge (2022) Netflix Review: A Hitchcockian Reworking

Perry and Della meet Mateo (Peter Mendoza) and Rafael (Fabrizio Guido) about the court proceedings. They are now hopeful that the case will go their way. However, the brutal injustice inside the walls of the prison and the hate-mongering outside make it difficult for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They ask for help in getting their life’s will made since they believe that they will still get the death penalty despite all the positive developments.

Melvin Perkins (Christopher Carrington) meets Paul and thanks him for keeping his name out of the case. As a friendly gesture, he offers Paul a chance to get on board to improve the black neighborhood in order to make it their own utopia. He wants Paul’s help in persuading the councilmen against this development – by digging up some dirt on them. Paul smiles a little since it gives him a chance to do something that appears as a way out of bleakness. 

Later, at the court hearing, Milligan tries to bring forth the connection between the murder weapon and the brothers. He calls Brooks a victim, and a law-abiding citizen and in his opinion, those of other races are not law-abiding. He makes his racially prejudiced views crystal-clear to sway the jury’s mind to be partial. Then, Perry makes a case for the Gallardo brothers about justice – about how all these jury members would have made up a decision before even entering the court as a result of their predetermined views. He makes a passionate case for them to be impartial. He questions them and himself whether real justice is possible or just an illusion. It seems like something he has been mulling over himself. 

Phipps sneaks into Camilla’s house to steal photos of Hamilton. Unfortunately, Camila notices him walking out. He makes up a reason and covers up his actual motive. Camila still tries to figure out his intentions. Alas, Perry and his associates get the photos from Phipps. Besides Hamilton’s, it also includes Della’s photos with Anita and Perry’s photos with Ginny from the time they went horse-riding. They realize the gravity of the situation and the level this woman has gone to in order to get people to do things as per her wishes. 

Anyhow, Perry and Della bring those photos to Hamilton’s office to put the matters to rest. They believe he can push a case against her, but Hamilton doesn’t want that. However, since this blackmail isn’t an issue anymore, he agrees to a bargain deal. In case one of the Gallardo brothers, who pulled the trigger, confesses to the murder, the other one will be freed from any charges. He offers 30 years with no parole and says that it is the best he can offer. While Della tries to negotiate further, Perry stops her and agrees to the offer. You sense Perry growing up empathetic, getting out of his head to know how unjust it would be to pressure Hamilton beyond that.

Perry and Della visit the Gallardo brothers in prison to offer this deal. Mateo accepts to confess his guilt and to free Raphael so that he can pursue his artistic ambitions. Later, Hamilton fires Milligan from the Gallardo case. He shares the discussed plea deal, which angers Milligan. Didn’t he already win the case? As always, he tries to override Hamilton’s decision, disrespecting the DA’s position of authority. Bad for him that Hamilton is not scared of getting blackmailed anymore. 

In the courtroom, Judge Durkin settles the case with an agreement between the prosecution and the defense counsel. Mateo stands up to speak before going back to prison. He confesses to being the sole culprit behind the murder. Furthermore, he grieves being responsible for the loss of a member of the McCutcheon family since he knows what it would feel like for his own. Subsequently, he is taken away to the prison, whereas Raphael is freed. 

Outside the court, Perry shifts the focus to Della. The reporters start questioning her, asking significantly different questions than they did with Perry. Perry is a fearless, forthright man to them, whereas Della is a meek, sensitive woman. Their questions reflect a range of questions – from what she felt about exposing Brooks as a woman strangler to asking her about the rumors of her relationship with Hamilton. 

Perry backs away from the limelight to meet Paul, who says that he is taking a break to take care of himself and his family. Maybe Perkins’ opportunity will prove to be fairly lucrative for him. Before leaving, he mentions how Della handles better the reporters’ nosiness than Perry did. Back in his house, Perry and Della share a drink to spend his last night before going to prison. She offers to take him out for a treat. He is, however, too resigned to accept any such offer. They rather drink and contemplate the nature of justice, its illusion, and how the system enables injustice, and all that they can do is fight. 

Perry Mason (Season 2 Finale) Episode 8 Ending Explained

Before going to the prison, Perry meets Ginny and apologizes for misjudging her to have revealed the gun’s location. Although reluctant at first to speak with him, she eventually asks when he will be out of prison. Alas, they end their last interaction for a while with a smile. 

Della goes to Camilla’s house to make her confess to Brooks’ murder. Camila justifies it by saying how the spoiled boy, Brooks needed to be killed since he abused several women in the past. Della, however, cannot digest how Camila pretended her actions to be for the greater good while unjustly implicating her clients for the crime. She hates that she ever admired Camilla. Camila loathes how Della tries to gain moral superiority for her actions. She expected Della to understand how hard decisions need to be taken for someone like them. Anyhow, right after that, she gets greeted by FBI agents for an investigation. She parts ways with Della while saying good luck to her. 

Pete comes in to say goodbye to Perry before he goes to prison. They engage in the same foolish interaction to reveal the bond they still have with each other. Perry gets inside the prison and prepares for his life for the next few months. In a series of cleverly edited & juxtaposed montages, we see how those connected with this case deal with the aftermath.  

Detective Holcomb lights up the gambling ship with a bottle of alcohol. Lydell is in Japan and gets a message telling him to prolong his stay to not get under the FBI investigation. Della, Anita, and Hamilton get together for a meal. Only for the press, Hamilton and Della act like a couple to continue living their hidden identity. Paul starts working for Perkins and gives more time to his family. Raphael starts his painting career while Perry accepts his prison life in exchange for justice for the Gallardo brothers. We see how he sneaked the photo of him and Ginny on horses. Seems like it would be his only companion for a while. 

<< Previous Episode

Perry Mason (Season 2) Episode 8, Finale Links: IMDb, Wikipedia
Perry Mason (Season 2) Episode 8, Finale Cast: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk, Shea Whingham, Justin Kirk