In the first season of HBO/Max’s Perry Mason, the 1930s-set series unspooled the origin story of the titular defense attorney, first made popular in Erle Stanley Gardner’s series of novels and the subsequent CBS legal drama starring Raymond Burr. With a modern lens, however, HBO’s reboot brings more depth to the series’ supporting characters in its second and final season — in particular, Mason’s devoted legal secretary, Della Street (Juliet Rylance), and his courtroom sparring partner, district attorney Hamilton Burger (Justin Kirk).
“I signed on only knowing I was playing this famous character in Perry Mason iconography — the losing lawyer from every episode,” says Kirk. But this iteration of Perry Mason forgoes the case-of-the-week format, instead focusing on one case for an entire season. “[As the writers] filled in…