Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Series Premiere. Los Angeles, 1931. On the heels of an unsavory investigation involving a famous comedian, Perry Mason, a PI struggling to make ends meet and his right-hand man Pete Strickland are hired by attorney E.B. Jonathan, Perry's mentor, to solve a perplexing case: the brutal kidnapping of one-year-old Charlie Dodson, whose parents were targeted for a $100,000 ransom.

Following one of her trademark barn-burning sermons, Evangelical preacher Sister Alice offers the Dodsons the church's full moral and financial support -- much to her mother Birdy's dismay. Then, during a routine domestic intervention, beat cop Paul Drake is rerouted to a gruesome crime scene, where he follows a confounding trail of evidence.

Wily district attorney Maynard Barnes goes public with a shocking new development to gain an advantage over E.B. and their team. Mason and Strickland get unauthorized access to physical evidence with help from Virgil, Mason's connection at the city morgue. Later, Mason attempts to extract information from a withholding Drake, who's weary of Holcomb and Ennis' watchful eyes.

Mason and Strickland lean on Virgil, again, for extra-legal assistance. Following Sister Alice's recovery from a frightening episode, Birdy urges her daughter to renounce her claims about baby Charlie. Finally, E.B. faces the reality of his financial situation and takes his frustrations out on Della.

While Mason and Della run a solemn errand up north, Strickland tracks down the sergeant initially assigned to the Dodson case. Before returning to L.A., Mason drops in on his ex-wife Linda and son Teddy, hoping to make amends for his recent shortcomings. Della sets out to find Mrs. Dodson more competent legal representation.

As Emily's trial begins and a damning witness testimony takes center stage, Mason attempts to recover from a shaky start. Meanwhile, in their search for clues that might lead to an exoneration, Della and Strickland investigate a potential connection between Detective Ennis and Charlie's kidnappers. Later, Mason considers betraying Drake's trust to give his client an edge.

Hoping to expose the hidden link between the Radiant Assembly's staggering debt and Charlie's ransom, Mason puts Herman Baggerly on the stand. Sister Alice faces mounting pressure from the church elders about her promises of a "resurrection." Strickland loses track of a key witness, while Drake's detective work opens a new avenue in the case.

After the team receives some unvarnished critique from Hamilton Burger, Della presents an increasingly stubborn Mason with her case for putting Emily on the stand. As the sensational trial winds to a close, Mason, Strickland, Della and Drake attempt to tie up loose ends -- and set the stage for their futures.