Silent Six-inspired musings

The Denying Detective is done! I am so pleased. I think it turned out well. Perhaps a bit shorter than I had originally intended, but everything I wanted to have in it seems to have made it in.

And apparently I’ve been champing at the bit to start The Malevolent Mugging even more than I thought. Two chapters have appeared in as many days. I’m also doing a Wild Wild West story (which happens to involve Richard Anderson’s character from that show), so I plan to continue alternating chapters for the most part. We’ll see how that works out.

Yesterday I saw The Silent Six again, courtesy of my local station. It’s a very different episode in several ways, one being the very early murder. It happens within the first couple of minutes. But even moreso than that is the inspiration from a real-life crime and the refusal of most of those present to do anything to help the girl being beaten. That’s both haunting and repulsive.

And the eventual revelation in court of what actually happened that night, oh goodness. Joe Oliver sounds like he was a rotten person in a lot of ways, but at least he had no intention of sitting by and doing nothing while Susan Wolfe was being attacked. And then to think he was mistaken for the attacker and killed accidentally because of that is really quite heartbreaking. The murderer’s breakdown in court was very powerful, where he says that at least he cared enough to come try to help, making the ones who did nothing guiltier than he.

I wonder what would happen to him. It doesn’t seem like he should get the maximum punishment at all, when he was coming to try to help Susan and shot Joe Oliver by accident, honestly believing he was attacking her.

Due to the shocking truth, I found The Silent Six a very depressing episode. I was not too enthused when it aired as part of the New Year’s Eve marathon, but it was one of the ones I deliberately picked up from it. (I did not record all of the marathon.) Watching it for the second time recently, I liked it a lot better, particularly for the Steve content. And I was actually looking forward to seeing it a third time yesterday, largely because of said content.

The Silent Six could almost be classed as a Steve episode. He is certainly in the spotlight a lot. And the short-tempered policeman suspected of killing Joe is a close friend of Steve’s. So The Silent Six, in the tradition of The Prudent Prosecutor and The Hateful Hero, has the suspect’s friend coming to Perry for help.

There is an idea floating around the fanbase that Sergeant Dave Wolfe, Susan’s protective brother, is Steve’s partner. I’ve referred to him as such myself. But after another viewing, I don’t think it’s true. It looks more like they just happened to be handling the complaint together at the beginning, perhaps because Steve is available and a good friend (and worried about what Dave might do if they find Joe Oliver around). And if Dave is Steve’s partner, he’s never shown or mentioned before or after. I’m pretty sure faithful Sergeant Brice is Steve’s partner.

This is, of course, the episode in which Steve tells Perry that in his line of work he’s not supposed to have friends. Perry’s response is an interesting “Of course not”, said in a tone that sounds like he’s just humoring Steve while knowing that Steve doesn’t really abide by it.

I started thinking about the interesting contrast between Steve and Hamilton and how they handled their respective situations when their dear friends ended up the suspects in murder cases. Both viewpoints are, to me, understandable and valid.

Due quite especially to the fact that Jefferson Pike saved Hamilton’s life, Hamilton feels he absolutely cannot prosecute him. Nor does he want anyone in his office to do it. So he disqualifies the entire office, which results in a special prosecutor being sent in to handle it instead. Hamilton sits by throughout the hearing, looking tense and worried at not being to do anything, but hopeful and confident that Perry will fix it.

Steve has been assigned to investigate Dave Wolfe’s involvement in Joe Oliver’s murder. He did not ask for that, and on the surface, it seems strange that he was chosen. Perhaps it was because he was there at the time, despite not actually seeing what happened in the apartment. Perhaps it was because the department knew that Steve would not let his personal feelings get in the way. If they had thought that would happen, I’m sure Steve would not have been assigned. (I also don’t think he would have been assigned if he and Dave were partners.)

When asked by Perry why he would accept the assignment, Steve basically tells him that he would rather see to it himself instead of standing by while someone else takes over. Perhaps he cannot bear to have his hands tied and only stand on the sidelines doing nothing. Perhaps, in spite of the heartache, he feels that it would be easier to investigate himself and know everything that’s developing. Perhaps he thinks that it will somehow go easier for Dave if he’s the one investigating (even though of course he would not give Dave any special privileges).

Hamilton has certainly had to prosecute friends before (and after). If not for feeling that he just couldn’t because of Jeff saving his life, I’m sure that Hamilton would have gone ahead with the prosecution on that case, no matter how much he hated it. Or maybe he would have figured out some arrangement with Perry like he did for Larry Germaine in The Fatal Fetish, which in the end absolved him of having to prosecute at all.

But, regardless of what Hamilton might have done in slightly different circumstances, we are still presented with his and Steve’s various approaches to the same basic problem. Naturally Hamilton would not feel like prosecuting someone who saved his life. Perhaps Steve would have felt the same if there had been that specific dilemma with Dave. On the other hand, maybe he still would have felt better handling the investigation himself instead of turning it over to someone else.

It’s been intimated to me more than once that Steve and Andy are cold for pursuing such investigations and even, in Andy’s case, outright stating that he will put his cousin in the gas chamber himself, if it comes to that. I disagree. Of course they love their family and friends. But they are honest and upright law officers. How can they sanction any crimes committed, even if the crimes happen to be committed by their loved ones?

Anyway, concerning Andy’s statement, he was in a terrible position right then. His dear friend had been murdered and his cousin was being blamed for it. It looked bad, but Andy did not want to believe Jimmy was guilty. To that end, he went to Perry for help. At the same time, if Jimmy turned out to be guilty after all, he would not want Jimmy to walk free. So when asked by Perry if Andy will stand by Jimmy, Andy says that if he finds evidence that Jimmy is guilty, he will put Jimmy in the gas chamber himself. And you can see from his expression that he is agonized at the thought of it ever coming to that. But if it did, what could he do? He would not withhold the evidence, even if it meant sacrificing Jimmy, because above all else, Andy stands for upholding the law. Anyone breaking the law has to suffer the consequences, even if it’s a family member. If anything, I think Andy should be hailed for his courage and dedication to the law, even in a heartrending situation like that.

Coming back to the original topic, I enjoy The Silent Six a lot more than I did before. The solution to the crime is indeed depressing, but there’s a lot of good stuff in the episode.

For a Steve fan, it’s great. He has so many substantial scenes. I think, aside from the scene where he asks for Perry’s help, my favorite bit is where he goes to Susan’s hospital room and slips a little bouquet of flowers into her hand. It’s very sweet, and he shows his gentle side throughout the scene. Susan is happy to see him, too. Steve is clearly her friend as well as Dave’s.

And the darker elements have their purpose. I liked that the show tackled the chilling angle of witnesses who refuse to help. It’s something that should be addressed, and denounced, most emphatically. The Silent Six brought it out perfectly, in all of its sickening repulsiveness, without being preachy.

And I should note, Susan thankfully survived the attack. At the end we see her fully recovered, preparing to go off on a well-deserved vacation to Hawaii with Dave. It’s a hopeful epilogue after all that discouragement in court, and we also get a bit of that fun friendship with Paul and Steve as Steve informs Paul that he cut it close on a traffic light.

Overall, I definitely say it’s one of the above-average season 9 ventures.

Character development and season 3

The Prudent Prosecutor was on last night. I’ve been looking forward to it for months so I could finally record the first few minutes. The last time it was on, I hadn’t expected it, so I had to run around madly for a tape. (Oh, I hate when that happens.)

It was a delight to see it again, as it always is. And I was struck once more by what an important milestone it is on the road to character development.

As mentioned before, it is often mistakenly considered the only time Perry and Hamilton teamed up to solve a case. It isn’t; it’s just the first real time it happened. It’s also not even the only time Hamilton has asked Perry for help, as he expressly does it again in season 7’s The Accosted Accountant.

Hamilton’s awkwardness in The Prudent Prosecutor is adorably endearing. At this point he and Perry have become quite friendly, at least certainly compared to season 1, yet he still feels uneasy about asking Perry to defend Jefferson Pike. But they’re close enough that he recognizes Perry’s gentle teasing for what it is and it puts him at ease.

I was thinking what a contrast it is to Hamilton’s behavior in the later seasons. By that point he has become extremely comfortable with his dual positions of district attorney and friend of a defense attorney. For instance, in season 8’s The Fatal Fetish, there is no hint of awkwardness whatsoever. He simply greets Perry with a Hello and matter-of-factly says he’s glad Perry’s there. (Of course, that happens during The Prudent Prosecutor as well, but there was also the awkwardness later.) This sort of approach is very common in seasons 7 and 8, and in season 9 when the writers are paying attention.

It’s very enjoyable and intriguing to watch his character grow in this way. I love it when characters change for the better throughout the course of a series, instead of simply remaining static. And of all the main characters, I do believe Hamilton is really the only one who has such immense development. The others stay mostly the same over all nine seasons, except for Perry himself, who does tone down the law-bending escapades that get Hamilton so upset. Della, Paul, and the police basically don’t have any level of expanding development—although Andy does go from being Tragg’s stand-in to a well-rounded character in his own right. But I consider that more of the writers finally getting their footing with the character.

Paul is the only other one whose feelings can sometimes be a mystery, as far as I’m concerned. At least, certainly his feelings towards Hamilton. It’s true that he does tone down the amount of negative comments he makes in season 1, and he does seem friendly when Hamilton joins them in a casual light (particularly in The Purple Woman), but it remains true that every time he mentions Hamilton, it seems to be in a rather derogatory manner. I had hoped that perhaps the events of Paul Drake’s Dilemma would change his mind, but I honestly can’t tell whether or not it made much difference. If he really dislikes Hamilton as much as he seemed to in season 1, it might take a great deal to fully change that.

All the way in season 8, in The Lover’s Gamble, Paul makes a remark concerning Hamilton that certainly made me raise an eyebrow. When the defendant (who, by the way, is a young friend of Della’s) presents Perry with a painting she has made of him, Paul says, “You know, I bet even Hamilton Burger would like one of those. Perry Mason, hanging … in oil.” Clearly he’s not really talking about the painting. And considering how friendly Perry and Hamilton are by season 8, the remark really doesn’t make much sense. In season 1 it would have, considering that one of Hamilton’s most off-the-wall comments to Perry was that if he had his way, Perry would be facing fire and brimstone. But by season 8 he just doesn’t say things like that. He’s matured greatly by then. And he never wanted anything to happen to Perry, not even, I’m sure, in season 1, despite whatever impulsive comments he made.

Hamilton in the television series just wasn’t ever the fellow in the books who would “pass up three murder convictions just to get Perry arrested for littering” or whatever that was that Tragg said once in the books. Book-Tragg was hopefully exaggerating, but in any case, television series-Hamilton would never dream of such a miscarriage of justice.

It’s equally possible that the writers just slipped up with Paul, as they occasionally did with everyone. His occasional silent and apparent friendliness towards Hamilton has to be taken into account too. (And there’s also how he got such a kick out of Hamilton citing Perry for burning trash without a license in The Blushing Pearls, after Paul had kept telling Perry he would get in trouble for his arson. Paul cracking up over what Hamilton opted to do was definitely unexpected. Although that may have been more because he felt triumphant to have been right, rather than because he felt alright towards Hamilton.) Or maybe he just has kind of a twisted sense of humor, as Tarlonniel suggested to me, and that remark in season 8 was not really meant to be as derogatory as the stuff he said and meant in season 1. There are many possibilities.

Hamilton seems to have no desire to have Paul on the rocks with him. My favorite scene in that aforementioned Bartered Bikini episode has him questioning Paul as a witness. Hamilton is never the least bit mocking or sneering, but dead sober. Paul is very serious and calm, and I think you can tell he doesn’t want to be there, but he’s a professional and doesn’t act out. Hamilton is visibly relieved. At the conclusion he thanks Paul for his cooperation and for not forcing him to treat Paul as a hostile witness. I definitely had the sense that he had been honestly concerned about how the examination would go. I can’t recall any of the other specific times Paul was on the witness stand, but I think there was at least one around season 6. I don’t think it was as fascinating as this one, however.

For the most part I have been very happy with season 3 and its moments of character development. Sometimes it unfortunately backslides, such as in The Singing Skirt, but overall it is fairly consistent. That is a surprise to me. I hadn’t remembered it was so good!

My only regret is that we are almost to The Crying Cherub on my local station. Le sigh.

Special Request: The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor

The Prudent Prosecutor from season 3 is certainly a milestone episode, there’s no mistake about that. Some people, however, have the incorrect assumption that it is unique and rare to the point that it is the only time Perry and Hamilton work together on a case. As I’ve shown many times in the past, this is not so. No, The Prudent Prosecutor’s main milestone is that it is the first time of many. It is also the first time of several when Hamilton asks for Perry’s help, and the first time we see one of Hamilton’s oneshot friends.

Jefferson Pike is a short-tempered fellow. He can’t stand the hold that a local crooked businessman has over his son. He’s so incensed by it that he takes the man’s gun and shoots himself in the leg, with the intention of telling around that his enemy shot him in the hopes of getting him arrested and out of the way.

Jefferson has a job at a lodge’s gun club somewhere in Los Angeles County. Even though he tells a friend of his about the “shooting”, he immediately clams up about it when he goes into the lodge and finds Hamilton in there with a few other people, all of whom have been duck hunting. Apparently, knowing that it’s a false tale, he doesn’t want to get in trouble by spinning it to the district attorney. (Or perhaps he doesn’t want to lie to someone who is as close a friend as Hamilton seems to be.) In any case, the friend he did tell is bewildered by his silence.

Later that night Jefferson calls Hamilton at what seems to be Hamilton’s home, giving us one of only two views of the place. (Originally I thought it was the lodge, but Hamilton had indicated he was going back to town. Hence, it’s probably his home.) He says he needs help for his son and wants a good defense attorney. If I remember right, he asks specifically for Perry. It’s either that or Hamilton recommends Perry to him. In any case, Hamilton then calls Perry on Jefferson’s behalf. Perry comments that he is surprised Hamilton is up so late “drumming up business” for him.

By the time Perry reaches Jefferson’s place the next morning, more trouble has happened. The man Jefferson detests has been murdered. And, to keep his son from taking the blame, Jefferson proclaims his own guilt in the matter.

One of the most amusing scenes happens here. In addition to Hamilton requesting Perry’s help, he wanted Lieutenant Tragg on the case once the murder happened. Tragg intercepts Perry and tries to get him to move along. But Hamilton shows up then and gives Perry a warm greeting, saying he’s glad Perry could make it. Tragg is bowled over. “You’re glad that he . . .” In bewilderment, he turns and wanders off, leaving the two lawyers to discuss the case.

It’s very rare to glean any tidbits about the characters’ backstories. Their pasts are largely closed books to the audience. But Hamilton confesses a small part of his history to Perry in trying to explain his concern for Jefferson. On a hunting trip in Canada twelve years ago, Hamilton was injured in a duck blind and Jefferson carried him three miles to safety. In the icy water, Jefferson lost two toes on the trek. Hamilton later got him the job at the gun club.

Hamilton does not often show his awkward side, but it definitely comes out here. He wants to ask Perry to defend Jefferson, yet can’t seem to get the words out. Not because of swallowing his pride, however (or at least not altogether), but because he feels he has no right to ask. Hamilton may have been justified in at least some of his prior frustrations with Perry; nevertheless, that isn’t an issue here. Knowing what Hamilton is trying to say, Perry just smiles and assures Hamilton that he will defend Jefferson. “Even if he did save your life,” he teasingly adds. Hamilton relaxes.

It’s one of my favorite scenes in the series. Despite the fact that it is most certainly not the only time they collaborate on a case, it is one of the only times they talk so candidly with each other. It’s clear from the scene that they each have an immense respect for the other, in addition to being close friends. That Perry can tease Hamilton, with Hamilton recognizing it as such and relaxing, shows that they’ve come quite a long way from the often antagonistic scenes in season 1. Hamilton cooling off and treating Perry in a friendly way happens many times in season 2 and succeeding seasons, but rarely do we get such an extended look at him in this light. Most such scenes are shorter and over much too soon. This scene, and the very last scene, combine to give us probably the most evidence in any one episode that there's a lot more going on in their relationship than some viewers might think. (Although there are plenty of glorious morsels in other episodes to further support it.)

Considering their backstory, Hamilton can’t bring himself to prosecute Jefferson for murder. He disqualifies himself and his office, which results in another prosecutor having to be sent in specifically for the case. Hamilton then sits in the gallery and observes the case as it unfolds.

Hamilton has always been exasperated by Perry’s courtroom tricks. It’s frustrating to be on the other end of them. But even when he is, it’s obvious through the seasons how he comes to be impressed by Perry’s skills. That is shown many times, from when he offers no objections once there is some foundation for Perry’s ideas to the times he listens in rapt attention and smiles in apparent awe and amazement for something Perry uncovers. In this episode, although he is not the acting prosecutor, Hamilton continues to be impressed. (It’s probably easier to enjoy it when he isn’t on the receiving end having to come up with a rebuttal, too.)

Amusingly, when the prosecutor is making objections later on, Hamilton’s patience is stretched so far that he mutters, “Oh, sit down and be quiet.” With his friend’s life at stake, he is thoroughly rooting for Perry. (Of course, despite any longings he himself has to succeed when he is prosecuting a case, he wants the truth above all else, even if that means Perry will end up winning.)

One thing I was disappointed about was that Hamilton and Perry don’t have much interaction once the case goes to court. In between the court scenes there is the usual investigation scene, and I had hoped Hamilton might be present. I suppose he wasn’t because of not having his office involved. But I thought he might come unofficially, off the record. I don’t know whether he really couldn’t without it appearing bad for him and his office or whether it was just the writers not thinking to write him into the scene.

There is a lovely and satisfying epilogue once everything is solved. Perry and Hamilton have apparently been out hunting together. They’re cleaning their rifles back near the gun club and discussing the case with Jefferson.

The killer had turned out to be Jefferson’s neighborhood friend, who also despised the murder victim. Jefferson shows some sympathy and understanding for him, as well as for the wife of another neighbor who seemed to have been involved with the murdered man. Jefferson is an interesting fellow that way. He seems to try to look for the good in most people and not think the worst of them. The murder victim is an exception; him having a hold over Jefferson’s son was the last straw there.

Jefferson leaves for a moment to talk to his son, who’s going up to Lake Tahoe to work. Hamilton and Perry observe, and Hamilton says with a smile, “You know, I think I won this case.” Perry smiles too, and they clink their mugs.

One curious omission to this episode is Paul Drake. He is nowhere to be seen. Out of the handful of episodes in which he does not appear, this is one where I would have particularly liked to see him. His reaction to the request for help and the truce would have been fascinating and enlightening. Perhaps we could have finally learned a little more on what he thinks of Hamilton after season 1. Then again, perhaps not, since Della is there and says nothing. If Paul had been there, however, I have a hard time believing he would have kept silent.

But in spite of any flaws or things that could have been done better, this episode is thrilling. It was a wonderful turning point in the series and I am very glad that Erle Stanley Gardner allowed it to happen.

Long live the curious and deep friendship of Perry Mason and Hamilton Burger.