@Invidia said:

The HBO ENDING of it was pretty spectacular.

Here's the QUOTE:

“I’m not a smart man, particularly. But one day, at long last, I stumbled through the dark woods of my own and my family’s and my country’s past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from forgiveness, that from destruction comes renovation, that the evidence of God exists in our connections to one another. This much, at least, I figured out. I know this much is true.”

And I also like it better than the other QUOTE from the BOOK version:

“I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things. This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.”

When his former wife said he was going to turn out to be just like him, at first I thought she was talking about his grandfather. But later on I realized she must have meant he was going to turn out to be like his TWIN brother (due to the way he was buying into the stuff about how there was a CURSE on the family due to what the grandfather had done).

If you haven't seen HBO's PERRY MASON yet I also HIGHLY RECOMEND you check out that one, because it's also an EXCELLENT 8 part STORY as well. And it's also NOTHING like the OLD TV SHOW, because it's a PREQUEL where the character isn't an attorney yet and reveals what his life was like (a BIG MESS) prior to when he becomes one. The last episode also ended this past SUNDAY and it's also already been renewed for another Season as well.

(Spoiler warnings) Yeah, the last episode was great. I did have issue with the psychiatrist encouraging him to forgive his stepfather and embrace him as his real father. After the way he treated them he should never have been forgiven. It also seemed strange that he would continue to see that psychiatrist considering he hated the hospital for what they did to his brother. But otherwise it was a fantastic ending. It was so emotionally powerful at the funeral when he exploded and let it all out in front of all those people. I may check out the book at some point.

Yeah, I am watching Perry Mason. I'm actually just about to put on episode 6 now. It's a pretty enjoyable show. I think the reviews should have been better than they were.

@Invidia said:

I stumbled through the dark woods of my own and my family’s and my country’s past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from forgiveness

Maybe the point of FORGIVING the STEP FATHER was to get her patient to MOVE ON and get past thinking that his family was under some kind of a CURSE (like his grandfather assumed he was after what he'd done to the other woman who had raised his daughter)???

Because as long as one holds on to a GRUDGE the way his grandfather did, that can also lead to lots of other problems? And the STEP FATHER did also agree to ADOPT the boys and LEGALLY be their father, even though he was also responsible for the ABUSE of his brother when he tried to stop the mother from turning him into what SOCIETY at that time considered to be a SISSY BOY (due to the way the mother dressed him up and had tea parties with him)???

So even though the man abused the boy and his mother, at that time he was also doing what he thought was best (due to the kind of attitudes that existed in society at that time)??? Plus the twin brother also confessed as to how he'd also taken the SIDE of the STEP FATHER/LEGAL FATHER who ADOPTS THEM. So forgiving the man who ADOPTED them would also be a way to FORGIVE himself for having had the same kind of attitudes??

Yeah, I understand why the show went in the that direction and I get that forgiveness was one of the general themes of the story. But it still just felt iffy to me.

Were the REVIEWS of PERRY bad ones??? So far all I've seen are GOOD ONES where the show has gotten LOTS of PRAISE. What do the other ones say??? Why do they disapprove of the story??? If it's only because this PERRY isn't like the other one from the 1950's TV SHOW, then I'd also say that's a GOOD THING not a NEGATIVE point that they're making.

Since we're also NOT the same kind of AUDIENCE TODAY as the one that watched that other SHOW that aired back in the 50's and 60's, it also MAKES NO SENSE to try to RECREATE the same kind of a character that appeals to the other AUDIENCE back them.

And one is also GRATEFUL that the writers have CREATED this completely DIFFERENT character that MIRRORS OUR OWN WORLD of today instead of a WORLD from the PAST that's also LONG GONE BY.

Because what was happening back in 1932 (during the time of the GREAT DEPRESSION and the end of WW1) also MIRRORS and REFLECTS better what's happening now in contemporary society than what took place back in the 1950's (after the end of WW2 at a time when the economy was doing well and was booming).

In other words, imo, the NEW less PERFECT PERRY is also a character that's much easier to RELATE to now than he'd be if he was like the OLDER more PERFECT PERRY that people use to watch on TV back in 1950 and 1960.

Yeah, I agree he has to be a flawed character. I did just have a look and the reviews do seem to be a lot better now that the show has finished. They were never bad in the first plae but the ones I saw in the early days of the show seemed to be middling 3 out of 5 reviews that seemed to be nitpicking. They were saying it was cliched and muddled. But noir stories usually are and I find it's the cliches of noir that make the genre enjoyable. It currently at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes (not that RT is gospel) and that may seem high but they seem to rate most shows very highly so 76% seems a little low in comparison. It's also only 7.6 on IMDB. That's pretty low for a tv show on a site where well regarded shows generally get over 8. It's the kind of show that I assumed would be a hit all around. But I am glad it's getting another season.

@Invidia said:

The character was kind of IFFY at the end when he began behaving almost like his mentally ill brother (who also had lots of conspiracy theories). That's why his former wife said he was going to turn out LIKE HIM (meaning his TWIN).

And if he hadn't forgiven the guy who raised him, and stopped thinking that his grandfather was right about there being a curse on the family, that's probably also where he was heading (down the same kind of a path that his brother took).

Maybe, but I also think that his outburst at the funeral could also have potentially moved him away from his path to schizophrenia (or turning into The Hulk) because he is letting his anger and real feelings out at the person he felt really deserved them rather than bottling them up or lashing out at everyone else. That scene seemed like a catharsis to me.

PLUS the other guy who turns out to be his COUSIN also helped him by telling him about his brother being abused at the hospital, even though he'd also been EXTREMELY MEAN to the other TWIN girl back in elementary school and got her EXPELLED (even when she was INNOCENT of the accusation). And that also leads to the DEATH of that girl who wouldn't have died if she'd been in school where she belonged.

So if that cousin can FORGIVE him for what he'd done to that girl, then surely he can also forgive the man who adopted him for what he'd done???

The difference is that Dominick was a kid at the time of his transgressions and Ray was an adult with responsibilities. So I don't know.

Since PERRY MASON also got the HIGHEST RATINGS (the numbers of viewers tuning in to watch the show) of any other HBO show when it first aired, apparently that also means more to the POWERS that BE than the opinions of the viewers who rate it???

Because they also seem to be more interested in HOW MANY TUNE IN to watch it than in what they choose to click onto after they've seen it???

I'm sure they are and it's cool that it's doing well.

@Invidia said:

If having an OUTBURST can lead to a CATHARSIS, then shouldn't his TWIN cutting off his hand also have cured him of his issues??? And since EVERYONE but his former wife leaves after he has the OUTBURST at the funeral, that also seems to have further alienated him from those who were there to honor his brother rather than doing anything to improve matters.

They're both very very different ways of dealing with psychological issues. Having an outburst specifically towards his father would potentially get things off his chest and release the repressed emotion that would have been building and leading him towards mental illness. It could serve as exercising his demons. His brother cutting off his own hand is an obviously self destructive behavior that is very much a part of his illness. It's going along with his schizophrenia, encouraging his demons rather than exercising them.

And I think that the people left the funeral due to awkwardness rather than hating Dominick. I would imagine some of them actually respected him for standing up to his father. Some of them even stayed to support him and let him know that he was not alone.

But I think it may be both this outburst and forgiving/accepting his father together that cured him. He may indeed have needed to forgive his father in order to get better but I don't think that that act alone would have worked. It may be that he needed to have that outburst and get things off his chest first.

Yes Dominick was a kid, but Ray was also a KID at that time too, and then he also FORGIVES Dominick for what he'd done even though he also told him how much he'd HATED HIM at the time when he gave the SPEECH to the rest of the class without meaning anything he was saying.

But Ray didn't HOLD a GRUDGE against Dominick the way DOMINICK holds one against people, because he also said that he was still family (which Dominick also didn't know).

So even when Ray was still a kid he also got over what had happened and MOVED ON past it instead of dwelling on it the way DOMINICK was doing.

Ray was Dominick's father not the cousin. So I meant that Dominick was a kid at the time of his transgressions and his father Ray was an adult with responsibility at the time of his. It's easier to forgive a child who hasn't developed the moral compass of an adult than it is to forgive an adult who should know full well that what he is doing is very wrong.

Have you seen episodes 7 and 8 of HBO's PERRY MASON yet???

It also ends the same way with EMILY holding another infant after the death of her INFANT son.

And another woman walks into the office telling PERRY that she's in some kind of trouble. But DELLA also can't find her name listed in the phone book which also makes them suspicious of her and why she's there asking them for help.

Also Wish we didn't have to wait so long between seasons for the next ones to begin!!!

Yes, I've finished it. It's very good. I'll look forward to season 2. The worst thing about having to wait so long for the next season is trying to remember everything that happened. Especially in the more complex shows.