Matlock Recap: A Game of Chicken

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Creating a TV series with individual episodes is usually a process of experimentation. Writers and actors learn over time what storylines and characters resonate with audiences, and what doesn’t work. It seems the creator of Matlock, Jennie Snyder Urman, discovered last year that the show is much more enjoyable when Matty and Olympia team up. The episodes where Matty lost faith in Olympia because she believed her boss concealed the Wellbrexa document were a real struggle to get through.

I completely get why this week’s Matlock quickly moves past last week’s dramatic ending, where Olympia regained control over Matty by getting some compromising information. Within just a few scenes of “Tomorrow Is Still Tomorrow,” they’ve already resolved their conflict. And while their reconciliation is partly due to practical reasons, it feels right for the characters, the actors, the writers, and the audience to see Matty and Olympia working together.

A surprising turn of events brings Matty and Edwin together. Despite Olympia’s efforts to control Matty and prevent him from contacting the New York Times, he and Edwin have already been in touch with the newspaper multiple times, offering damaging information about Jacobson-Moore and Wellbrexa. As a result, a New York Times reporter begins investigating, which leads to an unwelcome internal inquiry at Jacobson-Moore to find out who is leaking information.

A crisis has brought together Senior’s colleagues and staff from all over the country, and we’ll likely see more of a couple of them in the future. One is Eva Muñoz (Justina Machado), Senior’s former wife, who immediately begins watching the firm’s newest partner, Olympia, with a quiet intensity. The other is Lester Logan (James Lesure), known as “The Wolf,” the head of security, who has a reputation for using disruptive tactics – specifically, deploying devices that release rats.

This new twist works so well because it instantly brings Matty and Olympia together again. They both have a lot to lose if their schemes involving Wellbrexa are revealed, and the investigation threatens to ruin their plan to uncover the truth about Jacobson-Moore and get revenge on Senior. Olympia keeps emphasizing “justice” to prevent Matty from simply wanting Julian punished. This week, the two women respond to the immediate danger of the investigation by having Olympia lie to Lester, with Matty guiding her.

I suspect the Wolf isn’t finished yet, and it’s not just because Olympia accidentally brings up the New York Times during her interview. It’s also possible Julian will catch Olympia and Matty. He seems to be prioritizing his own safety by stopping anyone from revealing information, rather than confronting his father. Matty might regret not heeding Edwin and Alfie’s advice – they both urged her to leave Jacobson-Moore as soon as the partners realized someone was leaking information. They responded to Matty’s coded message, “bus accident,” by telling her to “Get on the subway!”

A compelling part of the unfolding story – and what makes for good TV – is how Matty’s behavior changes when she’s under pressure. We’ve already seen this, like when she confidently told Olympia that a grieving older woman couldn’t possibly be convicted of a crime, ultimately damaging her own case. It’s interesting that the show portrays our protagonist as flawed, sometimes even unpleasant and self-absorbed, which adds a surprising level of complexity.

Matty is on better behavior this week, but she’s facing the consequences of a past mistake. Last season, she secretly bullied Emmalyn Belvin, a longtime employee at Jacobson-Moore, into sharing information about the day important documents disappeared. Now that an internal investigation is underway, Mrs. Belvin is upset, fearing she’ll be discovered. Matty turns to Olympia for help protecting her, but the situation seems hopeless. Unless Matty confesses everything to Olympia – and risks hurting her deeply – the only sensible solution is to let Mrs. Belvin take the blame and lose her job, despite being just months away from retirement.

Showing a lack of concern for others, Matty uses Mrs. B’s sudden departure as an opportunity to search her files again. She’s looking for more details about the woman Senior had an affair with in Australia during the time the Wellbrexa scandal was being covered up.

I haven’t talked about the weekly case yet, and that’s because it’s pretty straightforward. The case involves Yvette Nicole Brown, playing Nadine, who owns a popular fried chicken restaurant. Nadine is suing her cousin, Pierre, because he opened a food truck and copied her family recipes. Pierre’s lawyers claim Nadine actually gave him permission to compete, pointing to a heated argument where she told him to ‘do it better yourself’ if he thought he could.

The situation becomes clearer when Pierre suggests Nadine and their client work together. Matty wants their client to stay independent, but Olympia is open to a deal. Matty then understands Nadine’s core concern: she wants to protect her grandmother’s legacy and maintain control, mirroring Matty’s own reluctance to let Olympia take over the Wellbrexa project. However, just like Pierre and Nadine’s cooking are fundamentally similar, Olympia and Matty ultimately share the same goals. Everyone involved needs to step back and see the broader context.

Okay, so there’s this really powerful scene towards the end of the episode. Matty finally gets something with Edwin’s help, and it just breaks her down – she starts sobbing. It made me realize she’s really grappling with feeling helpless. With Alfie’s dad now in rehab, it’s bringing up all these old feelings for her about not being able to control things. You know, she couldn’t get Ellie to stay on the right path, and she’s terrified Joey will slip up too. It’s like she’s learned she just can’t make people do what she wants, and that includes Olympia. It’s a tough moment because you see how much that weighs on her.

The episode concludes with Matty and Olympia forming an alliance to rescue Julian and deal with Senior’s death. Matty sets a condition: she wants Julian to apologize for keeping the document secret once things calm down. Matty also accepts Olympia’s apology for tricking and recording her.

I still can’t help but wonder if Matty owes some apologies too. I keep thinking about Olympia telling Edwin how Matty manipulated her for an entire year. And I feel bad for Mrs. B. It’s also hard to imagine the people at Jacobson-Moore who care about Matty finding out just how much she’s misled them.

It’s unclear if Matty understands the extent of the pain she’s causing, or will cause. I’m hoping the creators of the show, Urman and the writers, do understand the impact of her actions.

The Fine Print

Okay, so I’m still a bit bummed about the Billy and Sarah scenes this week. There was this moment where Billy was supposed to be really sweetly sticking up for Sarah’s work to Olympia, but honestly, it just didn’t hit me emotionally. Knowing what’s been going on between David Del Rio and Leah Lewis off-screen definitely colored how I watched it, and not in a good way. It just felt…flat.

I’m really enjoying Machado’s character, Eva, and her scheming against her ex-husband, Senior, whom she clearly can’t stand – she even has a phone widget counting the days since their divorce (currently 15 years and 62 days!). However, I’m not a fan of Julian’s nickname for her, “MILK.” She believes it stands for “mother I’d like to kiss,” but he jokingly says it means “mother I’d like to kill.” It’s just… unnecessary.

Before Matty and Olympia make peace, Matty decides to return to the office and act completely normal, making sure everyone knows she’s there. As part of this, she brings in a large fiddle-leaf fig plant, which Mrs. B has to okay because it’s too big according to company rules. Matty hints that the plant has a deeper meaning, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

While Olympia and Matty discuss how to help Mrs. B, who recently lost her job, Matty mentions, almost as an aside, that Edwin gave them a “go bag” containing half a million dollars in cash. Olympia is shocked by the revelation, asking how wealthy Matty is, but Matty deflects the question, simply saying they’re rich enough to not disclose that information.

Okay, so last week’s judge was a total Matlock fan, which was… different. This week? We’ve got a judge who apparently wants lawyers to communicate in haiku! Seriously, the judge asked a lawyer, “Is that it?” and the lawyer just said, “It.” I’m not opposed to the show going in a direction where the judges are a little odd – I actually kind of liked how The Good Wife did that with its recurring judges – but honestly, it needs to come with some more realistic legal drama. The cases just haven’t been very believable lately.

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2025-10-24 05:56