Matlock Recap: Cruel Yule

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Throughout this season of Matlock, Julian Markston has been in a precarious position. Since Olympia discovered incriminating documents related to Wellbrexa in his safety deposit box at the end of last season, he’s been desperately trying to avoid prison and save his career—and potentially reconcile with his former partner. Because of the Kingstons’ longstanding animosity towards Julian, Olympia hasn’t been able to share all the information he needs, leaving him to struggle and attempt to make sense of the limited knowledge he has.

This week’s midseason finale, titled “Call It a Christmas Gift,” sees Julian making some risky new connections. A major explosion is about to happen, but we won’t see the fallout until next year. Honestly, I’m excited to see Julian shake things up with the Wellbrexa storyline, which has started to feel a bit predictable.

A major part of the Matlock storyline revolves around the complicated relationship between Olympia and Matty, and it keeps returning to a pattern of hesitation and suspicion. Last week, their investigation made progress when Julian obtained information about Jacobson-Moore’s retreat in Australia, including a photo of Senior’s hand near some Wellbrexa documents. Now, Olympia needs to find her backup copy of those documents to confirm if they are the ones Julian was meant to destroy. This raises the question of whether she can trust Matty to remain loyal once she has them, and whether Matty and Edwin can trust Olympia if she doesn’t share the information.

So, yeah, we’re back here again — another Matlock trust-off.

This episode introduces a new complication: Julian discovers Olympia and Matty have been working together. But even bigger news arrives at the beginning – Senior suffers a stroke and is placed in a medically induced coma, which throws Olympia and Matty’s entire plan into question.

Matty hasn’t changed her mind. She believes the truth about what Jacobson-Moore did to cover up the risks of opioids needs to be revealed, even if the blame falls on someone who’s no longer alive. However, she’d prefer to see someone currently living held accountable, which is why she’s still determined to pursue Julian.

The situation with Olympia is incredibly complex. Her children’s grandfather recognized her legal skills and encouraged them. He even pushed for her marriage to Julian, and she still sees good in him. While she understands, logically, that Julian and her former father-in-law committed serious crimes that caused immense suffering – she only needs to think about the Kingstons’ empty Christmas stocking for their daughter, Ellie, to grasp their pain – she still feels resentful that Matty is making her pursue legal action against these men who are important to her.

This week’s case centers around Diego Castillo, a firefighter who says he was relentlessly bullied after bringing his husband to a work event. He alleges that his boss, Captain Mac Wilson – a highly respected local figure – brushed off his concerns and called him overly sensitive. Diego claims this happened even after his colleagues tampered with his breathing equipment during an emergency call. The firefighters being accused deny intentionally sabotaging his gear and argue that Diego is simply overreacting, pointing out that he’s also participated in pranks in the past.

Recently, the legal cases on Matlock have been fairly strong, featuring some smart courtroom tactics. This week’s case, however, isn’t one of them. The case against Diego is weak, largely depending on a witness who ultimately refuses to testify. Without solid evidence, Olympia’s team – with Matty taking the lead while Olympia handles a family health issue – attempts to damage Captain Wilson’s reputation by implying he overlooks safety issues due to his friendly relationship with inspectors. But they back off when they learn the captain is seriously ill and risks losing his health insurance if found guilty of wrongdoing. This is also the reason their witness changed his mind about testifying.

Olympia and Matty didn’t win their case, which is unusual for them. However, the loss highlights an important point: Matty continues to fight for what’s right for Diego, even if it means going after someone who seems like a decent person. Olympia understands this, and also recognizes how much her client is hurting as almost everyone, including the jury, supports Captain Wilson. Diego is seen as a troublemaker who disrupts the status quo, while Captain Wilson is the friendly, approachable neighbor. Ultimately, it doesn’t seem worth damaging Captain Wilson’s reputation for the sake of one person who doesn’t quite fit in.

Olympia’s compassion for those who are struggling is ultimately why she decides to share the Wellbrexa documents with Matty and Edwin, telling them to think of it as a Christmas present. While she still wants Matty to be lenient with Julian, she understands that some form of accountability is necessary. Their investigation, including the photos of Debra Palmer and the NDAs from Sydney, has so far only directly linked Senior and Julian to hiding the Wellbrexa study results. This raises the question: what happens if Senior dies?

Olympia is in a tough spot: she wants the wrongdoing involving Jacobson-Moore’s Wellbrexa brought to light, but she’s also worried about the consequences for herself. It’s frustrating that Matty and Edwin, particularly Edwin, don’t seem to understand what she’s dealing with. Their lack of concern for Julian is getting old.

Thankfully, the episode ends with a clever reveal. As Olympia passes Julian’s original Wellbrexa documents to Matty, we see Julian is standing right outside, overhearing their conversation. He deliberately tricked Olympia by showing her a fake contact labeled “Australia” on Senior’s phone. Olympia shared this number with Matty, which confirmed her connection to the scheme. Julian then secretly dropped an earbud into Olympia’s purse, effectively using it to eavesdrop on her.

Now that he knows, what’s his next move? Will he challenge Olympia and Matty directly, or will he secretly try to stop their investigation? Either way, I’m just happy that Matlock might finally have a fresh storyline in the new year.

The Fine Print

This episode appears to be set during Christmas, with decorations like Christmas trees and lights everywhere. There’s even a funny detail where Matty and Sarah ask a bartender about a holiday-themed drink called “Rum Rum Rudolph,” really embracing the festive spirit!

Everyone’s been wondering how the show would handle the departure of David Del Rio and his character, Billy Martinez. It turns out it happened quite simply! Billy is mostly absent in this episode, only appearing in a couple of scenes where Sarah calls him – we never actually hear his side of the conversation. During the second call, Sarah learns that Claudia has suffered a miscarriage. It seems likely that the next episode will reveal Billy is taking a leave of absence, and he might not be mentioned again after that.

Even though the reasons for removing Billy from the show are unfortunate, it does make the overall storyline easier to manage. It allows Sarah to return to the central plot without the writers needing to figure out what to do with Billy. This episode shows Sarah, motivated by the Diego Castillo case and a large bonus, confessing to Olympia that she was spying on Julian for Senior. As a result, Olympia kicks her off the team. It seems likely Sarah will end up working for Julian again, especially now that he’s starting to oppose his ex-wife.

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2025-12-12 05:55