Kathy Bates’ performance expertly defines her character in Matlock, but season 2 might need to find a new approach to incorporating one of Matty Kingston’s greatest strengths into the story. Even had the storytelling been mediocre, Matlock’s cast of characters alone would still have granted the series the potential to become a success. But in addition to the cast’s performances, nearly every twist in the road to the Matlock season 1 finale established just how well the show’s writers are at crafting an engaging and character-driven story.
Every character’s strengths and motivations complement their individual storylines with surgical precision. Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) desire to work for an ethical firm informs the cases she takes to prove the firm can profit from pro bono work, while Sarah (Leah Lewis) learns that emotional transparency isn’t always the enemy to success that she thought it was. But at the end of the day, Matty’s mission to punish those at Wellbrexa and Jacobson Moore who knowingly facilitated the opioid epidemic remains the show’s primary story. And Matty used one specific talent in that mission that may become compromised in Matlock season 2.
Matlock Season 1’s Constant Twists Showed The Brilliance Of Matty’s Ruses
Almost Every Apparent Failure Was Part Of A Bigger Picture
Following the shock of episode 1’s reveal that Madeline Matlock isn’t who she claims, it was immediately clear that Matlock’s biggest twists were up against a high bar. It seemed difficult for any future surprises to land quite that effectively, but Matlock manages to incorporate twists into several episodes simply by allowing Matty’s schemes to fail. She spills coffee on Olympia’s laptop before getting the information she needs, or Alfie (Aaron D. Harris) gets stuck in a stairwell when he’s supposed to be getting Matty access to a locked room.
But in each of these cases, the apparent failure turns out to be a step toward ultimate success. Had Matty not intentionally ruined an identical laptop, Olympia would have noticed that Matty had stolen the original. Likewise, Alfie’s stairwell adventure creates a necessary distraction while security is limited. Matty’s plan doesn’t really fall apart until close to the end of season 1, but Matty always knew that the risk of her identity being exposed would increase significantly over time. And while her plan hasn’t completely failed yet, it will need a lot of adjustments moving forward.
Matty Will Have To Approach Her Schemes Differently In Matlock Season 2
Her Boss Can See Through Her Ruses & Lies Now
Olympia wouldn’t dare expose Matty to Senior (Beau Bridges) if it could put Julian (Jason Ritter) at risk, and the exact degree to which Olympia would go to help Julian remains one of the biggest unanswered questions from Matlock season 1. For the time being, Olympia remains a potential threat to Matty’s plans until she decides whether to help Julian destroy the Wellbrexa survey. It flies in the face of everything Olympia stood for in the Slamm’d trial, and her initial reaction to Julian’s pleas was negative, but he’s still the father of her children. It’s not an easy decision to make.
Nonetheless, without confirmation that it’s been destroyed, Matty isn’t going to stop looking for the Wellbrexa file. Unfortunately, it’s going to be more difficult for Matty to keep deceiving the firm if Olympia catches wind of her ongoing ruses. Olympia might help Matty if it means taking Senior down, but that will be hard to do without putting Julian in the crosshairs as well. Even worse, Matty doesn’t know the survey has been found. From her perspective, she’s hit a brick wall. But that opens a door for Matty to aim her schemes in another direction.
How Matlock Season 2 Can Keep Building On Matty’s Twist-Worthy Schemes
The Twists May Have To Become Much More Intricate
It’s exceptionally difficult to argue that Matlock’s positive reviews are anything but earned, so the writers likely considered in advance how Olympia controlling the future of the Wellbrexa document would change things moving forward. But Matlock season 2 still needs to address how to bring down Senior when Julian’s already set up as his patsy. This could require Matty to combine her wealth of legal knowledge with her capacity for scheming to find the exact right evidence against Senior, whether it’s another secret file, another corrupt client, or other times Senior’s used employees as scapegoats to cover his own back.
Were Olympia to threaten Matty’s secret to keep Julian safe, Matty could also start aggressively looking for dirt on her best friend to assure mutual destruction if she isn’t allowed to continue the investigation. Fortunately, Matlock doesn’t need to jeopardize any friendships. Belvin (Patricia Belcher) still doesn’t know that Matty is her Reddit contact, which means she can still potentially be used to unearth new evidence that might point more directly to Senior. Because, while Wellbrexa’s goose is nearly cooked (or at least pre-heated), Senior needs to go down with them before Ellie’s (Marnee Carpenter) death can truly be avenged.
