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Warning! Spoilers ahead for Matlock season 1.There’s a lot to process in the first Matlock season finale, but a few plot points in particular recall just how emotional it has been. The cast of Matlock have been through many trials that tested them on both a personal and professional basis, and the outcome wasn’t always what we might necessarily have hoped. By the time the Matlock season 1 finale rolled around, many of us had already become dehydrated by an odd leak in our eye sockets.
Because of the cliffhangers, Matlock season 2 will deal with most of these things. Before that, however, it’s a good time to revisit the series as a whole. It’s clear that Matlock is a show that loves to pull on our heartstrings in some very devastating ways, and there a few particular moments exemplify that to the extreme.
12
Billy Gets Dumped Right After Proposing
He Had No Idea There Was A Baby On The Way
Billy Martinez started the series in a dedicated relationship with Claudia, and he finally agrees to propose in episode 7 as long as Sarah is willing to finally make the moves on her crush. Things go pretty well for Sarah, who doesn’t yet know that her crush wants an open relationship. But Claudia responds to Billy’s proposal by telling him that she’s not really invested in their relationship.
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In her eyes, they were only still together because they’d become used to each other. She didn’t want marriage, and the fact that he did was the straw that obliterated the camel. But there is a slight upside to their breakup, as Sarah’s immediate realization of what happened without Billy saying a word illustrates the true depth of their friendship. That upside might have limits, though. The finale reveals that Claudia is pregnant, while his new girlfriend, Simone, remains a looming threat. It’s yet to be seen how Billy will balance those issues.
11
Senior Robs An Old Man Of His Settlement
The Firm’s Firewall Did More Harm Than Good
Matlock episode 4 pits Olympia against Senior and Elijah when the firm decides to represent a company being sued by a late client’s widower for causing his wife’s death. Although this should create a conflict of interest, the firm is able to represent both clients by creating a firewall between Olympia and Elijah. In the end, Olympia wins her client $2 million.
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Unfortunately, Senior is prepared for this. In what Olympia refers to as “the Texas two-step,” Senior moves his client’s assets around to bankrupt the company before the settlement is signed. Olympia’s client is left with nothing but regrets that he spent his wife’s last years dealing with the case rather than spending time together, while Olympia and Julian smash Senior’s trophies with a golf club.
10
Matty Abandons A Man Whose Son Is Missing
She Cared Too Much About Maintaining Her Secrecy
Thinking that Matty’s a widow, Billy creates her an online dating profile. As a result, Matty is found by Stanley in episode 6, whose son Tommy was an old friend of Ellie’s. Tommy’s also been missing for three weeks following a drug relapse, something Matty understands all too well. As such, she’s initially supportive.
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But before long, Olympia steps outside and sees Matty talking to Stanley. Worried that he’ll blow her cover and jeopardize her investigation into Jacobson Moore, Matty tells Stanley never to contact her again because the memory of Ellie is too difficult. After Matty storms off, we never see Stanley again, nor is it ever answered whether Tommy has survived his latest drug binge.
9
Alfie Questions If Ellie Really Loved Him
He’s Afraid She Cared More About The Drugs
Episode 5 puts Matty in a particularly tough position. After the owner of a nail salon helps Matty find an important witness at a drug den, Matty and Edwin are forced to relive the countless times they looked for Ellie in similar locations. At the end of the episode, Matty tries to unwind by talking about Ellie with Alfie while showing him her new nails. That’s when Alfie says that he sometimes thinks Ellie would’ve gotten clean if she loved him enough.
Said by Alfie to Matty whenever she’s struggling with the emotional impact of her investigation, “MWBSP” stands for “Mom would be so proud.”
This is already a tragic reality for many children of addicts, but it also adds a sadder context to “MWBSP.” Said by Alfie to Matty whenever she’s struggling with the emotional impact of her investigation, “MWBSP” stands for “Mom Would Be So Proud.” After episode 5, it also feels possible that Alfie repeats that phrase to reassure himself that his mom really did care about their family. There’s a desperation to that idea that makes it especially disheartening.
8
Matty Ruins A Girl’s Life For The Firm
Getting Close To Julian Has A Price
Despite working well with Olympia, Matty’s initial goal when she joins the firm is to get close to Julian. She gets that chance in episode 7, but Julian’s case requires Matty to help a bunch of pharma bros keep a girl from suing over a failed drug trial that tanked her music career. She had planned on being a concert cellist, but the trial caused health issues that forced her to drop out of music school altogether.
It’s one of many times that Matty has to seriously consider whether her revenge plan is worth the emotional cost.
The case is important to Matty because the client is Wellbrexa, but working for Matlock’s big villain company takes a severe toll on her. She wears a bracelet that Ellie made her throughout the episode to try and keep her head and heart in the game, but Madeline’s nervous fidgeting causes the bracelet to break when one of Wellbrexa’s lawyers jokes about the case’s outcome. It’s one of many times that Matty has to seriously consider whether her revenge plan is worth the emotional cost.
7
Matty Steals Olympia’s Recording Of Her Late Father
She Has A Similar Recording Of Ellie
In Matlock episode 3, Matty’s latest ruse is to trick Olympia into thinking her laptop is fried when she actually switched it out with a lookalike to get access to her boss’ files. There’s something on the computer that Olympia seems worried about losing. Rather than anything to do with Wellbrexa, it turns out Olympia’s been keeping a voicemail from her deceased father on her PC.
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Matty decides at the time to keep the laptop because she and Olympia aren’t friends, but she’s clearly torn up about it. To make matters worse, it’s revealed in episode 7 that Matty keeps a voicemail from Ellie about her pregnancy with Alfie, meaning she can relate to Olympia’s pain over losing such a thing.
6
Julian Quits Jacobson Moore
Senior’s Coldness Finally Gets To Him
The partner race between Olympia and Julian finally reaches the finish line in the Matlock season 1 finale, with Senior promoting Olympia over his son. This causes him to accept that he’s never going to win Senior’s approval, with Julian telling his father that he’s leaving Jacobson Moore because he’s tired of trying and failing to be recognized.
Julian even cries when Olympia tells him that Senior is awful for the way he treats his own son. Ironically, it was Julian’s desire to be loved by his own father that led to him being passed over for promotion in the first place. Senior tells Julian to his face that the reason he doesn’t respect him is because he has a victim mentality before coldly saying that he will be back as soon as he needs money. This sadly confirms how much disdain he appears to feel towards his child.
5
Matty Causes Two Mothers To Relive A Baby’s Death
She Has To Realize Not All People Want Revenge
Edwin frequently questions whether Matty’s investigation is worth the risk, but never as much as in episode 6. It starts with Olympia getting the chance to retry an old case in which two mothers lost their infant due to contaminated formula. One of the mothers doesn’t want to discuss their child on the stand, but Matty pushes Olympia to make her cry in front of the jury by asking about her son’s personality when he was alive.
It is not only heartbreaking on its own, but it also asks whether outing Wellbrexa will truly bring Matty peace.
Matty feels it’s ultimately a win because they held the manufacturer responsible, but the mothers who just relived their son’s death don’t seem comforted by money or justice. Their son is still gone, and the pain of realizing her efforts were for nothing causes Matty to have a panic attack. It is not only heartbreaking on its own, but it also asks whether outing Wellbrexa will truly bring Matty peace.
4
Olympia Finds Out The Truth About Julian’s Involvement In The Wellbrexa Case
He’s Been Keeping The File All These Years
With help from Julian’s mother and bank manager Denise, Olympia learns that Julian was telling the truth about paying for their brownstone out of the family trust. However, she also learns that he’s been keeping the Wellbrexa study in a safety deposit box she didn’t know existed. She now questions if he’s a good enough man to be involved in their daughters’ lives.
She now has to choose between allegiance to justice and her best friend or to the father of her children.
It’s partly sad because Julian only stole the documents to hopefully earn Senior’s respect. But it also puts Olympia in a difficult place when Julian asks Olympia to shred the documents for the sake of keeping their family together. She now has to choose between allegiance to justice and her best friend or to the father of her children.
3
Olympia Suffers A Nervous Breakdown In Front Of Her Children
Matty Convinces Her Julian Is Spying
Julian and Olympia were on good terms until Matty convinced her that he planted a spy pen in Olympia’s office. Not only did this lead to the two fighting again, but Olympia tears the house apart looking for bugs and is soon found by her children. She convinces them everything’s okay, but it’s clearly not.
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Adding insult to injury, Olympia’s daughter can tell she’s shaken and tells her to listen to her father’s voicemail because it always makes her feel better. In other words, Matty both caused Olympia’s paranoid breakdown and stole the one thing that could help in her time of need. This reveal in episode 17 provides a terrible glimpse at how Matty has hurt others in her quest for justice against Wellbrexa.
2
Matty Fights Ellie Over Alfie’s Custody
She Blames Herself For Ellie’s Death
Episode 12 reveals the events surrounding Ellie’s death, and it’s one of the most harrowing storylines in the series. Although Ellie had been sober since her last relapse resulted in Alfie being injured, Matty takes Ellie to court to fight for sole custody until Ellie’s been sober for a year. But when it becomes clear that Ellie’s losing the trial, she relapses for one last fatal time.
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Because of her experience raising Ellie, it seems that Matty understands addiction well enough to know that her daughter’s death isn’t her fault. But it’s revealed that Matty and Edwin both sometimes blame her refusal to drop the custody battle for Ellie’s overdose. This hints at the tragic likelihood that holding Wellbrexa accountable might merely be a way for Matty to assuage her own guilt.
1
Matty & Olympia’s Confrontation
Their Friendship Is Truly Tested
Matty’s relationship with Olympia first gets tested in episode 14, when it looks like Olympia hid the Wellbrexa study. Fortunately, Matty quickly discovers evidence that Julian is the only viable suspect. Less fortunately, Olympia reveals she’s been collecting evidence of Matty’s true identity the entire time. This leads to Olympia locking Matty in a room and forcing her to write out a full confession.
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Olympia’s faith in Matty is now almost entirely shot, and her dilemma over whether to shred the Wellbrexa file to save Julian will only complicate things further. With their friendship having become one of the emotional cores of the series, Matlock simply can’t feel the same until they’re back on good terms. We won’t know for sure until the next season, but they may have a distressingly uphill climb before things return to anything even remotely resembling normalcy.
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