Madeline “Matty” Matlock takes the stand as a new take on a familiar favorite in Matlock Season 1, Episode 1 “Pilot.” Written by Jennie Snyder Urman and directed by Kate Coiro, this legal drama breaks away from the one you may know to carve out space for a fresh case with compelling characters and a gripping serialized arc.
This series premiere cleverly and quickly separates itself from Andy Griffith’s Ben Matlock and his NBC/ABC series. It’s never a question whether this series is a continuation of that one, which could’ve become a long-running doubt. Instead, this episode uses the distinction to set up a satisfying bookend and emphasize Matlock’s tone.
Matty uses the differences between her and the (other, it’s very meta) fictional character to argue for her believability as an older woman and lawyer in the workforce. How that comes back around to help and hinder her creates such great investment opportunities for the series. It’s already exciting to imagine other ways Matlock will conversate with the series it’s reimagining as this season (and, hopefully, many more) unfolds.
Meanwhile, Matlock – mostly Leah Lewis’ Sarah – also uses the thinly veiled connections between Matty and Griffith’s character to joke about other famous on-screen lawyers. Matlock almost exhausts all those jokes (Down to playing the original Matlock theme song!) in the series premiere to make way for its much stickier plot, revealed in the end.
Even before that twist unwinds to the opening scene, this episode proves it can balance a healthy sense of humor with weightier storylines.
This pilot goes from Matty pretending to be a family friend so a man will offer up any information he may know to Matty having a genuine, heartfelt conversation with Carlin about her sobriety. The hilarity and sincerity come in equal measure, mainly for Matty, like when she bonds with Cherlene about finding a man who knows where the clitoris is. Those scenes have so much range, which bodes well for the series.
The script is sharp and quick-witted, and it comes alive with this ensemble led by the legendary Kathy Bates. As always, she is already fantastic in the titular role.
It’s no wonder that Matlock’s first episode hones in on “Matty” Matlock. That character is well-defined by the final minute because Madeline offers her entire life story throughout the episode. It feels as though there’s no stone left unturned because the biggest one is that “Matty” is a facade for Madeline’s quest for justice for her daughter.
It’s an excellent bait and switch that Matlock Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot,” builds up to well.
It’s surprising, but it doesn’t come out of nowhere. Even in the show’s promotion, there are context clues (Using Britney Spears’ “Oops!…I Did It Again”) that something is coming. Contextually, Matty’s resourceful tactics to get the job at Jacobson Moore and the premise of “nobody sees us coming” encourage viewers not to underestimate this character.
Regardless, the twist has so many complex, moving parts that it’s challenging to fully guess where it will go until the camera reveals Matty’s board of strings and suspects.
Upon seeing it, there are still more questions than answers, which speaks volumes for this serialized arc’s longevity. One of the best aspects of revealing this twist in Matlock Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot,” is that it rips the rug out from under the audience – not the characters. It leaves that mystery to loom over the characters and their weekly cases.
In the meantime, the series premiere suggests Matlock will strengthen the core interpersonal relationships to maximize any emotional and professional fallout. For example, this episode does some work to build trust between Matty, Billy, and Sarah, specifically on that back patio. Likewise, it teases the meaty story between the recently separated co-workers Julian and Olympia. Olympia and her “forever” father-in-law, Senior, also have a supportive relationship that will hopefully be explored further.
However, where Matlock truly succeeds is the dynamic between Bates’s Matty and Skye P. Marshall’s Olympia. Matty has more scenes with Sarah and Billy as she works the case and learns some of the ins and outs at Jacobson Moore. Still, the relationship between Matty and Olympia becomes the crux of Matlock’s series debut.
It pays off, too, because it’s disappointing to see Olympia on Madeline’s board of suspects. Matlock Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot,” introduces Olympia as anything but one-not or periphery. Undoubtedly, Olympia holds as much importance to this series as Matty.
After all, this episode’s case-of-the-week – the first for a series that will surely be full of them – is one that Olympia spearheads. Olympia believes in Raymond Harris’s innocence, understanding the systems are built to work against him. The episode includes the additional element that this case serves as a precedent with the firm, potentially proving that social justice could bring in just as good money as defending Big Pharma.
That alone stirs up such great conflict between Matty and Olympia, doubling as another character-based hook for this procedural series.
Olympia, who is walking the tightrope to make senior partner, must rely on Matty as a team member. Meanwhile, Matty has to maintain a cover to uncover the truth that could help the woman and law firm that may have played a broader part in her daughter’s death. The characters and layers of all of this are fascinating.
Matlock premieres into a slate already chock-full of procedural shows: other new additions, long-running series, and spinoffs of those shows fill up CBS and other networks.
Matlock has to stand among them but also apart from them, and this pilot proves it’s more than capable of both. This episode raises expectations and twists them on their heads without ever diminishing them. Matlock maintains momentum even after the screen fades to black, which is quite the impression to leave with a pilot.
—
What did you think of Matlock Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot?” Let us know in the comments below!
Matlock Season 1 returns on its usual day and time on Thursday, October 10, at 9/8c on CBS.
Kathy Bates is as ominously sweet as her character in “Misery.” The ending blew me away!