Matlock Season 1, Episode 4, “The Rabbit and the Hawk,” breaks some rules to find significant breakthroughs for Matty, Sarah, and Olympia. This episode addresses many lingering tensions between the ensemble, creating new problems in their wake. Written by Jeffrey Lieber and directed by Kat Coiro, “The Rabbit and the Hawk” is a propulsive outing that strikes more than one emotional chord as it ups the ante of Matlock’s central mystery.
The Hawk in the Viper’s Nest
The episode pulls off those moving parts by bringing Beau Bridges’ Senior into Jacobson Moore’s action. Senior mainly exists in the peripherals of Matlock, pulling strings on the sidelines. Matlock Season 1, Episode 4, “The Rabbit and the Hawk,” raises the stakes of his position at the firm and in the characters’ lives by directly involving him in the case of the week. Senior, representing the building with black mold, opposes Olympia’s fight for justice, a more antagonistic side that Matlock has yet to reveal – at least towards Olympia.
Matlock Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot,” underlines Senior’s favor towards Olympia despite her recent filing for divorce from his son. Matlock Season 1, Episode 2, “Rome, in a Day,” starts to unpack Julian’s relationship with his father. “The Rabbit and the Hawk” takes those (often) fraught, intersecting relationships and dials them up to 10 as Olympia tries to help Robert Walton win the case in the wrongful death of his wife, Sandy. The tension escalates with every push of papers over Jacobson Moore’s firewall. It comes to a harrowing crash — Senior’s thirst for winning supersedes his loyalty to family or desire for justice.
Skye P. Marshall plays Olympia’s realization that Jacobson Moore is a “viper’s nest” so well. All the anger and heartbreak is visible in her performance, down to the tears in her eyes. It’s an excellent narrative turn that the fraction of her trust in Senior pushes Olympia to trust Matty. That dynamic will get even better, and “The Rabbit and the Hawk” proves the same about Olympia and Julian. Even though their marriage is over, they find common ground beyond co-parenting. That final scene between Olympia and Julian is such light-hearted but weighted work from Marshall and Jason Ritter; it’s easy to want more of them in Matlock.
Sarah, Billy, Friendship, and Balance
Alternatively, this episode (and the ones before it) never really gives Olympia and Elijah a chance. Like Matty and Olympia note, “The Rabbit and the Hawk” channels Elijah’s broken heart into “hostile” professional interactions. There’s a disconnect, though. Matlock spends so little time with Elijah. Their relationship never gets off the ground in the show before it ends in Matlock Season 1, Episode 3, “A Guy Named Greg.” So, when Elijah announces he is going to the Dallas office, it’s not disappointing for Olympia and Elijah’s romantic prospects. It’s more of a letdown because there is still much to learn about Elijah. However, Matlock’s season is far from over, and it is returning for a third season, so there’s hope this is the only beginning of a much longer chapter.
After all, Matlock is more than capable of expanding its ensemble members. “A Guy Named Greg” does an excellent job with Billy, and “The Rabbit and the Hawk” continues that character-based progress. It adds hilarious yet sincere depth to Patricia Belcher’s Mrs. Belvin and peels some of Sarah’s layers back. This episode defines her overachieving nature – she has no work/life balance. Of course, this story intersects with Matty’s struggles with involving Alfie in her plan. Those threads back to the serialized arc make both stronger in the end.
Even so, they work for Sarah to break her out of what could be a stifling, one-note mold. Matlock avoids that with the perfect deep-cut after “A Guy Named Greg” – Sarah doesn’t remember that Billy has a girlfriend of eight years. That exposition alone emphasizes the extent of Sarah’s tunnel vision at work. Consequently, it will likely take more time and therapy (I love that Matlock normalizes characters regularly going to therapy) for Sarah to break this pattern and find balance. “The Rabbit and the Hawk” instills real investment in that journey – and Claudia potentially introducing Sarah to a nice girl.
Matty and Remembering the Rabbit
“The Rabbit and the Hawk” also does excellent work dealing with the consequences of Alfie being so involved in Matty’s plan to uncover the truth about the hidden documents. “Rome, in a Day” propels this arc by mentioning Alfie’s homework slipping in quality. Then, Matlock compares Alfie’s enthused actions to Edwin’s lack thereof. Both of these are direct responses to the loss of their daughter and mother, respectively. This show makes grief and justice driving forces under every action, especially for Matty and her family. Those two forces constantly cause friction, making every emotion and step live wires.
This episode showcases that from the beginning – when Matty and Edwin panic about being unable to find Alfie, remembering similar situations with Ellie – to the end. Matty and Edwin’s argument at the end of Act 2 is a massive punctuation point because Kathy Bates and Sam Anderson work so well opposite one another. Edwin telling Matty that she’s “clearly” lost her “moral center” is a cutting comment that only he can say – Edwin is one of the few people in Matlock who knows the real her and why she fights for justice.
That relationship, spanning 49 years, is a moral center for Matty, and it’s great to see Matlock investing more time in all that it encompasses. It’s also evidence of Matlock becoming skilled at weaving that serialized arc through the procedural one. Robert’s comments about compromise and recognizing the other person’s pain circle back to Matty’s marriage. That case-of-the-week provides language to Matty’s alluring and dangerous game with Jacobson Moore, presumably revealing Senior as the hawk among rabbits. However, Matlock is no stranger to twists. Senior’s signature feels like one thread of a much larger web – all Matty has to do is prove it.
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What did you think of Matlock Season 1, Episode 4, “The Rabbit and the Hawk?” Let us know in the comments below!
New episodes of Matlock air on Wednesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
