Matlock Season 1, Episode 14, “Game Day,” is a considerate and creative examination of everyone caught in various webs of lies. This episode, written by Jeffrey Lieber and directed by Kat Coiro, uses the end-of-the-season push to amplify the pressure. At one point, that manifests in a confrontation between Matty and her younger sister, Bitsy, which results in illuminating effects. No effect is more surprising than this episode’s cliffhanger. “Game Day” navigates it all in confident and revitalizing changes in its storytelling.
MORE: Matlock Season 1, Episode 13 Review: ‘Pregame’
Case of the Week Goes Unsolved
The Wellbrexa investigation remains Matlock’s predominant serialized arc. Still, this show is a procedural drama in its legal cases. By definition, cases of the week find some sort of resolution by the episode’s end. Even the Slammed case from “Pregame” comes to a legal resolution with the revelation that Kennedy is the one who gives Violet the drink, not Zoey. “Game Day” challenges that closure by wading through the personal fallout, particularly with Marley Shelton’s Lydia Reed – Violet’s grieving mother.
Matlock puts so much on this class-action lawsuit beforehand – Olympia’s job at Jacobson Moore and its parallels to Matty’s fight for justice for Ellie – that it makes sense to be more than a case of the week. So rather than being frustrated, it’s more refreshing that it extends beyond “Game Day.” Not only does that mean Matlock can push back against its standard structure, but it also creates an even more engaging viewing experience. It’s good that this episode keeps audiences – and the characters – on their toes this late in the season.
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Matty and Bitsy Talk It Out
That sentiment extends to Bitsy visiting Matty (and Edwin and Alfie); this character throws a delightful wrench into Matty’s plans. Julie Haggerty makes a great impression in “Game Day.” It can sometimes be difficult for new characters to come into a show with an ensemble that clicks as well as Matlock’s does. Bitsy’s introduction is contextually challenging. The show previously establishes Matty’s perception of her. Plus, it uses so much of Bitsy’s personality (The Cindy Shaprio stories!) to create “Matty Matlock.”
Now, “Game Day” has to peel all of those pretexts back to get to the true Bitsy in the writing and Haggerty’s performance, and it’s a resounding success. Consistent, mostly lighthearted needlings make Bitsy and Matty’s sisterhood feel authentic. Although, it’s the deeper conversations – whether it be that initial confrontation in front of Matty’s big board or the one later on the couch – that give their sisterhood and Bitsy as an individual the most dimension. It’s realistic that Bitsy and Matty don’t come to definite conclusions about their mother or Ellie. Sometimes, conversations of that magnitude never find clean resolutions.
MORE: Matlock Season 1, Episode 11 Review: ‘A Traitor in Thine Own House’
“Game Day” – Olympia hires an outside party to select jurors rather than using Shae, putting the case at risk, on MATLOCK, Thursday, March 6 (9:01-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R): Jason Ritter as “Julian Markston”. Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 
“Game Day” – Olympia hires an outside party to select jurors rather than using Shae, putting the case at risk, on MATLOCK, Thursday, March 6 (9:01-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R): Yael Grobglas as “Shae Banfield”. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 
“Game Day” – Olympia hires an outside party to select jurors rather than using Shae, putting the case at risk, on MATLOCK, Thursday, March 6 (9:01-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R): Kathy Bates as “Madeline Matlock”. Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 
“Game Day” – Olympia hires an outside party to select jurors rather than using Shae, putting the case at risk, on MATLOCK, Thursday, March 6 (9:01-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R): Skye P. Marshall as “Olympia Lawrence”. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A New Device Inspires a New POV
Through it all, watching Bitsy challenge Matty’s perception of her relationship with the Wellbrexa case is interesting. She ends “Pregame” wanting a new perspective, and Bitsy delivers that shift by questioning if Matty is obsessed with it and using it instead of feeling the unavoidable pain. While that plays out as a dialogue that only these two characters change, it also works as an excellent precursor to the episode’s cliffhanger that comes from Matlock’s new storytelling device. “Game Day” introduces flashbacks with a twist: Matlock tells them from Matty’s (and Edwin’s) perspective.
It is an alternative and productive device to showcase a dialogue between Matty and the past. It’s far more entertaining than the (more often than not redundant) voiceovers Matlock often utilizes to remind Matty of a conversation or the next phase of her plan. Technically, these flashbacks are solid; the edit makes these imagined versions of the truth fit into the present. That seamless transition makes the twist – Matty interacting with Olympia – pay off. Every creative aspect of Matlock (Skye P. Marshall is incredible) works together to create a believable, confronting cliffhanger that changes everything.
MORE: Matlock Season 1, Episode 10 Review: ‘Crash Helmets On’
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What did you think of Matlock Season 1, Episode 14, “Game Day?” Let us know in the comments below!
New episodes of Matlock air on Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.
