Matlock Season 2, Episode 15, “Who Are You?,” and Season 2, Episode 16, “Matty Matlock,” create a breathless, guest-star-filled, supersized season finale. These episodes keep everyone – characters and audience alike – guessing until the final moments. It’s a real question of if and how Matty, Olympia, and Julian will be able to pull it all off. The two-episode finale harnesses that nervous energy into the countdown to the merger. With seven days on the clock, the finality of everything – the Wellbrexa case and beyond – rings in the characters’ ears. There are many moving parts and even more new and returning characters, giving Matlock a lot to juggle. These two episodes do it with the ease of a legal drama, confidently ending a two-season chapter and entering a new one.
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Is It the End of Matty Matlock?
Starting “Who Are You?” with that nightmare sequence is a genius choice. It starts this Matlock season finale on unsteady ground, in the depths of a worst-case scenario. All the applause to the two episodes’ writer Nicki Renna and director Kat Coiro. The edit of Madeline Kingston and Matty Matlock coming together on the scissor blades with her bar card between them – flawless.
That visual lingers in the finale and twists when Sarah calls Matty “Matty Matlock,” which is such a great way to compound on that distrust. The editing also tells a story when Matty plays up the accent in front of Joey in one scene that folds into Matty using it in the case that involves real people who don’t know Matty is playing some version of a part. Continuing to do so has real-world effects, as seen in Matty’s attempted reconciliation with Belvin.
Refreshingly, Matlock looks at the other side of the coin, where giving up Matty Matlock also has an impact. Two of the standout scenes in this season finale are about just that. Matty saying, “Never realized how much I enjoyed being her. She smiles more. She judges less. She’s not a bull in a china shop. Plus, she wears the most comfortable shoes,” weighs heavily. This show, as it is good at, explores the grief of that. It’s also present when Edwin watches a (wonderfully-performed) drunk Matty laugh with Olympia, like Matty hasn’t done since Ellie. It’s beautiful when he says that he won’t take that joy away from her.
Matlock then folds that into the case of the week, managing personal risks against a money-hungry corporation. The supercut of drunk Matty and Olympia emphasizes how true this friendship is, and it may not be like this in seven days. That’s a real risk for Matty and Olympia.
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The Rot Runs Deep
There’s a chance for them to keep their careers and friendship intact if they let Senior walk. There is some truth in Matty’s argument that Senior (and Julian) going to jail won’t bring Ellie back. Therefore, it’s a good choice for Julian to be the one who wants to make things right. His initial motivation to do the right thing only sharpens into a clearer focus in Julian’s desire not to be like his father. It’s not all that shocking – more expected – that Senior continues to pull all the strings. He did pull off the initial cover-up, after all.
Eva’s involvement is the real, jaw-dropping reveal. Watching Justina Machado and Skye P. Marshall go toe-to-toe in that scene is like watching the athletes at the top of their game. It’s entirely gripping – then again, so is the chemistry between Marshall’s Olympia and Bridget Regan’s DA Barrett. (Another – and not the last – Jane the Virgin cast member has joined Matlock!)
Machado’s read of “I have hated Howard Markston since April 5, 2010, when he laid my ambitions bare and forced me to sacrifice my soul for them. It can’t be for nothing,” says everything anyone needs to know about Eva. Only then can I understand her motivation, even if I don’t agree with her actions – or lack thereof. She also circles Matlock back to an excellent question: Where’s the crime if Senior put the study back?
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To Justice and New Law Firms
The crime still happened! It’s thrilling and satisfying that Matlock takes Senior down by having the wire be on his person instead of Julian. The pen callback is exceptional! Relatedly, these two episodes are two more strong outings in a season full of them for Jason Ritter. His performance carries that culminating scene. I believe the lie he sells to Senior to fake out the wire, and I know when the reactions to what Senior says are real. When the arrests go down, I’m glad Matlock takes a beat for Julian to look at his father and say, “Worth it.”
I also like what Matlock seemingly tees up between Julian and Gina Rodriguez’s FBI Agent, Lida Guitierrez. Matty introducing them by saying, “Choosing justice is romantic,” has to be a sign. Showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman, who held the same role on Jane the Virgin, isn’t going to reunite with Rodriguez just for these two episodes, right? The Matlock season finale delivers a lot of exposition about the character, too. That point feels relevant, given that the legal drama appears to lose Gwen and Hunter, guest-starring characters, in the merger.
Then again, it’s relevant to connect with Lida in some way. Otherwise, Matlock won’t earn Lida’s “hero moment.” The delayed satisfaction of that win is almost unbearable – down to the final seconds! The show more than earns Matty and Olympia confidently walking away from that scene. Matlock finds both closure and opportunity in Matty introducing herself to Lida as Matty Matlock. With the new firm on the horizon, Sarah and Belvin joining the team (Will there be some fallout there?), and the first case already lined up, the future looks bright!
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I really love this show. I binged on the two seasons this past month. I couldn’t stop!😍Can’t wait to see what’s next. Matty and Olivia make a great team.