Review: Matlock, "Who Are You?" and "Matty Matlock" | Season 2, Episodes 15 and 16

Hey free subscribers—you'll end up with two finale reviews in your inbox with this one, as Matlock makes an early exit and leaves Elsbeth standing alone. To chime in on Josh's take on the finale, become a paid subscriber.

“Just thinking about the end.”

Matlock occupies a very strange place within the familiar concept of the CBS procedural. It’s a legal show, so there’s a standard case-of-the-week element, but for a show that exists as a reboot of recognizable intellectual property, it’s just as focused (if not more so) on the series arc about who “Matty Matlock” actually is and what she’s doing at Jacobson Moore. As such, I've always found it curious that Matlock is such a massive success. It’s not that the show’s quality relative to its ratings surprises me, but it's kind of stunning to me that this show has continued to be head-and-shoulders above a lot of other programs, especially when you factor in people watching within the seven days after a new episode airs. When I see the industry trades noting that CBS shows like Tracker and Marshals and Sheriff Country do really well, I think, “Well, of course, because those almost sound like parodies of CBS shows.” That Matlock is also among the top 20 is a pleasant surprise. It speaks to the sense that CBS would want such a show to run as long as humanly possible. 

So I find it strange to see articles like this arrive before the finale. I know it’s become extremely common (to the point of being a little dull) that showrunners of various and sundry shows talk to TV journalists both directly before and after big episodes. This exists, of course, to hype up the show in as many outlets as possible. But seeing Jennie Snyder Urman all but state in advance that, no, really, the Jacobson Moore plotline would be resolved by the end of the finale either amounted to her lying or her essentially ruining the show for anyone who’s curious enough to just read up on it. I do my able best to stay mostly unaware outside of seeing what guests may be shouted out in press releases, but after the comment, I did what I assumed would be a lot of digging, and instead took about five seconds to find that article. Considering how this series’ pilot episode concluded on a hell of a twist, and how it loves to surprise its audience, the showrunner going out of her way to publicly let viewers know that the storyline serving as the foundation for its big twist would be resolved felt…off. 

As much as we’ve talked about the Jacobson Moore plotline this season, I’ve also noted that as compelling as Matlock can be, it has very infrequently attempted to have Madeline Kingston role-play as Matty Matlock in the most familiar location: the courtroom. If this show were to resolve the Big Bad story, I could easily envision a world where the main characters create a firm of their own, but would Madeline Kingston actually be in the courtroom? It’s fun to watch Kathy Bates in this role, but I wouldn’t mind it if the woman who would be Matlock actually acts like Matlock every now and again.

But, hey, credit where credit is due (I guess): Urman was not leading people on. While the Jacobson Moore storyline can’t exactly be defined as fully concluded, a big chunk of this show has seemingly wrapped up. Senior and just about everyone else at the firm are arrested by the FBI thanks to a well-placed pen in Senior’s jacket and his helpful confession to Julian after confirming that he was faking his dementia and knew about his son's betrayal. The now-heroic and contrite Julian is arrested for his complicity in the original scheme, but as he came forward to Agent Lida Gutierrez (Gina Rodriguez), I assume he can get some kind of plea bargain. Sarah (and the returning Mrs. Belvin) are informed by Edwin about who “Matty Matlock” actually is. And hey, if Julian does get sentenced to jail, he has legal representation in the form of the new law firm Lawrence and Matlock…or is it Matlock and Lawrence?