While I may not wield a gavel or a wig in a courtroom, my background in journalism school, six months as a copy editor at a legal publishing firm, a deep appreciation for legal thrillers, and an unhealthy fascination with TV law firm commercials have made me a fan of the arcane language of the law. Terms like "collateral estoppel" are like magic words to me—mysterious and powerful when wielded correctly. They remind me why lawyers love the law: the art of casting spells with words.
This week's episode of Matlock is a masterclass in legal acrobatics, with Madeline Kingston at its center, effortlessly tossing around legal jargon as if it were a ball in a game of keep-away. Her employers want her to keep doing it, and on a meta-level, the highly-rated CBS TV series needs its Matty to stay in the courtroom. Without her, what would this show even be?
While I still have my reservations about how Matlock can maintain its current formula for another season without straining credibility, I must admit that this week's episode was yet another entertaining and unpredictable installment, more nerve-wracking than most network dramas these days.
The title "Another Matlock" plays on several levels. It's a nod to the judge in the episode's case-of-the-week, a fan of Andy Griffith who tests Matty's legal knowledge to the brink. Does she like hot dogs? Does she recognize his reference to the season one two-parter "The Court Martial"? Does she mind him whistling the Matlock theme? What's it like to be a Matlock?
But let's not underestimate the "another" in the title. It's a reference to Olympia, who uses all the tricks and maneuvers that Matty herself would employ to outmaneuver a rival. She's a master of her own legal acrobatics, just like Matty.
In the opening gambit of Olympia's master plan, the case of the week casts a shadow over Matty's expected final day at Jacobson-Moore. With their research dispatched to The New York Times, Matty believed her tenure at the firm was nearing its end. However, Olympia's mastery of the Kingstons' machinations allowed her to feign illness, forcing Matty to step into the lead counsel role for the team's current client, Dasha, a former Russian mob associate turned renegade against her abusive ex-lover Alexei. Should Matty wish to avoid contempt of court, her stay at the firm is extended.
Matty's hopes for a swift resolution through the magical words "collateral estoppel" were swiftly dashed. Dasha, a client facing a lawsuit from Rocco, one of Alexei's former associates whom she had led into a beating ordered by Alexei, didn't enjoy the same protections in the new case. The team was tasked with proving once again that Alexei posed such a threat to Dasha that she was not responsible for any of his deeds and couldn't testify safely in public.
Matty wove a psychological web around the jury. She called a reluctant witness from Alexei's mob-infested neighborhood, but secretly coaxed him into refusing to answer her questions—both to shield him from trouble and to show the jury his fear. Then, she brought Alexei into the courtroom from prison and provoked him into an explosive outburst on the stand. Her point was made: Dasha remained hidden, and the jury determined she was not liable for any harm inflicted on Rocco, himself a former mobster who had allowed Alexei's gang to get away with heinous deeds.
As in all Matlock tales, this case mirrors the complex dynamics between Matty and Olympia's lives. Matty urges Olympia to turn against Julian, who has had numerous opportunities to come clean about burying the damning Wellbrexa study. Olympia counters that Julian is not to blame as he acted under duress from his father. To Matty, Julian is a Rocco; to Olympia, he is a Dasha.
Olympia attempts to drive this point home directly to Edwin, whom she correctly perceives as the Kingston most eager to bury Julian and end Matty's charade. When Olympia discovers that Matty had broken into her safe and swiped the Wellbrexa documents, she reveals that those papers were fakes and that the real study was kept in a safety deposit box in Connecticut. Matty compels Olympia to retrieve it with Edwin in tow, and during the drive, Olympia reminds Edwin that she and Julian are real people with children. She also reminds him that Matty had gaslit Olympia for an entire year, causing her to lose trust in the father of her kids.
As was the case with the season premiere, I naively—and mistakenly—assumed I had a grasp of where this episode was headed. Olympia would charm Edwin, they'd all agree to postpone the meeting with the Times, and Matty would embrace the plan to bring down Senior with Julian's help. Simple, right? But "simple" is not a word that applies to Matlock—especially not when it comes to its central premise. It turns out Olympia has a ruse up her sleeve: she withholds the documents from Matty to lure her into an angry outburst, which Olympia records. The moment where a seething Matty boasts, "I could burn this courthouse to the ground and they'd still be eating butterscotch out of my hand!" is a tell-tale sign of her downfall. We saw in season one how Matty's anger issues sometimes lead her to make ill-advised decisions. Apparently, Olympia noticed too.
Thus, after two episodes of season two, we've reached a pivotal point in the story where Olympia is going to make Matty keep working for her to buy Julian some more time. Again, I believe this will be untenable! I think both Olympia and Matty have overplayed their hands, and "business as usual" won't suffice anymore—especially when they both now openly disdain each other. (The look of contempt on Olympia's face at the end of this episode, while dressed in a stylish robe and sipping a big glass of wine, could shatter a boulder.)
Yet I also understand that, beyond all the drama unfolding, Matty truly desires to remain at her job. It's a peculiar kind of punishment to force someone to keep doing what she loves.
