TV Review: "Matlock" (2024)
This Katy Bates vehicle is a remarkable success and a timely reminder of how great network TV can be when it's allowed to just be itself.
Hello, dear reader! Do you like what you read here at Omnivorous? Do you like reading fun but insightful takes on all things pop culture? Do you like supporting indie writers? If so, then please consider becoming a subscriber and get the newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. There are a number of paid options, but you can also sign up for free! Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading and now, on with the show!
Warning: Full spoilers for the series ahead.
Like many of you out there, I’m growing a bit fatigued with the reboots and rebrandings that seem determined to take over Hollywood and squeeze out what little bit of originality and creativity remains in the desiccated entertainment industry. As I wrote a month or two ago, however, I was remarkably and pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the new version of Matlock. I was particularly impressed with the pilot, which had everything I could have wanted from a revamped take on a 1980s/1990s classic. It managed to hit just the right spot between admiration for the original while also being very much its own beast. And besides, who doesn’t love a bit of self-referentiality in their network TV?
Of course, it probably goes without saying that much–though certainly not all–of this reboot’s success rests on Kathy Bates’ shoulders. I mean, come on, this woman has been a true icon on both the big and small screen, with numerous awards (including both an Oscar and two Emmys) and nominations to her name. If ever there was someone who was more than prepared to take on the iconic role of Madeline Matlock (the nom de guerre assumed by Madeline Kingston), it would be Bates. She brings a steely grit to this septuagenarian determined to get justice for her daughter, even as she isn’t afraid to show her softer side. Bates’ particularly excels at inhabiting the many identities that Matty adopts, but her best moments are those in which she allows her character’s grief, in all of its raw intensity, to shine through, whether it’s commiserating with another mother, comforting a drug addict, or defending said addict from the dismissal of others.
That being said, the rest of the cast has continued to grow on me as the season has gone on. Skye P. Marshall is particularly remarkable as Olympia, and I love the way that she captures so many of the complexities and difficulties of a Black woman in the legal profession. Jason Ritter is as charming as his father as Olympia’s ex Julian, and both David Del Rio and Leah Lewis are entertaining and very funny as Billy and Sarah, the associates with whom Matty is assigned to work. Lastly, Beau Bridges is avuncular yet ever-so-slightly evil as one of the managing partners at the firm. The various members of the cast really do excel at bouncing their energies off of one another, creating just the type of synergy that you need for a network show like this one to really work on a week to week basis.
Moreover, Matlock excels at balancing both a serialized narrative (Matty’s ongoing efforts to find out which member of the firm hid the documents that might have saved her daughter’s life, as well as others who were caught up in the opioid epidemic) with the more episodic one we expect of a series like this one (with each episode also focusing on a case of the week). We are constantly on the edge of our seats wondering just what Matty is going to discover and, at the same time, worrying that her ruse might be discovered and her fledgling friendships with her coworkers come crashing down around her. Like all great network TV, Matlock asks us, invites us even, to care about these characters and want to spend more time with them.
Matlock is enjoyable for two other very important reasons. First, there’s the fact that it has genuine emotional stakes. Whether or not you agree with the subterfuge that Matty maintains (more on that in a moment), there’s no question that she truly does mourn her daughter and the life that was taken away by the scourge of addiction. Again and again we see the way that the grief rips through her, particularly when she’s speaking to other young women who have lost their way and are trying to find their way back. We also see her abiding love and affection for both her husband, Edwin (Sam Anderson) and grandson Alfie (Aaron Harris). I know that I, for one, love seeing two septuagenarians demonstrate genuine love and respect for one another on the small screen. Even when they disagree, it’s still clear that Matty and Edwin are united not just by their grief over their daughter’s death but also by their unbending love.
The second reason to enjoy Matlock is, of course, its embrace of moral ambiguity. Yes, Matty is absolutely right to want to hold the law firm accountable for helping a drug company hide the truth about the addictiveness of opioids, but is she justified in lying to people who are otherwise acting in good faith? Moreover, is she doing the ethical thing by enlisting Alfie into her schemes, even when that means that he has to sacrifice his schoolwork? Such is the brilliance of Bates’ performance, and of the (quite strong) writing of the show, however, that you can’t help but want her to succeed. Matty Matlock may not be an antihero, but she’s damn close to it, and we love her.
As if there weren’t enough to enjoy in this series, there are also lesbians, including main character Sarah and a pair of grieving mothers whose story proves to be the emotional arc of one of a particularly strong episode. Given just how conservative CBS tends to be–and given the near-certainty that Hollywood writ large is going to start skewing to the right in the aftermath of Trump’s victory earlier this month–I take this as a sign that there is hope yet when it comes to the entertainment world. Even if Sarah isn’t a main character per se, it’s still quite fun to see a lesbian of Asian descent in a mainstream network drama.
At this point, we already know that we’re going to be getting a second season of the series. My own theory of the case is that the first season will end with Matty’s ruse being exposed to all of the other members of the firm, creating a catastrophic nadir from which she will have to try to try to emerge. Mark it down!
I don’t know about anyone else but I, for one, am more than a little excited about the return of at least some elements of network normalcy. There’s no doubt that we are living in an age of profound uncertainty, one in which the sands beneath our feet always seem to be shifting, and so it’s nice to be able to escape into a show like Matlock, which is both dramatically satisfying and often quite funny. It’s a gem of a show, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.