Matlock Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Belly of the Beast

As we wind down a roller coaster of a first season, Matlock Season 1 Episode 7, “Belly of the Beast,” reminds us that things are never black and white. Whether we are talking about the liability of a drug company, Matty’s history and intentions, or even Billy wanting to propose, the message is clear: nothing is ever nice, clean, or easy.

We only have one more episode left in the first half of this season, and so things had to start moving a bit faster. It’s probably one of the first episodes where it feels as though the typical Matty spark is missing.

And yes, the writers try to make up for that by claiming her anxiety is getting worse, but that can only take the characterization so far. Even when she was full-on panicking in the last few episodes, she was still on top of her game and throwing out one-liners like her life depended on it.

Rushing to the Finish Line

For the first half of this season, we have been moving along at a pace that felt natural and unequivocally drew us in. While we still have more time to explore these characters, it feels like the writers are trying to tie everything up.

Unfortunately, “Belly of the Beast” reaches a bit too far, too quickly, making Matty’s first foray into the Wellbrexa team crash and burn. Not only does she get outsmarted, but it appears as though she lets the opinions of pharma dude-bros shake her confidence.

And yes, this is a highly personal case considering she’s been aiming to get on Wellbrexa from the start. However, during her time working under Olympia it has been established that Matty has evolved into a more confident lawyer with focus and drive.

I will contend that we all lose our confidence from time to time and fumble a play in the final hour. However, the writing behind this fumble is weak and not well-developed, causing it to stick out like a sore thumb.

A big proponent of that fumble is that the writers are trying to do too much in one episode. They are trying to show Matty in the home stretch of her goals and have her stumble because she is unfamiliar with the players.

Unfortunately, the second part doesn’t jive with who Matty is. After all, this woman walked into this law firm having gotten them vital information without being on the inside track for that particular case. 

You mean to tell me Senior, Julian, and Trent are going to shake her to the point she can’t get a good read on their client until the witching hour, after she’s been thrown from the case?

Sarah and Billy Without Matty

One of the more fun aspects of Matlock Season 1 Episode 7, “Belly of the Beast,” centers on Billy and Sarah. The previous episode, Matlock Season 1 Episode 6, “Sixteen Steps,” felt a bit off because Sarah and Billy were absent from the overall storyline. 

Well, now they are back, and they are scrambling because they’ve become too accustomed to Matty saving their butts in the areas they struggle with. These two characters are finally getting to be more in the limelight, and that saves some of the other writing mishaps.

It’s wonderful to watch Sarah come out of her shell and show more compassion for Billy and herself. Matty’s move forces them out of the shadows, pushing Sarah’s boundaries more than Billy’s.

She now has to find it in her to be more personable with clients in order to help build cases for them. This professional move actually has benefits for Sarah’s life outside of work as well.

Sure, she’s still terrified to show the woman she likes that she’s a singer, but even that is easily bypassed, allowing Sarah to give more of herself to the fledgling relationship. After all, it’s because she sings that Kira plants a big one on her, practically making their coupling official. 

Meanwhile, Billy is working to tamp down a bit on his people-pleasing to finally ask Claudia to marry him. While his growth without Matty isn’t firmly centered in his work, it does benefit his partnership with Sarah.

By people-pleasing less, Billy and Sarah are finally able to meet each other as equals in the professional environment. It’s a huge move and could be fun to explore further next season.

However, no matter how much he works to finally bite the bullet and ask Claudia to marry him, it doesn’t ease the sting of rejection. Luckily, Sarah’s newfound personability allows her to see his heartbreak and comfort him with an embrace and warm words.

These two are so much fun to watch, and “Belly of the Beast” only increases that tenfold.

Olympia and Julian, and Senior?

So far, Matlock hasn’t given us much in the way of Senior, which doesn’t help this episode at all. Honestly, the lack of presence and development of Senior makes his strong-arming Julian throughout “Belly of the Beast” feel over-the-top.

Therefore, when Senior muscles his way into the room and announces the plan forward, which Julian had just indicated moments before, we find ourselves just rolling our eyes. It comes across as juvenile and petty which doesn’t give us reason to care about Senior any more than we did the moment before. 

In fact, we don’t even have enough insight into Julian as a character to feel confident enough to sympathize with him against his father. Especially considering he’s one of Matty’s top suspects regarding her daughter’s death.

Sure, Jason Ritter is charming and uses that to ingratiate us to Julian, but there is still so much we don’t know about him or his dynamic with the ones closest to him—his father and Olympia.

We’ve gotten a bit more with his reconciliation with Olympia these past few episodes, but it isn’t enough to help us understand why he and Olympia had problems in the first place. Or why he doesn’t ever stand up against his father despite having a reputation for being one of the best lawyers at the firm.

I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating: nothing we’ve seen from Julian thus far would have us believe the ruthless reputation that everyone talks about. Coupled with Senior’s comment about how saying Julian isn’t like his father is a lie, we are led to believe there is so much more about these characters that needs exploring.

The question is will we get it by the end of the winter finale? Probably not, unless the writers try to rush that too. 

Stray Thoughts

• Having Shea return only to complain about the acapella group seems a waste of the screen time. She’s a human lie detector, but this plot point makes her seem less than she’s been painted as previously.
• Kathy Bates continues to be the stronghold of the show. Her talent is immense.

 

What did you think of this episode of Matlock? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Matlock airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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