Matlock Season 2 Episode 1 Review: The Before Times

With the end of Matlock Season 1, things were left a little in the air in terms of Olympia and Matty’s friendship. Now, on Matlock Season 2 Episode 1, “The Before Times,” the two women seem to be on steady footing again, but they still aren’t being entirely honest with each other.

The whole episode it’s hard to keep up with who has the actual upper hand when it comes to the Wellbrexa documents. On the one hand, Olympia does seem like she wants to help Matty’s case, but then she is speaking with Julian and it feels like she wants to protect him in order to protect their children.

It’s a very messy place to be, but very in line with what we’ve come to expect from this show. In fact, having both Matty and Olympia toeing the line between truth and lie instead of just Matty makes things that much more intriguing.

Matty and Edwin Have A Lot on Their Plate

On top of everything going on with Wellbrexa, Matty and Edwin have to contend with the arrival of Joey, the man who could be Alfie’s father. It’s a stressor they don’t want to have on their shoulders, but it’s happening regardless.

Either way, this new arrival creates quite a bit of tension between the couple, especially since Edwin is pushing for Matty to call The New York Times about the evidence they have for Wellbrexa.

It’s an indicator that Matty is conflicted about her place in both worlds that she’s created over the past few months. She still has her job at Jacobson Moore, and yet her long-term goal of taking them down for the death of Ellie is coming to a head.

Kathy Bates makes these stressful situations seem as easy as breathing with her ability to portray Matty as the trustworthy person she’s presented herself as all this time. Even under stress, Matty seems to be holding her own much better than she did at the end of last season when Olympia started to find out about the deception.

Even as she realizes that the DNA test is going to come back showing Joey is Alfie’s father, Matty never loses her cool. Viewers are led to believe she’s not even considering what Edwin wants in terms of the evidence because she’s so believable as Olympia’s friend.

Olympia is Now Partner

Thanks to the result of the big case at the end of Matlock Season 1 Episode 19, “Tricks of the Trade — Part Two,” Olympia is now a partner at Jacobson Moore. This comes in conjunction with Julian deciding to leave the firm and Senior reassigning his case to Olympia.

This case is wearing on Olympia’s nerves as she also tries to find further evidence to implicate Senior instead of Julian for the missing documents. It means she’s not as focused on her client as she normally is, which shows in how frequently things keep coming up that put a kink in their defense.

She’s pawning quite a bit off on Billy and Sarah to the point it really feels as though the case is taking a big backseat to her other concern, protecting Julian.

For the first time, this case doesn’t feel like it’s an important part of the episode. In fact, the bits of it we did get were made to feel as though things were being drawn out unnecessarily. 

From the start, it’s been hard to get a complete read on Olympia. She’s likable enough due to her relationship with Matty, but I still get a feeling she can’t be trusted — much like Matty.

In this particular situation, the episode feels a bit bogged down by the amount of subterfuge going on between Olympia and Matty. Because we aren’t getting a clear truth from either it’s a struggle to know who to root for.

Matty Comes Out on Top?

As the episode draws to a close, it definitely seems as though Matty now has the upper hand. However, Olympia can’t be counted out either. Both of these women are fascinating and clever in different ways.

This makes it hard to keep score.

However, we are mostly getting the story from Matty’s point of view, so we don’t really know what Olympia is thinking. This becomes more of an issue the more Olympia learns the truth of Matty’s intentions.

Is she just playing Matty like a fiddle in order to get around the information getting out against Jacobson Moore? Or is she truly on Matty’s side and looking for a way to allow the information to get out that doesn’t put herself and her kids under the bus?

That said, Matty manages to play Olympia just like she did the whole of Season 1 in order to get the Wellbrexa documents from the safe in Olympia’s home. It’s actually quite genius that she makes a fake version to keep Olympia from finding out.

Having the final missing piece in their possession allows Matty and Edwin to take that final step and move on with their lives. Unfortunately, I feel something is going to get in the way of the case being so easily open and shut. 

Whether it will be the Times not being interested or Olympia finds out the documents are missing, causing tension, or Senior makes a move, we can’t be sure. Either way, things aren’t going to be so cut and dry.

Whatever the case, Matty and Olympia’s friendship will continue to be put through the wringer alongside her marriage to Edwin. Season 2 is bound to keep us on our toes, and for that, I am very excited.

Stray Thoughts:

• I am glad that Julian worked to come back to Jacobson Moore because his being present will only add to the tension
• Joey not being sober is going to cause so much upheaval, especially in terms of Alfie
• I hope the lack of any real focus on Olympia’s team as a whole doesn’t happen the whole season. After all, this is a legal drama; we need that courtroom focus to balance things out better.
• Billy and Claudia deciding to get back together and raise the baby is probably going to be the way they write him off the show.

 

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Matlock airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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