Matlock Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Piece of My Heart

The weight of Ellie’s addiction is even heavier on Matty’s shoulders during Matlock Season 2 Episode 4, “Piece of My Heart.” As she goes undercover to try and weasel more information out of Debra Palmer, she’s plagued by the memories of Ellie in her final sober moments.

Flashing back to Ellie times is nothing new, and honestly, at this point, they feel a bit repetitive. Especially since the majority of these flashbacks occur during the final year of her life, which I feel we’ve rehashed enough.

Sure, it ties into the karaoke that Matty is doing with Debra, but still not entirely necessary. At least not to the extent that this episode takes them. Less is sometimes more.

Matty Tries to Woo Debra

It was only a matter of time before the show took advantage of Jason Ritter’s amazingly talented wife, Melanie Lynskey. It seems only fitting that she plays a character as quirky and skittish as Debra Palmer.

She masterfully captures our attention with how serious Debra is about her makeup skills, which gives an air of the unserious. She truly believes she has created a work of art when she paints Matty’s face just as she would a dead body for a funeral.

It is a nice battle of wits as one tries to be as evasive as possible about her past transgressions while the other is lying completely about who she is. There are moments where it feels like Matty just might get something of consequence out of Debra only for the younger woman to pull back at the last second. 

It isn’t until they are at an evening of karaoke that it starts to feel like either Debra knows she’s being played or she’s unable to talk about some things. While Matty and Olympia figure she’s signed an NDA it’s still not entirely clear if that’s what her holdup is.

Especially considering she blocked Matty’s contact. That feels more than just an NDA. It feels more like she knows that Matty knows something, and she isn’t fooled.

It’ll be interesting to see if this is where they let go of the Debra Palmer lead or if they continue to find other ways to get her to talk.

Olympia and Matty are Both Battling Reminders of Loss

With Matlock the case of the week often falls to the background of what is going on with Wellbrexa. However, this week it ties in nicely with the silent battles Matty and Olympia are currently going through.

In fact, it’s easy to see that Olympia is exhausted by her distrust in Matty, the birthday of her late father, and trying a case where a widow is trying to get fair compensation for the death of her husband. There is so much emotional baggage on Olympia’s shoulders with this episode, it’s no surprise that she ends up having a conversation with Matty centered on grief.

The moment when Olympia tells Matty that while she hasn’t lost a child she knows what it feels like to experience a loss that great is when we see a snippet of her more human side. Olympia doesn’t let it out very often, but when she does we should all brace for impact.

Despite her distrust in Matty, Olympia can see that the older woman is really struggling and so she tries to make amends. In a way, it feels as though her actions are inspired by the bond Gloria talks about with her late husband, Frank. 

Both Matty and Olympia end up taking something away from this particular case as exhibited in how they interact with those around them. For Olympia, it is that olive branch toward Matty in her time of need, but for Matty it is saying yes to a dance with her husband and realizing she should’ve been more present with Ellie.

The Wellbrexa Break

As is typical, this episode ends with a twist we should’ve seen coming, but typically don’t until it is upon us. This time around with “Piece of My Heart,” it’s a twist that brings Julian that much closer to the real truth.

He has managed to see a set of text messages from Matty and Mrs. Belvin talking about the leak and other Wellbrexa things. On top of that, he saw Matty leaving Mrs. Belvin’s office at the time that she used the woman’s ID to print off those Debra Palmer records.

All of this to add a smidge more drama to the already intense Wellbrexa scandal. They’ve only just squeaked past Senior’s purge, only to now be faced with Julian’s consequences.

It could lead to a three-way take-down, but I still don’t fully trust Julian. We haven’t been given enough evidence that proves he’s on the side of releasing the Wellbrexa information.

Julian has much more to lose than gain if any of the Wellbrexa information gets out. So, it’s only natural for Olympia and Matty to take this as the threat that it is.

 

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Matlock airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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