The Legal Drama You Didn't Know You Missed

Katie Bolduc

Staff Writer

May 25th, 2025

Content Warning: Mentions of sexual assault and opioid addiction

CBS’s “Matlock” is a soft reboot of the 80’s show of the same name, but with modern twists. Starting the new show, the titular character Madeline Matlock (Kathy Bates) is told that a sex worker may hold the keys to exonerating her client. Problem is, no one at the law firm can track her down. Matty replies, “The world is full of invisible people.” 

Matty is all too aware of how invisible she herself is- in fact, that’s part of the plan. And yet, she comes to realize that she is far from the only invisible person within the walls of Jacobson Moore Law Firm. Far from the only one who will do just about anything to be seen.

As far as I can tell, the similarities between the original and reboot end at the fact that Matty chooses her alias after “that old TV show.”  Keep in mind, I’m speaking as someone who has not seen the original. This show’s main character is very distinct from the original Matlock, a renowned attorney played by Andy Griffith. In contrast, Madeline Matockis a woman who should be living up her golden years; instead, she is raising her grandson because his mother, Ellie, died of an opioid overdose. She has reason to believe that the law firm Jacobson Moore hid evidence that could have saved her daughter’s life. The show follows her on a quest to infiltrate the firm from the inside, discover who made that choice and expose them. 

Each episode focuses on a unique case, complete with a fun cast of characters like Sarah and Billy,  young socially-incompetent associates, and Dolores, the dog-loving secretary. Through it all, Matty uses her ‘sweet old grandma’ appearance to conceal her true intentions. The episodic style keeps every release feeling fresh and easy-going. At the same time, you never lose the unease that there is something wrong here. “Matlock”, both the character and the show itself, sometimes feels like it has been pulled from another era. It takes the feel of cable dramedies and combines it with modern issues and perspectives. This theme is set up early in episode 3, “A Guy Named Greg.” 

This episode is follows a dispute between Matty and her new boss, a fearsome attorney named Olympia Lawrence (Skye P. Marshall) over how to handle a sexual harassment case. The victim in question didn’t always handle the situation in the “best way.” She’s messy. As a result, Matty doesn’t believe they should take the case. In her day, “You just avoided the guy!” 

Ultimately, it is revealed that there was once a similar guy in Matty’s life: a guy named Greg. She made her career in contract law instead of litigation because Greg worked in litigation. All to avoid Greg. She realizes those sacrifices she thought to be small had actually come at the price of her dreams. And it shouldn’t have been that way. 

After a conversation with Olympia, Matty believes everyone deserves to have their story heard, even if they are “messy.” 

Messy like Matty’s own daughter was.

Ellie only has a few moments of screen time in the entire show, but her legacy lives on, even as powerful forces aim to keep her quiet. I find it notable that out of all the ways Ellie could have died, the writers chose the opioid crisis specifically. It is a real world tragedy with many victims who go unreported and unseen. And disturbingly, that is by design. 

The real-world Sackler family is responsible for creating OxyContin, and are often considered the instigators of the opioid epidemic. Depositions and court documents reveal that when reports of overdose deaths started coming into focus, Richard Sackler legitimately wrote in 2001 “this is not too bad. It could have been far worse.” 

What’s all the more sickening was the public campaign to make people believe the users were the problem, not the drug itself. While those people were demonized or forgotten, the Sacklers got to have their names printed on art museums worldwide and were celebrated as innovators. 

Don’t get me wrong, “Matlock” is not some somber “issue-piece.” It is a well-written and entertaining story regardless of the deeper themes. What I admire so much about the show is that it consistently uses its engaging, easy-going pace to shine a light on forgotten people and under recognized issues, whether that be sexual harassment, ageism, addiction or several more. It is truly worth your watch, with incredible acting, storytelling and purpose. 

The throughline of invisible people is carried all the way through to the show’s ending and final revelation…

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 FINALE BELOW

By the show’s end, Olympia discovers Matty’s treachery. At this point, the two women had become true friends to one another. For Olympia, someone for whom trust does not come easily, this betrayal cuts deep. The show doesn’t gloss over these emotions either. The final episodes highlight that no matter how just Matty’s cause may have been, she left many scars in her wake. 

Throughout the show, the clues have come together to point towards Julian (Jason Ritter). Despite all signs leading to him, my family and I were convinced that there would be some last-minute twist. ‘The writers had made Julian too likeable, gave him too much development for him to be the bad guy,’ we thought. 

Julian is a man with a tender, yet hidden heart, who is on a mission to move up and impress the head of the firm, who is also his father. Julian is also Olympia’s ex-husband, and slowly, he’s becoming her lover once again. 

Olympia, still reeling from Matty’s betrayal, agrees to help Matty, only because she hopes to clear Julain’s name. Matty and Olympia concoct a scheme to get into his bank accounts. At first, Olympia seems to find nothing amiss; to her glee, Julian is in the clear. The couple can start their life over just as their story arc had been hinting to. 

Meanwhile, as her investigation comes to a close, Matty works up the courage to tell her husband that she doesn’t want this to be the end of her new career. Throughout her life, whether that be because of Greg or the needs of her family, she let her ambitions take a backseat. But throughout the series, she realizes her own unused strengths. Despite her husband’s protests, she says she can’t be invisible again.

Just as the episode seems to be wrapping up happily, Olympia discovers that Julian has a safety deposit box at the bank… and inside, what does she find?  

The exact documents that were hidden to protect opioids. 

Of course, this is a tragic development for Olympia, who now has to choose between justice and her lover, but it is tragic for Julian as well. 

His character arc throughout the show has shown him finally breaking free of his father’s dark shadow over his life. Letting go of the need to prove himself. After a season of trying to please an emotionally closed off and bitter father, even at the expense of others, he finally steps into a new path. He realizes that Olympia and their children are his true family, and he finally tells his father off to become his own man.

In the final scene of season 1, he confesses to Olympia through tears that he buried the documents because he was young and desperate for his father’s affection. He begs Olympia to not let the worst mistake of his life be the thing to define him. He just “felt invisible and disposable. I just wanted him to value me.” 

In my opinion, the best villains are the worst version of the hero. The kind of person the hero would become if they gave in to their darker impulses. Much like Matty, Julian had been made to feel invisible. Much like Matty, he hurt many people to be seen, if on a much larger scale. 

In season 2, both of these characters will finally be in the limelight, but will continue to be haunted by their pasts. 

Many legal series like Suits, Law and Order, or The Lincoln Lawyer, focus on the prestige, the shock, and sometimes the drama, of their subject matter. “Matlock” brings something new to the genre. Its primary focus is simply messy people on a collision course with their mistakes. 

The show reminds us to take time to appreciate invisible people- and to not underestimate them. 

Suffice to say…. Season 2 cannot come soon enough.