Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Matlock Episode 9.It’s a new year, but Matty (Kathy Bates) is still on the Wellbrexa case on Matlock — or at least she’s determined to appear so in this week’s winter premiere. Edwin (Sam Anderson) rightfully has some concerns that Matty is going soft on the partners now that they’ve established Senior (Beau Bridges) didn’t sign for the missing case documents, leaving only Julian (Jason Ritter) and Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) potentially responsible.
After planting the bug in Julian’s office in the winter finale, Matty is back on Olympia’s desk this week to help with a wrongful termination suit where they’re representing Elijah’s (Eme Ikwuakor) cousin, Sam (Allyson Lee Brown). At the top of the episode, it’s clear that Matty and Olympia have grown closer over the past few weeks. As much as we loathe to pit ourselves against Matty, Edwin definitely makes some points that Matty needs to more seriously consider. This case has proven that she’s lost objectivity when it comes to Olympia, and she’s allowed herself to get pulled into a war between Olympia and Julian that could destroy the progress she’s made so far.
The Company Always Did It in ‘Matlock’ Episode 9

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This week, Olympia and YouThree are representing Elijah’s cousin, Sam, who was fired from her delivery job weeks prior. Sam assumed the company fired her because she was pregnant and couldn’t physically keep up with their back-breaking quotes. As Olympia and the team investigate, it looks more like Sam was fired for allowing her delivery truck to be stolen. Sam swears she had nothing to do with the theft, but she neglects to tell her attorneys that she had turned the camera off on the truck to sneak off the job to go to an ultrasound appointment. The team wants to pivot the case to point the finger at Sam’s best friend Khadija (Ashli Auguilard), who was $50,000 in debt at the time Sam’s truck was stolen and also covered for Sam to get to her appointment. The evidence is pretty damning for Khadija, but her and Sam’s friendship was forged in the raging fires of a terrible workplace. The metal of that bond is stronger than steel, and Sam refuses to let the team put Khadija in the company’s crosshairs.
It turns out that Sam was right to stand on business when it came to her friend, as Khadija had nothing to do with the truck being stolen. The company had figured out that Sam was leading the effort to unionize with her co-workers and hired a union buster to create the circumstances that led to Sam’s firing. Olympia and Matty are able to get the union buster to admit who he was on the stand because he’d let it slip that he’d seen Sam’s ultrasound image when they interviewed him earlier in the episode. Sam never showed anyone at work the sonogram because she wasn’t supposed to go to the appointment, so the buster only could’ve seen it by sneaking onto her truck. The case is a reminder to everyone about what it means to have a good friend. Unfortunately, Matty may have taken it a little too close to heart.
Has the Julian/Olympia Ship Already Sunk on ‘Matlock’?

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Remember when Julian and Olympia caved to the sexual tension still crackling between them and decided to reconcile their marriage, and then Julian ruined everything by telling Olympia that he cheated before they officially separated? Everything was so good before that confession, but now, the tension is back in their relationship, and not in a good way. Even though Matty turned off the recording in Julian’s office before he revealed who he slept with, the premiere confirms that Julian slept with Shae Banfield (Yael Grobglas). That really hurt to hear, honestly, but is it toxic to say I kind of get it? Shae is hella impressive. Olympia kind of gets it too, because she refuses to interact with Shae when she is brought in to help with the Sam case. Instead, Olympia asks Matty to run interference and tells her exactly why. Matty feels so bad for Olympia that she puts herself right in the crosshairs of the human lie detector, which is the most dangerous place for her to be.
Not only does Matty jeopardize herself by volunteering to work with Shae, but she also becomes a chess piece in the latest round of Julian and Olympia’s drama. After Julian manipulates an office conversation that has Olympia declaring that she never really felt that much for Elijah, Olympia realizes that their divorce is too messy for them to keep working together and keep it professional — so Olympia suggests that Julian leave the firm. That doesn’t go over well, since they’re both up for partner in a few months, not to mention his dad is the one who started the firm in the first place. Instead, Julian and Olympia plan to ask the board to choose one of them for partner; the other will be forced to look for employment elsewhere. Whoever stays will keep Matty on their desk. That’s problematic on a lot of fronts. If Olympia wins the partner job, Julian will leave and so will Matty’s chance to continue working on Wellbrexa. If Olympia loses, it’s unclear whether Matty wouldn’t follow her right out of the door, and that’s the major issue presented at the end of the episode.

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Matty Has an Emotional Blindspot in ‘Matlock’ Episode 9

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Edwin called it: Matty has gotten too close to Olympia. At the end of the episode, when they’re reviewing the evidence of the Wellbrexa case, Matty declares that Olympia couldn’t be the one who hid the documents. Edwin asks for proof, but Matty doesn’t have any. It’s her “gut” – which, up until now, has been spot on – and she refuses to keep investigating Olympia. Matty is adamant about focusing all of her investigative energy on confirming Julian is the one who hid the documents.
Moreover, Matty absolutely lets her personal affection for Olympia get in the way of her judgment. The documents were hidden years ago, so the person who hid them has had a lot of time to evolve. Matty bases her assumption on who is guilty on who she knows Olympia and Julian to be now, rather than considering who they were then. Olympia was fresh out of law school and desperate to prove she belonged at this prestigious law firm. We don’t know what she was capable of at that point in her life because we didn’t know her then, and neither did Matty.
While Matty is certain that recent developments in Julian and Olympia’s relationship point to Julian as the Wellbrexa culprit, Matty’s determination to hide in her emotional blindspot has me convinced it’s the exact opposite. If Matty has gotten so close to Olympia that she can’t consider her a suspect, what are the chances she’ll be able to do what she needs to do when the truth comes out?
Matlock will continue Thursdays at 9 PM on CBS. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Paramount+.

Matlock

Matty has gone too soft for her own good in Matlock Episode 9.

Release Date

September 22, 2024

Network

CBS

Writers

Jennie Snyder Urman

Cast

Kathy Bates

Madeline Matlock

Pros & Cons

Olympia clearly respects and cherishes Matty.
Every episode with Yael Grobglas is a better episode.
The emotional stakes are now really high for Matty.

Matty is losing her shrewd judgment.
Julian manipulating Olympia was really low.
Justice for Elijah and his broken heart!