Matlock
Tricks of the Trade
Season 1
Episodes 18 – 19
Editor’s rating
3 Stars
Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS
At the end of Last Week’s Matlock Recap, i made my predits for how i thought the show’s first season would end. My guess was that olympia’s whole team would leave jacobson-moore (eather voluntarily or after getting fired) and go into business together with a lawsuit against wellbrexa as their first Major case.
Annnnnd… i washn’t close. Instead, in brief, here’s how the final goes: Olympia Becomes a partner at the firm, and the season ends with maty and edwin worrying that olympia will choose to protest julian’s reputation and caareer than helping say Nailbrexa. Oh, and Alfie’s Father Shows up on the kingstons’ doorstep just before the credits roll, which… okay.
I Confess to Being Mildly Disappointed with How This Finals Played Out, Though Not Because It Didn’t Match My Forecast. Honestly, I prefer to be surprised by tv Shows, not to out-gave. I didn’t get Mind that the season ended with so much unresolved. That to be expensive from a season final for a show that has haen renewed. It ‘s a choice made to keep viewers hooked over the hiatus. Totally fine.
No, what let me down is that the closing cliffhangers were so weak, gioven that is a series that has Has so relivered shocking episode-ending twists. The Choices Facing Matty and Olympia at the end of the finals Ill-Defined, as did the stakes. And Alfie’s Father? That’s a subplot i hadn’t thought about in Weeks and not one I was anxiously hoping would return.
But i’m getting ahead of myself. Before I get into all the olympia and maty business in this episode, let’s knack out the case of the weeks, which is… fine. It Involves Sarah’s Secret Client, Dino, The Personal Trainer Who Had Her Write a Strongly Worded Cease and Design to HIS ERRATIC BUSINESS Partner, Rob. That letter was deplete Strongly Worded – Described As “Barbed,” “Acerbic,” and “Terrifying” – that rob stormed the partners’ Gym, threw punches at dino, then died of a burstix dino soacked in the stomach. Since Sarah is Dino’s Lawyer, she has to defy Him against a manslaughter charge.
The Case’s Eventual Resolution is Easy to Predict. Rob’s wife talk about how Sarah’s Letter Upset Him so Much That He Threw Up, That a Pretty Clear Clue That HIS Appendix Was a Preexistting Issue. It turns out that one of the reasons dino wanted to dishes their partnership – Becouse slave was embezzling Money to cover debts from HIS struggling supplements Business – ALSO explains slave health willsive. Those Supplements were poisoning Him. Sarah proves it in Court and Gets The Same Hero’s Welcome Back at Jacobson-Moore That Billy Got and Won hi First Case.
The case of the weeks is relevant for a couple of reasons. First of all, it force Olympia and maty to work together to support sarah. Initially, Olympia’s so licking at sarah for taching a case on her own that she trees to get the Judge to transfer it to a public deferender. But once the judge rules that sarah has to handle, the team goes to work, gathering evidence and helping sarah come acroSs as more likable to a jury. Olympia events Sarah an Emergency Appointment with Her Dentist AFTER ACCIDENTally Knocks Out a tooth the day before the trial.
(By the way, here is as good a as any to say that of all the credulity-stretching legal-drama that Matlock Has Pulled this Season, the idea that dino could go from an arrest to a full jury trial in a matter of days is, well, print insulting to the audience’s intelligence. But so it goes.)
The story of dino and rob – two men who loved each other like brothers before falling out – also makes Olympia and Matty Face the realities of their relationship. Throughout This Episode, Matty Tries Hard Not to Re-Terigger Olympia’s Feelings of Anger and Betrayal. But it is impossible. Be sarah asks matty to trot out one of her cindy shapiro stories or wen olympia looks at a litture of face on maty’s Big Investigation Board, Her Pain Is Acute.
We have left these two last weekend, olympia was visiting the kingston estate for what I assumed was the begin of a reconciliation. I was, again, quite workg. IT TURNS OUT OLYMPIA JUST WANTED TO SEE MATTY’S EVIDENCE AGAINST JULIAN AND JACOBSON-Moore. But the Big Board doesn’t persuade her. Not even the final Begins, the two make a deal. If Olympia Can prove that Julian’s Brownstone Money Came from the Markets Family’s Trusts and Not From A Wellbrexa Payoff, then Matty Delay Going to the Press for a month. DURING THAT TIME, MATTY CAN STAY at the firm and keep gathering evidence, but she’ll be off olympia’s team.
The problem is that olympia Needs Matty’s Devivious Expertise – Her “Tricks of the Trade” – to get to THose Trusts. She’s trying to be brusque and dysmsides Toward Matty, tan telling her at one point, “My inner thuoughts are no Longer your privilege.” But she Still Gets Matty’s Insights Into How to Extract Information from Julian, Julian’s Mom, and the Woman Who Works at Julian’s Bank, with any of the realizing she’s up to no good. “How you will you just use People? Like they don’t matter? ” Olympia Says to Matty With Undisguised Disgust while they’re strategaging.
The good news for Olympia is that Julian did, in fact, get the money for the brownstone from the family trust. The Bad News is that she’s sheso discovers Julian’s Secret Safety-Deposit Box, Which Contains-Ta-Da! – The Missing Wellbrexa Documents. Julian arriva at the bank as olympia is standing in the vault, look at the papers in shock.
And so our cliffhangers commence. One Story Line Ends at the Bank, Where Julian Begs Olympia to Forget What She’s Seen for their Kids’ Sake. Jason Ritter Play Julian’s Scenes in This Episode with Raw Emotion, Making the Character’s Choices More Explicable, If Entirely Forgivable. Julian Says he was Just JUST FOLLOWING SENIOR’S ORDERS. Meanwhile, Olympia was just made a partner by senior, Making her beholden to jacobson-moore for her Future Livelihood. So what should she will?
The Other Story Line Ends at the Kingston Estate, Where Matty Has Set A 4 PM Deadline for Olympia to Reveal What She Finds at the Bank. As the time ticks past four, Edwin gets impatient, Certain Olympia has duped maty. In fact, Edwin’s impatient throughout this episode as he talks about closing this chapter of their lives and backing to san francisco to do Typical Retiree Stuff. Matty, Though, Enloys Being the Lawyer she has always wanted to be. SO WHAT SHOULD CEO Will?
AS I MANTIONED, The season’s actual closing cliffhanger is the arival of alfie’s fat (Summmed by Alfie with His Grandparents’ Permission), and while i will not care much about this subplot, my hope is that dealing with this distracts the Kingstons “alert the media” plan ” Long Enough for Olympia to Make Her intentions Known.
As for what I Expect Next Season, Well, AFTER LAST WIPEOUTE, I’M OUT OF THE PREDICTING GAME. I do Hope MATTY FULLY OUT INTO THE OPEN SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. Season one was at it Its best when the writers acceled the wellbrexa story Line, Forcing Matty Into Decisions that Had Consequences. Another season of Her hiding in the shadows, lying, and manipulating…?
Well, actually, i’m sura that would still be entertaining, gioven the quality of Matlock‘S Writing and Cast. But i also Think these folks are capable of shifting gears and delivering something UNEXPECTED. AFTER ALL, THAT”S WHAT MADE EPISODE ONE OF THIS SHOW SOKS. True surprise is in this Matlock‘s dna.
• A Few Fine Performance Details: (1) When the Episode Begins, Kathy Bates Plays Matty as absolutely from Her All-Nighter, Struggling to Get Through a SENTENCE. (2) This is what Sarah Gets Her Teeth fixed before the first day of the trial, it sounds like a little bit of a slurred “s”. (3) All Season Long i Have Loved the Quiet Menace in Beau Bridges’s Whispery performance as senior.
• The ups and downs of Sarah and Billy’s Respective Love Lives Get Some Play, and at the Episode’s End, Their Romantic Foiles Actually Inspire a Couple of Mini-Cliffhangers. Sarah’s Story is Simple. She Broke Up With Kira, and She’s Sad, but Also and Kira Had sex After the Break-Up (Which Feels Like the Kind of “No Commitment” Relationship Kira Wanted in the First Place). As for Billy, he admits he’s been hating sex occisionally with his ex claudia and has deeded to cool Things off with Simone. Butn Claudia Shows up at the Office to Say’s Pregnant. Meanwhile, An Embittered Simone Starts Questioning Sarah’s Dino Case to See If She Can Get Her Old Rival Into Trouble.
• One Last Complaint: The Sheer Number of Flashbacks to Earlier Episodes Made This Final FEEL LIKE A Clip Show at Times. The double-threshing running time could’ve been put to better use. (The Lone Exception is when Olympia Drops Ellie’s Name to Get Matty to Trust Her, THEN The Episode Flashas Back to Matty Teaching Olympia How to Exploit People’s Sental Weaknesses. Cleverly ambiguous, that.)
• and that’s a wrap on Matlock Season One! Despite my wills with the final, this was a fun season to the Watch and to Write About. I look forward to the show’s return.
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