‘Matlock’ Creator Breaks Down That Big Finale Reveal, Teases ‘New Directions’ in Season 2

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Matlock” Season 1, Episode 18.

After a season full of anticipation, “Matlock” finally delivered the answer to the mystery being pursued by Kathy Bates’ Madeline Matlock.

In the Season 1 finale, Matty is forced to show her cards to Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), laying out her suspicion of Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), for concealing a study that would’ve taken opioids off the market years earlier. Olympia thinks she’s cleared Julian’s name after not finding a payout in his bank account — which she rejoices about with Matty — but when she finds the Wellbrexa study in his safety deposit box, it’s apparent it was Julian who hid the documents.

While creator Jennie Snyder Urman admitted there were some debates about who could be culpable — Julian or Senior (Beau Bridges) — she and the team knew it had to be Julian.

“We realized that it had to be Julian — it would hurt the most for Olympia, and put Olympia in the most difficult position the next year, whereas if it was Senior, we were already thinking, ‘Oh, that guy has too much power and can be taken down, whereas Julian has, in different ways, redeemed himself,'” Snyder Urman told TheWrap. “It just feels more complicated for all everybody involved.”

Olympia comes face-to-face with Julian in the bank after she discovers the study, prompting Julian to launch into a heartfelt confession, explaining that he handed in his resignation and pleading for Olympia to help him get rid of the documents to ensure he stays out of prison for the sake of their family.

“He made a really terrible mistake, and he’s tried to be a good person since then — should he be punished for this one thing?” Snyder Urman said. “He’s so real, and he’s so emotional, and I empathize with Julian, in that scene, and that’s what we wanted, is that it’s as difficult as possible. When you find the answer, it doesn’t bring the release that you were promised.”

With Matty only aware of Olympia’s last update about the lack of a payout in Julian’s account, the Season 1 finale leaves off with a big choice for Olympia to make: Will she tell Matty about her discovery and turn in Julian, or will she team up with Julian to bury the secret?

“Morality is one thing, and then it’s tested when it’s your family and your life on the line, and that’s what she’s going to encounter, and she’s going to have to make a decision,” Snyder Urman said of Olympia. “Does she align herself with Julian or with Matty? And what does that mean?”

Below, Snyder Urman breaks down how the discovery shocks Olympia, teases where the mystery goes from here and reveals how the entrance of Alfie’s potential father will destabilize Matty’s home life.

Did this discovery shock Olympia? Did she assume he was innocent?
She thought 98% when she first heard it, he wouldn’t do it, but it’s not 100 and she wishes it was 100. She’s really holding out, “It can’t be him. It can’t be him,” but there’s just the smallest “what if?” It’s genuine when she goes to the bank and when she sees that there was no missing money and that everything’s on the up and up, it’s a huge relief for Olympia that “the thing I was saying is true, and Matty was wrong, and now I can help actually enact justice,” which is something she does feel strongly about. If somebody did this terrible thing, she would want them to be held accountable, it’s just different if it’s your husband or the father of your children. It’s just devastation when she sees it there, it’s just her worst nightmare.

With this central mystery being solved, how does the mystery evolve from here?
The events of the ending really opened us up for really different dynamics in the second season, and the case twists. There’s only so much I can say without giving away what Olympia’s motivation is, but she and Matty could be swimming in the same direction, or they could be swimming against each other, and that’s what we’re investigating at the beginning of the same at the second season. What I can say is that the mystery that opens up is really interesting, is connected to the first, but it takes us in new directions in the law firm in interesting ways, and we will pose another set of questions that we will answer by the end, for sure. And I know what the ending of Season 2 is, and it’s really big and definitive.

It seems Edwin is ready to head back to California. Will Season 2 see Madeline shedding her identity as Matlock?
A lot of that has to do with how things unfold in the beginning of Season 2, and answers that question. But underneath that, whether she’s Madeline Matlock or Madeline Kingston, the question remains, is she going to continue working? And she has said definitively, “yes,” and she has said definitively, “no,” and so what happens when you’re at an impasse is what they’re going to have to work through, and they do in a really interesting way and unexpected, I think, and it leads to more fun and interesting avenues for us to explore.

Edwin and Matty have very real conversations about wanting different things in this part of their life. How do you hope these conversations resonate with viewers and where does it leave them?
It’s an interesting conversation in terms of what makes a life of value and what is the most important thing to someone and how career can be this beautiful other avenue that gives a lot — it’s not only seen as something you’re trying to retire for to get to your life. I hope to explore like real problems in long-term marriages, where the answer is not to separate, but how do you work through something if you’ve been with someone for 50 years and you just have a totally different opinion? That just feels like such an interesting, rich avenue of exploration in terms of long-term couples and things that they come up against, and how the problems you face now are so different than what you could have anticipated and who you want to be, why you’re solving problems with them in the latter part of your life. I don’t think we have enough expectations of or explorations of older and more lived in marriages, and I’m excited to get into that.

The finale also sees Alfie’s father appearing. What can we expect to see of that storyline next season?
This man has said he’s Alfie’s Father, we will find out if he’s Alfie’s father. The introduction of that character, of the fact that Alfie was looking for that character, destabilizes Maddie entire [home life] — they were a unit of three, and in some ways, they’re going to have to open up to this other person. Matty and Edwin have had all the control over Alfie, and this new person coming in … is really going to throw the equilibrium of the house completely off balance and struck one of the primary relationships in Matty’s life. Alfie and Maddie have been totally aligned … what happens when they’re not?

Claudia also returns to tell Billy she’s pregnant. What is Billy thinking in that moment?
He is finally over her. He is finally ready to tell her to “stop calling, don’t come around. I have moved on,” and she has this information, and it’s going to be the information drop changes his whole life. What their relationship is, what Claudia decides and how Billy feels about that decision … [are going to] open up so much fun for Billy in the second season.

What are you excited to dive into in Season 2?
In the first season, it’s really about this love story between Matty and Olympia and how they find each other, and this unexpected friendship that comes late in life. At the end of the season, Olympia finds something that could totally destroy that depending on what she does. When I look at it along the axis of the love story, it’s like, “what is Olympia going to do with this information, and how does her love story with Matty progress?” How are they going to fight for that relationship now that there’s this big obstacle between them?

I’m excited to lay out the structure of Jacobson Moore a little bit more — you’re going to learn about the power dynamics and widen the corporate environment now that Olympia has a seat at the table and is a partner. I just want to bring different characters together in new and interesting ways, while telling the core story that has a lot of tension and a lot of stakes and a lot of emotion behind it.

How much more of the show have you plotted out? How long do you hope it goes on?
We’ve just plotted the second season, but we’ve plotted our way through it all, all the twists and turns. It leads into where the next the third season would go very organically, so by the time you see the end of the end of the second season, you know where you’re starting the third season, and beyond that, I thought about about four, five, where I know shape. But beyond that, I don’t know, [we’ll] just be lucky to get there if we do.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“Matlock” is now streaming on Paramount+.

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