From left: Kathy Bates and Skye P. Marshall on ‘Matlock’. Photo:
Robert Voets/CBS
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from the season 1 finale of Matlock.
The case is closed on Matlock season 1, but the finale had no shortage of jaw-dropping cliffhangers to leave viewers counting down the days until Season 2.
In the aftermath of not one, not two, but three major twists, Matlock executive producer Jennie Urman Snyder gave PEOPLE the scoop on the finale’s biggest moments and teased what’s ahead for Matty (Kathy Bates) and the rest of the show’s characters in season 2. And Snyder makes it clear there’s lots more drama to come.
From left: Kathy Bates, David Del Rio, Leah Lewis and Skye P. Marshall on ‘Matlock’. Sonja Flemming/CBS
While the episode centered on Sarah (Leah Lewis) trying (and winning!) her first solo case, her coworkers were all dealing with personal dilemmas of their own. Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) was forced to face the fact that Matty was right about Julian (Jason Ritter) stealing the missing Welbrexa documents. In turn, Julian begged his ex to destroy the incriminating papers for the sake of their family.
Meanwhile, Billy (David Del Rio) received life-changing news from his former fiancée, Claudia (Bella Ortiz), who showed up at Jacobson Moore to tell the newly-single lawyer that she’s pregnant following their hookup. However, it was Matty who faced the most earth-shattering revelation when Joey (Niko Nicotera), the presumed father of her grandson Alfie (Aaron Harris), arrived on her doorstep looking for his son.
Thankfully, Snyder, 49, was willing to break down those cliffhangers and more in a post-finale chat with PEOPLE.
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PEOPLE: Let’s start with the biggest reveal. Julian is the one who hid the Welbrexa documents. At what point did you decide it was going to be him?
Jennie Snyder Urman: You know, we debated a lot at the beginning of the season in the writers room, back and forth, but I think we clamped down on that pretty early because we had to construct all the clues to lead to it.
Jason Ritter and Skye P. Marshall were so good in the scene where Olympia finds out…
I can’t even! We were all dying to see him. We knew he was going to just crush it and he came to the table read with that scene all ready. His performance in the show is what he did at the table read.
And we were just like, “Holy s—, it worked.” He gave such depth and you feel so bad for Julian. He is fighting for his life and that was the hope that in this ending moment, you would be like, “Oh no, he did it.” But then feel for him, you know, have that empathy, and that’s why it was him and not Senior, because we care more about him in the scheme of our show. He’s Olympia’s ex-husband and they share kids together and he is not a bad person. He just broke my heart in that scene and so did she.
From left: Jason Ritter and Skye P. Marshall on ‘Matlock’. Robert Voets/CBS
It tears your heart out because you do feel for him, but it puts this whole other dynamic on Olympia’s situation. What is she thinking now?
She is all about justice, but what happens when it’s your family? Then what do you do? That’s number one. Number two, she’s been like, “Matty, you’re crazy, he would never have done that, let me prove this.” She believed so deeply that it would not be true and then she feels foolish. Now, she has just all the weight. What is the right thing to do on a macro scale and then on the micro in terms of her family, and are those the same things?
She knows whichever way she goes, someone’s going to get hurt. Also, there’s this terrible thing that has caused Matty so much pain that he did, and she’s so mad that he did it. Her greatest fear about him is that he is a good person until there’s pressure put on him and then he does the easier thing and now she has to clean it up.
It’s just as bad as it gets, because you felt like the hope of a friendship could come for Olympia and Matty, and then Olympia gets this information and in some ways it makes their friendship more possible, because she knows Matty was right, but to have that happen would be at the expense of her family and it’s a terrible, but delicious dilemma for season 2.
Is there a scenario where Julian can take responsibility for his actions and find a way to work with Matty and Olympia?
I think certainly that’s going to be something that Olympia is going to be contemplating, right? Is there a version where she can talk Matty into saving Julian and going after Senior? But in order to do that she would have to be pulling Matty in… and there’s just a lot at stake once she shows that document.
It’s just a very precarious position and what Matty thought she was up for changes because of that last shot in the show of Joey showing up. Before that happened, she was like, “Yeah, Olympia don’t worry, we’ll look for the truth, so I’ll help you on your journey to get Senior.” Then Joey came to the house and this guy is saying that he might be her grandchild’s father and her whole world is upside down and everything looks different.
It’s just a new world order that Olympia has to contend with when she gets to see Matty next.
Aaron D. Harris in ‘Matlock’. Robert Voets/CBS
For Matty, she’s hit with this huge bombshell when Alfie’s dad shows up on the doorstep. How big of a threat is he going to be to her family unit?
The biggest earthquake certainly in her life that she could imagine is that he comes back. He destabilizes everything. The one firm ground she has is this home relationship and it’s the one relationship that hasn’t been tested or tried is her and Alfie’s.
They have been growing in the same direction, they’ve been co-conspirators and they’ve been each other’s best friends. And if this person comes in and it’s his father, what does that do? And who is he? And what dynamic is he going to bring in? Suddenly, a lot of things at home are out of control and that’s really scary for Matty. It is hard to keep all of the balls in the air, this is a big destabilizing force.
Skye P. Marshall on ‘Matlock’. Robert Voets/CBS
Matty and Olympia’s partnership is so much at the heart of the show. Now that Olympia knows about Julian’s involvement, is there still a way forward for her and Matty?
I mean, they forged a beautiful relationship when Matty was holding a giant secret over Olympia’s head, right? So potentially, Olympia thinks maybe I could keep this [secret]. You know their relationship is really what’s at stake in the next season.
It’s always my favorite part of the show is this relationship and this love story and like all big, epic love stories it’s going to be tried and tested and they’re going to be apart and then together and that is how we build the show. We build it around that spine of that friendship.
Let’s pivot to Billy. What was the thinking with that bombshell that he’s going to be a dad just as he’s planning on enjoying being single?
I think it’s exactly as you said, you finally come to the point when he’s happy to be single and then how can we complicate his life the most in the biggest way that will bring us a lot of drama, but that also could happen and it feels real and sort of puts him in a totally different place than he was in season 1. It really opens up all sorts of [questions]: first of all, is Claudia gonna have the baby? Is she not? It just opens up a lot of avenues for drama, and I would say trauma, for Billy, and for ways for Sarah to show up for him, ways for other characters to unexpectedly show up for him. He’s got a fun storyline this year.
Was it always the plan to end season 1 with Matty’s identity under wraps for everyone except Olympia?
Yes, that was always the plan. The Matty Matlock persona is still front and center in the law firm, I will say, for a bunch of reasons. There are surprising developments about who gets read into the truth and when.
Is there anything else you’d like to tease or just discuss? Season 1 has been such a journey.
I just want to thank people for giving us the chance and going on this road with us, and I hope this ending is satisfying but also it really makes you realize how much more story we have to tell in the second season.
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All episodes of Matlock season 1 are streaming now on Paramount+.
