The hit CBS legal drama series Matlock got off to a slow start. Up until the closing scenes of its pilot episode, Matlock unfolded as a bland, outdated television legal drama with Kathy Bates starring as Madeline Matlock, a 76-year-old long-retired lawyer, and needy widower who seeks employment at a prestigious New York corporate law firm, Jacobson Moore, in order to be able to support her orphaned grandson.
However, in its closing scenes, the pilot episode completely upends audience expectations with a truly shocking plot twist, in which it’s revealed that Madeline Matlock is really Madeline Kingston, a wealthy retired lawyer who has infiltrated Jacobson Moore for the purpose of proving that the firm withheld documents that may have lessened the effects of the opioid epidemic, which took the life of Madeline’s daughter. Subsequent episodes have followed Madeline’s quest to figure out which of the firm’s three partners is most directly responsible for her daughter’s death.
In the pilot episode, which attracted the largest series premiere audience for CBS in more than five years, Madeline says that when women reach an advanced age, they achieve a level of invisibility, which becomes their superpower. After disguising herself as the beguiling and seemingly harmless mother hen figure Madeline Matlock, the real Madeline has demonstrated the power to subtly bend others to her will while also seemingly reading their minds. Through seven episodes, Madeline seems to have completely fooled everyone, including her targeted enemies, who, in Madeline’s words, aren’t likely to know what hit them until it’s too late.
Madeline’s Elaborate Revenge Plot Continues in ‘Matlock’
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Release Date September 22, 2024
Cast Kathy Bates , Jason Ritter , Skye P. Marshall , David Del Rio , Leah Lewis , Aaron Harris , Eme Ikwuakor , Beau Bridges , Sam Anderson , Jordyn Weitz , Henry Allen , Colleen Camp
Seasons 1
Since the pilot episode, Matlock, which has maintained a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating, has continued to develop simultaneously as a legal drama series and psychological thriller. However, while the cases featured in Matlock have been moderately compelling, most of the drama and tension of Matlock is generated by Madeline’s obsessive quest for revenge. By proving her value as a lawyer to her colleagues, Madeline hopes to gain access to incriminating evidence that will prove the firm’s complicity in her daughter’s drug-related death.
The audacity and depth of Madeline’s continually evolving deception is breathtaking. Since the pilot episode, Madeline has illegally gained access to the laptop and phone of her immediate boss, Olympia, along with the files connected to the supposed opioid epidemic cover-up. In the seventh episode, “Belly of the Beast,” Madeline takes the extreme step of secretly recording the voice of the firm’s senior partner to create an AI voice simulator that she uses to obtain his E-mail password. However, while these bold acts of espionage yield tantalizing clues, the definitive evidence Madeline seeks remains elusive.
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One of the most interesting aspects of Matlock, which is a gender-flipped reboot of the original Matlock television series starring Andy Griffith as criminal defense lawyer Ben Matlock, is probing Madeline’s twisted psychological profile. While Madeline ostensibly wants the most guilty law firm partner to face prosecution for their role in prolonging the opioid epidemic that took Madeline’s daughter’s life, the deranged nature of Madeline’s deception, as seen with her unhealthy attachment to the original Matlock television series, suggests that Madeline may have a much more severe punishment in mind.
Kathy Bates Is Never Invisible in ‘Matlock’
Kathy Bates pondered retirement prior to being cast as Madeline in Matlock, which serves as an impressive showcase of Bates’ impressive range as an actress. Of course, Bates is best known for her Oscar-winning performance as the crazed Annie Wilkes in the 1990 thriller film Misery, which serves as a precursor to Bates’ performance in Matlock, in terms of Bates’ uncanny ability to conceal deceptiveness and obsessive behavior within an outwardly folksy, smiling form. However, while Annie has a frightening ability to compartmentalize and rationalize her psychotic behavior, Madeline is becoming increasingly consumed by feelings of guilt.
The emerging conflict within Madeline is highlighted in the “Belly of the Beast” episode, in which Madeline enables her firm to emerge victorious in a case by exposing a legal technicality. While this earned Madeline goodwill among the firm’s partners and, therefore, furthers her quest to gain access to the files that are vital to her revenge plot, Madeline regrets having engaged in the same kind of immoral and unethical behavior that she’s supposedly fighting against. After returning home from a firm Christmas party, at which managing partner Senior gave Madeline a bottle of wine, Madeline tosses the bottle against a wall.
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However, just when it seems that Madeline has reached a breaking point, her ruthlessness takes over. After destroying the bottle of wine, Madeline explores Senior’s computer for information with which she intends to destroy him. Bates’ ability to navigate Madeline’s split identity between corporate spy and kindly-seeming grandmother type has resulted in a fascinating cat-and-mouse dynamic between Madeline and her law firm colleagues and has turned Madeline into one of the most interesting characters to emerge on television in 2024.
What Happens to ‘Matlock’ After Madeline Gets Revenge?
Now that Matlock has been renewed for a second season, how much longer can Matlock drag out Madeline’s revenge plot while maintaining viewer interest, and how can Matlock continue after Madeline’s true identity is exposed? Assuming that Madeline is successful in her revenge plot, there are very few possibilities in which Madeline could remain at the firm, such as if Madeline became a partner and therefore preserved her daughter’s legacy by reforming the firm’s corrupt culture.
While Madeline seems to have outsmarted everyone at Jacobson Moore, the fact that Madeline continues to be stymied in terms of finding the crucial evidence that will implicate the firm in Madeline’s daughter’s death has teased at the possibility that Madeline’s fake identity may not be as much of a secret as she thinks it is. Just as Matlock began with such a shocking twist, it would be a nice surprise if Madeline’s enemies caught her before she destroyed them. Matlock airs on CBS on Thursdays and is streaming on Paramount+.
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