Matlock (Kathy Bates)

Matlock stars Kathy Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a retired lawyer who goes undercover to rejoin the legal world. Driven by her daughter’s death in the opioid crisis, she takes on a law firm she suspects of hiding evidence that could have saved lives.

Matlock (S1:E1-7) Review

Those too young to drink don’t know what it’s like to watch a series that struggles in its first few seasons only to find its footing and become a classic. However, in the tradition of programs like Seinfeld and Star Trek: The Next Generation, this wholly new program with an old name is incredibly frustrating because, like those other legendary programs (that’s right, I called TNG legendary, and I’ll Vulcan neck pinch anyone who wants to argue about it – Qapla!) this first season has some really fantastic elements going for it. If the showrunners can just get out of their own way and cut the fat, Matlock has the potential to soar.

The Good

• Kathy Bates is the kind of performer who can raise the worst material to award-winning fare (Seasons 6 & 7 of The Office, anyone?), and that’s exactly what she does with Matlock.
• It’s great to see someone other than a 20-something supermodel lend some gravitas to a series. Bates’s age is as refreshing as her performance is better than the show deserves.
• Despite sharing its name with the Andy Griffith classic, this Matlock isn’t Matlock and isn’t trying to be Matlock. Instead, it’s a fairly original program in which Kathy Bates’s character poses as a folksy southern lawyer who awe-shucks her way to success in the courtroom. Her real motivation and the season’s overall arc is to discover which partner in the law firm is responsible for her daughter’s death.
• Several interesting moments of clever problem-solving pepper the series, and thanks to Bates’s next-level performance, even those moments that appear clever do so.
• Not all the men are awful. Kathy’s character’s husband is loving and supportive. The one male junior lawyer is intelligent, hard-working, and kind.
  • Most of the rest of the regular cast are intentionally morally ambiguous to keep the audience guessing “whodunit.”

The Bad

• 90% of the supporting cast is weak, especially compared to Bates. They regularly mug for the camera and generally seem to have no idea how humans behave. Some of this is due to the writing and direction (remember Natalie Portman in the Star Wars prequels? She’s a great actress but was terrible in all of those).
• The writing. These are supposed to be serious and intelligent lawyers, yet most of them are written as juveniles.
  • The dialogue is second-class at best.
• The tone is inconsistent, often jarringly going from serious drama to folksy comedy and back.
  • Its generic and amateurish soundtrack doesn’t help this.
• The interpersonal drama between the supporting characters is insipid and cliché.
• See the WOKE REPORT below.

WOKE REPORT

The Premise

• Matty infiltrates the law firm, believing senior partners lied about opioid testing, keeping the drugs that killed her daughter on the streets. But this reeks of Leftist blame-shifting. Her daughter chose to use—addiction has existed for centuries, and users simply switch brands when one disappears. If the firm were tied to illegal drug proliferation, her quest might make more sense. Why target a law firm instead of the pharmaceutical company responsible for its creation? It feels more like vengeance than justice.

Random Acts of Lesbianism

• One of the main characters is suddenly a lesbian, and they make sure that once it’s out, it’s talked about and focused on relentlessly. Never mind that she and her lesbian girlfriend have less chemistry than a used Alka Seltzer.

Soft In The Middle

• The only two unambiguously good men are a little on the beta spectrum.

In Today’s Lesson

• Almost every case offers a chance to teach a social justice lesson. In fact, one of the main characters is working on a new angle to win huge sums in the pursuit of “Social Justice,” ensuring that, if the series continues, there will be healthy doses throughout.
  • Lesbian paternity cases
  • White doctors offering subpar care to poor minorities.
  • Etc.