Why is Kathy Bates called ‘Matlock’? Matty Matlock explains the name
Kathy Bates stares as Madeline “Matty” Matlock in “Matlock.” Matty is no relation to Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith) in the OG “Matlock” series.
Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of CBS’s “Matlock.”
Madeline “Matty” Matlock (Kathy Bates) can go back to practicing law in her 70s, can win over juries and uncover injustice with her eyes closed. But can she survive losing a friend or opening up her family?
Those are the big questions left hanging for CBS’ remake of “Matlock,” which aired its Season 1 finale April 17. All season long, Bates’ Matty has been infiltrating high-powered New York law firm Jacobson Moore, searching for who was responsible for suppressing evidence about the dangers of prescription opioid drugs – evidence that could have taken the drugs off the market before people like Matty’s daughter became addicted and overdosed.
In the packed two-hour finale, Matty works uneasily with former close friend and current boss Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) to discover whether Olympia’s ex-husband Julian (Jason Ritter) was the guilty party. Olympia finds definitive proof her ex committed the egregious crime just as he shows up begging her to keep his secret. Meanwhile, an increasingly-stressed Matty waits for Olympia to come to her house for a debrief when the doorbell rings – and her grandson Alfie’s (Aaron D. Harris) long-lost father is on the other side of the door.
With so much in chaos for our friends from Jacobson Moore, we talked to executive producer and series creator Jennie Snyder Urman, who also created CW’s “Jane the Virgin” and “Charmed” reboot, about all those finale twists, and what fans can expect this fall in Season 2.
Question: When Olympia discovers that Julian is the person who hid the incriminating opioid documents it wasn’t a huge surprise, because he’s been a suspect all season. But it was still really shocking in the emotional scene. How did you walk that line?
Answer: We can suspect him, but seeing it (is different). Olympia sees that document and sees that everything that (Matty) was saying was true, it does feel like she has the weight of her world in that box right there. … You end up unmasking not the “supervillain” but this human who made this terrible, terrible choice. That makes it all the more complicated, emotional and difficult in terms of what is Olympia going to do next. Where do we go from here? He did it and there’s no doubt about that.
Is the bigger shocker of the episode when Alfie’s father shows up at Matty’s front door?
I really wanted to leave the season with Matty not knowing what Olympia will do, so we didn’t want them to be meeting back up again. Everything comes back to Matty’s home, structurally and emotionally. This was about her daughter. This is about family. This is about her paying some imagined debt that she owes to her daughter for not saving her.
We bring all of those pieces together where she’s waiting for Olympia. She believes in Olympia. She thinks Olympia is going to come through and they’re going to be working together. Then the father shows up and it just suddenly takes everything from a big scale to this very small human scale, and Matty’s whole world is shaken by this.
How will all this change for Matty and Olympia affect Season 2?
There’s so much that’s in the season premiere. I would just say that secrets are revealed and decisions are made that start spinning our show into the direction that it’s going to take for the second season.
Everything has changed for Matty’s coworkers Sarah (Leah Lewis) and Billy (David Del Rio), too. Billy’s ex is pregnant and Sarah might lose her job. How will that affect the group?
Know that there’s going to be a lot of drama and it’s going to be fresh drama next year. Everybody has changed over the course of the season and we’re going to be picking them up from those places and pushing them further. The problems are going to be different and challenging, and they’re going to have highs together and lows together, but they’re all going to be very different places at the at the start of the second season.
Which friendship do you think fans are rooting for more, Olympia and Matty or Sarah and Billy?
I mean, I think both. But I will say that Matty and Olympia are the love story of the show. It’s our epic love story.
Is it fun to do a show about friendship instead of romantic relationships, like on “Jane”?
Yes! It’s so fun because I think that they are unexplored and they are so life sustaining. I can only speak for myself about my own life, but my female friendships are the constant in my life since seventh grade. Exploring them and giving (them) the weight and respect that we normally give to romantic relationships is really interesting to me.
Has the critical acclaim for the show and awards-season buzz for Kathy Bates surprised you?
I’m always surprised. And then I also knew that Kathy’s performance was just incredible. So I I felt that she would be seen because she’s so wonderful. … I’m grateful, so grateful, and stressed because you just put more pressure on yourself and you want to keep doing good work. So that’s what I try to do.
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