After an unexpectedly major episode that united Matty and Olympia's secret little team, Matlock season 2 returns this week with Matty and Julian finally on the same side. But will they continue to work well together, or could any possible cracks in this alliance begin to form? That's the question acting as an undercurrent as the race toward the second season's finish line.
In Matlock season 2 episode 11, Sarah Wright Olsen returns in her recurring guest star role as Gwen, and based on the episode's synopsis, she could be finding herself in trouble. As the team defends those deceased and injured against a landlord following a building's collapse, "someone close to the team" ends up arrested for jury misconduct. Well, let's hope it's not jury consultant Shae.
Beyond the team's case of the week, Julian provided Matty and Olympia with further information that brings them even closer to a potential whistleblower in the Wellbrexa case. Their target's in Milton, Massachusetts and could help bring justice to the case once and for all. But will it be that easy? Surely, we're in for another big twist. Let's dive into a live recap of the latest episode!
Matty and Julian scheme Ron Hanson's case files
The episode begins with Matty exciting taking off in her rental car but immediately getting into a fender bender. As it turns out, Julian hit her and they're staging the whole accident outside the law office of Ron Hanson (Owain Yeoman). He's the lawyer who dissolved Martex Behavior Lab, meaning they're getting closer to their whistleblower.
Over breakfast, Matty chats about an upcoming case and Alfie expresses that he doesn't want to change schools. Back at the office, Hunter's still running around like a golden retriever, but Matty helps keep him focused on the case. Sarah's still not charmed by him, though. When she complains to Julian about him, she bumps into Gwen, who's back in the office. Surprisingly, she approved a new office for Sarah, who reveals she's beginning the process to find her birth parents.
In court, Olympia advocates for the victims of the building collapse but finds its going to be a tougher case than she thought. Shae helps Olympia talk through the case since the judge hates her for calling her son a "clown." They come up with a plan, but Matty and Olympia turn their focus to Senior wanting to meet with Olympia. While Matty sets Hunter off on research, she's bummed to learn Sarah's moving into a new office.
Matty returns to Ron Hanson's office. He's wildly disorganized, but he promises her the world about winning her supposed case against Julian since he has their accident on camera. But she learns the secret to his case filed, which they need to peek through to find their whistleblower. Olympia begins the trial, and she's already striking out with the judge, but the witness helps her out.
Meanwhile, during Matty's meeting as "Ms. Shapiro" with Hanson and Julian, they're really doing their best at putting on a show for the unsuspeting lawyer. She excuses herself to the bathroom for Hanson and Julian to have a heated argument, but she looks through his case files. Julian causes a distraction by destroying an urn of Hanson's father's ashes to prevent Matty from getting caught, but that only increases the stakes in their current situation.
Finding the whistleblower and Shae's shocking arrest
Matty and Julian are able to have a laugh together, but we watch in real time as Matty's smile fades. She later opens up to Edwin about feeling guilty for laughing with him. She's not able to forget who he is. Olympia talks with Senior and tries to appeal to him about the votes to oust him. She calms when Senior tells her that he woke up from his coma with forgiveness, but she knows that there's more. He wants her to rally the troops back in his favor to keep him in power post-merger.
Back in court, Olympia walks a fine line with the judge while cross examining a witness, even being threatened with being held in contempt and getting "clown" thrown back in her face. She makes a phone call to get some intel on the judge. Olympia and Sarah have an icy conversation before Hunter changes the mood with a game-changing revelation for the case.
Matty's surprised to learn that Ron Hanson dropped her as a client due to the conflict of interest of him now pursuing a lawsuit against Julian. But Matty and Julian come up with a new plan to swipe the file from Hanson's office. Olympia presents the new hush money evidence in court, but it turns out that the gift cards were used to donate to the victims' crowdfunding accounts. They lost the jury.
Olympia meets with the judge's son and asks him to help his mother warm up to her, but her ask isn't met with positive reception. Shae worries when Gwen wants to have a meeting to talk about the firm employing an in-house jury consultant, and she asks Senior if her job is secure. He implores her to win the case. Hunter tries to make progress with Sarah by giving her gift for her new office, but he strikes out. Matty chats with Sarah on the roof about her search for her parents.
Matty expresses the regrets she holds onto about her own parents, advising Sarah not to let fear drive her decision-making. She also asks Sarah to stay in their shared office. On her way to Ron's office, Matty receives a call from Alfie that he's sick and changes her plans. Olympia and Shae have a late-night meeting about the case, but Olympia's called into the judge's chambers about misconduct.
Olympia's surprised to hear there's been misconduct with the jury, but the judge can't elaborate while the investigation is ongoing. The judge calls a mistrial, and Olympia apologizes to the judge's son and offers a coffee date without the conversation about his mom. Matty and Edwin's heart-to-heart gets interrupted by Olympia and Julian arriving with the good news that they conned Hanson and got the file containing the scientist's name. Sarah calls and reveals that Shae got arrested for bribing the jury!
Matlock airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS, also streaming on Paramount+.