How ‘Matlock’ Just Set up 2-Part Season Finale With Its Best Episode Yet

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Matlock Season 1 Episode 17, “I Was That, Too.”]

The truth is out on Matlock. After last week’s bombshell ending that revealed Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) knowledge of Matty’s (Kathy Bates) secret identity, Matty was forced to come clean while locked in a meeting room for hours at Jacobson Moore. Between trying to win a high-stakes night court case for a pregnant client, Olympia would return to Matty to grill her for the truth. The resulting scenes were some fabulous acting from Bates and Marshall, who have proven themselves to be wonderful scene partners in this already-renewed series, setting the CBS drama up for a high-stakes two-hour finale next week.

For the first time all season, Matty was 100% honest with Olympia, whom she and Edwin (Sam Anderson) eliminated from their Wellbrexa suspects list in the episode prior. The whip-smart Matty who can problem solve on a dime knew that she had no space to lie, but she also knew this was the way to save her friendship with Olympia that she genuinely didn’t want to lose. Matty takes her friendship with Olympia just as seriously as she does her investigation at this point. As she said in a tearful, powerful emotional plea (a scene that’s no doubt going to be used for Bates’ Emmy reel, should she get the nomination we predict is coming her way), “I came here expecting to be invisible. People don’t see old women. But you saw me.” Their friendship is real, and so is her evidence against Julian Jr. (Jason Ritter), Olympia’s ex-husband. As Matty told her, “Two things can be true at the same time.”

Sonja Flemming / CBS

Olympia made Matty detail every bit of her deception. Matty laid everything out on the table, from what she was investigating and why to how she crafted her fake persona. When Olympia questioned why she should trust anything she says, Matty revealed her own twist: her medical bracelet. The bracelet is a decoy device that’s GPS-monitored. If she were to set it off, paid security disguised as EMTs would arrive at her location and get her out of there. Matty didn’t use the bracelet to prove to Olympia that she can still be trusted. After Matty proved herself again by helping win the night court case, Olympia finally reviewed the last piece of evidence she refused to look at before: Ellie’s obituary, the one piece of Matty’s life she could never bring herself to have scrubbed off the internet when this investigation began.

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Matty warned Olympia that the longer she was missing, the sooner Edwin would send all of their Wellbrexa findings to the New York Times. She gave Olympia the location number for the Wellbrexa archive box that should be holding the missing study, and her story checked out. The episode ended with Olympia questioning if her ex-husband could really have stolen the Wellbrexa document, but she needed more answers. In the final moments, Olympia and Matty showed up at the front door of Matty’s real home, much to Edwin and Alfie’s (Aaron D. Harris) shock.

Finishing this case and avenging her daughter is “all that matters” to Matty, but keeping her friendship with Olympia intact is a new goal. With Olympia now fully in the loop, a new sharp mind has been added to the investigative team, but not the most trustworthy ally. Olympia has the same reason to protect Julian, should he be guilty, that Matty has to expose the truth: protecting their children. Prepare for the Wellbrexa case to break all the way open in next week’s finale. As Olympia warns in the finale promo, “If I go down, you go down.”

Matlock, Season 2 Finale, Thursday, April 17, 9/8c, CBS