'Matlock' Episode 4 Recap - Matty Narrows In on Her Big Suspect

Editor's note: The below recap contains spoilers for Matlock Episode 4.The previous episode of Matlock revolved around Matty's (Kathy Bates) work-life becoming complicated as she gets closer to Olympia (Skye P. Marshall). This week, it's Matty's home life that gets bruised as she gets closer to finding the lawyer responsible for hiding documents in the Wellbrexa case, which could have taken opioids off the streets ten years earlier and potentially saved Matty's daughter.

The episode starts with Matty and her husband, Edwin (Sam Anderson), frantically looking for Alfie (Aaron D. Harris). They find him passed out behind the couch in Matty's office because he was up working late on finding documents on Olympia's laptop. Alfie reveals that he found something before he fell asleep, but he needs Matty to get into the file room at the firm to get the rest of the documents so they can confer. Matty is over the moon about the discovery, but Edwin pulls her aside to inform her that it is the second time this week that Alfie has forsaken his homework for the case, and they need to make sure he's prioritizing his schoolwork. Matty agrees not to employ Alfie for the case until he's back on track at school before heading off to work.

There's Trouble in Paradise in 'Matlock' Episode 4

Image via CBS

Surprise! When Matty gets to the office, she's handed a case that requires her to make a trip to the file room, which is conveniently where she needs to go to get the missing documents Alfie requested. Getting into the file room requires some hijinks and both Olympia's and Julian's (Jason Ritter) signatures, which will come in handy later. Matty eventually finds the file but realizes that several pages are missing, apparently couriered out of the office. Only one person can trace who signed for the case files, and he's a 12-year-old supposed to be in math class. Matty breaks her promise to Edwin and calls Alfie, who answers his cell and tells Matty precisely what he needs to do his hacker thing (seriously, WHERE did this kid get his skills? Should we be concerned?).

When Matty returns home, Alfie has tracked down a number of pages that were removed and the signature of the person who signed for them. He just needs Matty to get comparisons so they can figure out who the culprit is. What a win! Except Edwin is standing nearby to tell Matty that Alfie faked being sick to get sent home early and work on this. So now he's not just missing homework, but he's skipping school to help Matty with the mission. Edwin is fine with Matty telling everyone she works with that he's a gambling, philandering deadbeat, but he draws the line at interrupting their grandson's education. Harsh words are exchanged as Edwin says that Matty's moral compass is out of whack, and she cries that he has no idea how hard it is to lie to everyone all the time.

This is where showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman's influence really shines through on the show. We're not just exploring how Matty gets justice for her daughter, but the emotional toll it takes on everyone around her to pull this off. We can see how it's making her relationships at work complicated, but it's also good to see how this is weighing on her family. It is testing her marriage. It is affecting Alfie, whether he or Matty wants to admit it or not. This is a thing that they all signed up for, but it feels so much truer to see that pulling this off is harder than any of them expect, and they are sacrificing a lot to make it happen.

Edwin and Matty make up the next night, both apologizing for their harsh words during the fight. Matty admits she was defensive and Edwin cops to being critical because he's scared. They are buoyed by the fact that Matty was sneakily able to get signatures from her three main suspects, Olympia, Julian, and Senior (Beau Bridges). The latter is the one that matches the courier paperwork that Alfie found, so now the head of the entire law firm is Matty's main suspect. She just needs to find more proof to tie him to the crime of hiding evidence.

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It's a Texas Two-Step With a Side of Backstabbing on 'Matlock' Episode 4

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Getting to Senior may be harder going forward though, because he pulls some shady stuff during the case of the week. Olympia and the associates are representing a widower, Robert Walton (John Billingsley), who was married to one of the firm's longest clients. He's suing his building for giving his wife the lung disease that killed her, but then Senior and Elijah (Eme Ikwuakor) sign the building's parent company, creating a conflict of interest. The firm creates a firewall so that both parties can keep representing their clients, but things get tense immediately.

Elijah is still really salty that Olympia had the nerve to break things off with him for the sake of keeping her workplace free of drama. When you already work with your ex-husband and your ex-father-in-law, dating another coworker right in front of them is messy. Olympia is smart for recognizing that (also the sparks between her and Julian are absolutely not dead, but I digress), and Elijah needs to be a big boy and recognize the awkward position their relationship would put her in. It takes him most of the episode and a few petty jabs during mediation meetings to get there, but he seems to have finally accepted her decision by the end of the case.

However, Senior does not think Olympia being his former daughter-in-law is reason enough not to backstab her. She and the associates put together a winning case and convince Senior and his client to pay Robert $2 million in damages, and to assess payouts for tenants across the city who can prove they have similar lung conditions to Robert's wife. While Olympia is gathering additional plaintiffs, Senior does a "Texas two-step" and rearranges his client's companies so the building section can go bankrupt, making the deal with Robert and the others essentially null and void. Robert gets the acknowledgment that it was the building owner's negligence that caused his wife's death, but he and the other tenants won't get a payout.

Olympia and Julian cope with the betrayal by smacking the crap out of some of Senior's old professional trophies that Julian stole a few weeks prior. It's clear that Olympia has lost a lot of the regard she holds for Senior after this stunt, which means she'll probably be avoiding him or purposefully antagonizing him in the near future. That's going to make it difficult for Matty, who works directly for Olympia, to start schmoozing with Senior to get the info she needs to pin hiding the Wellbrexa documents on him.

The past two episodes have been about illustrating how messy this entire mission has been for Matty, but it seems like we're just getting the tip of the iceberg. As tensions between Olympia, Julian, and Senior increase, it's going to get even more complicated for Matty to infiltrate the triangle and get the information she needs. The more complicated the mission gets, and the longer it takes for it to be accomplished, the higher the toll it takes on Matty, her conscience, and her family. The idea that Matty will get out of this unscathed is becoming a pipe dream, and so now, the question becomes: what is she willing to lose to get justice for her daughter?

Matlock continues on Thursdays at 9 PM ET on CBS. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Paramount+.

Matty's home life gets messy in Matlock Episode 4 as she gets a big breakthrough in her case.

Pros

• We're seeing the real toll of this mission for Matty.
• We love to see the associates bonding on a real level.
• Olympia and Julian rage golf is a new favorite pastime.

Cons

• Matty was kind of the villain for most of this episode.
• Should this mission be happening if it can't happen without a tween behind the scenes?

Watch on Paramount+