Belly of the Beast – The episode opens with Madeline “Matty” Matlock/Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) getting dressed for work when Edwin Kingston (Sam Anderson) while on vacation in Florida. She assures him that she is okay before explaining her plan to win over the Wellbrexa legal team. Later at the firm, Mrs. Bevin (Patricia Belcher) pulls Matty into a debate about Christmas sweaters. Stuart Gray (Francisco Chacin) tells her to stay out of it. Matty tries to escape but Bevin insists she help resolve their dispute. Shae Banfield (Yael Grobglas) calls Stuart out for lying and pulls Matty into a truth session. Shae suggests Matty hasn’t been sleeping well like herself because of a lie. Matty looks concerned until Shae starts complaining about Sarah utilizing a head cold to get out of singing with a cappella. She asks her to convince Sarah to change her mind and quickly walks away. Matty arrives at their office to find Kira Yu (Piper Curda) and Sarah chatting. Upon leaving, Kira mentions seeing Sarah at a party. Matty suggests that is why she is skipping the performance. Olympia Lawrence (Skye P. Marshall) arrives to escort Matty to pharma. Billy (David Del Rio) asks Sarah if they are ready for Olympia to start leaning on them now with a very experienced Matty gone. Olympia gives Matty a few pointers about pharma. Julian (Jason Ritter) smiles at Olympia and greets Matty. They warn her not to take egotistical Trent Boyle (Josh Archer) personally. Matty tells them a bit about the plaintiff before saying they are back together. Olympia stresses the importance of keeping it quiet. Spotting Senior (Beau Bridges), Julian questions why he isn’t on vacation.

Senior tells Julian that he changed his flight to have lunch with the Wellbrexa CEO, Don. Julian questions why he didn’t notify him. Senior suggests Julian is utilizing Matty to win Olympia back. He says their broker said they pulled their house off the market. Sitting in the lobby, Matty overhears Senior ordering Stuart to repair his computer and bring his laptop. Julian explains his plan to have her convince the plaintiff, Jessie Stevenson (Dominique Gayle), to accept the deal. Ben Kleeman (Levon Rector) greets Julian. Trent sarcastically says he wasn’t aware it was “Bring Your Grandma to Work Day.” Matty says she kept it from his grandma because she is a “bi**h.” He says Granny has a mouth on her and holds out his fist. She bumps it with her fist. During the settlement conference, Jessie explains how she went from healthy to needing a kidney transplant after joining the drug trial. Julian urges her to stick to the facts. Attorney Paige Carver (Zamani Wilder) tells the panel about Jessie was told her stomachaches were unrelated to the drug trial. She insists the settlement cover Jessie’s medical expenses and her ruined career. Julian plays down Jessie’s musical talent and points out that there is no evidence her kidney problems are related to the drug. She claims to remember Dr. Blackwell utilized a blue folder to file her report. He tells her that Blackwell denied she reported any symptoms. Trent points out that mental fog is a symptom of substance abuse. Matty orders them to authorize the sum. Julian offers $10k. She says $50k. Jessie starts recording them and asks her followers why they think of these pharma bros. Matty conceals her face behind a folder.

Trent, Ben, and Matty watch the video posted on Jessie’s social media. During a video conference, Julian asks Blackwell about Jessie’s claim of reporting her symptoms on multiple occasions. Blackwell claims Jessie is lying. Trent says Wellbrexa has agreed to add an additional $100k to the initial $50k offer. Matty voices concern about being on camera because she fears getting doxed. Julian reminds her that she wanted on pharma. She reluctantly agrees to talk to Jessie. Elsewhere, Sarah shows Billy a transcript filled with Olympia’s scribbles. She stresses the need to get Matty back because she is better with people than her. Billy says Wellbrexa’s legal team will love Matty, so it is on them to figure it out. Billy enters and asks what they need to figure out. He claims to be trying to decide how to propose to Claudia (Bella Ortiz). She borrows a “phone thingy” from Sarah and leaves. Billy shows Sarah a ring box. She urges him not to listen to his sisters.

Wearing a face mask, Matty visits Jessie who starts immediately recording her. She claims to have a pacemaker and shows her a device that protects her from electromagnetic interference. She warns that one surge from their phones could do to her. Jessie puts her phone away and explains her passion for music and how her chronic condition impacted her. Matty says her client is offering $150k which is a lowball number and suggests $250k. They look at each other and agree to discuss it. Matty calls Julian to confirm the real ceiling. He says $250k. She assures him that Jessie will accept the offer. Jessie takes to social media to criticize Matty and announce a mass lawsuit against Wellbrexa. Trent says they got a preliminary injunction to shut the drug trial down which will cost them $1m a day. During a meeting, Trent and Julian disagree on how to move forward. Julian suggests a gag order to keep Jessie and Paige quiet. Senior barges in and insists on a gag order. He says the case cannot go to trial. Later, Julian complains about how Senior undercut him during the meeting after they had already agreed on how to proceed. Olympia suggests he is showing Wellbrexa that he is paying attention. He says now is not the right time to defend his father and walks away.

Matty asks about the street view thing. She tells Alfie that she has another task for him. Matty questions what the sign says in Paige’s glasses. At the office, Julian tells Matty he got the gag order so they can’t make any more TikToks about the case. Matty thinks they should postpone the deposition because she found out where Jessie and Paige went after the meeting yesterday. They went to a lab run by Blackwell’s girlfriend, Dr. Catherine Roark. Matty believes the girls must’ve found something out because they changed their minds about the settlement after that. Julian isn’t sure about that. Blackwell is questioned by Paige who asks about Dr. Roark. He admits they were romantically involved, and Roark is a biostatistician. Paige asks if she would understand what would cause the test to fail or succeed. She shows everyone a text exchange between Blackwell and Roark on the day Jessie reported her first symptoms.

Blackwell told her about the stomachache and questioned how many he could afford to lose. Catherine told him none. Paige says Jessie told him about her stomachache and he didn’t report it. Julian tells Matty what happened. Julian questions whether they should work together. Stuart interrupts to say Senior is with Don Halverston and they want to speak to them. Madeline remembers Don Halverston who is CEO of Wellbrexa. Don (Harry Zinn) scolds Matty and Julian before asking Senior why he should remain at the firm. Senior says Matty and Julian are off the Wellbrexa team for good. Shae finds Matty later and asks her about Sarah. Matty refuses to talk to her. Shae confronts Sarah who claims she’s still under the weather.

Shae knows she doesn’t have a head cold. She also knows that Sarah is smitten with Kira Yu. Shae threatens to tell on her if she doesn’t sing with them. Matty tells Olympia what just happened. Olympia leaves to speak to her husband. Sarah brings Billy over since she believes Matty is upset. Sarah and Billy tell Matty that they’ve missed her. When Matty asks about the proposal, Billy says he’s still waiting for the perfect moment. Sarah blurts out that they might as well have been married already. Matty says she needs to do some research.

Billy asks Sarah to meet him on the patio and bring all the holiday decorations. Olympia confronts Senior who tells her to choose her words carefully. Olympia speaks to Julian, and they kiss. Matty tries to call Edwin. She leaves a message saying she’s found something that will win them the case and get her in with Senior and Wellbrexa. Matty admits it’s going to destroy a young woman’s life. She listens to a voicemail message from Ellie who says she’s clean and pregnant. Shae and the others sing for everyone. Matty approaches Julian to tell him what she found out about the Wellbrexa case. They visit Judge Amy Yang (Janet Song) at home. Julian offers her a chance to clear her docket. Jessie and Paige join them moments later. Julian says Paul Blackwell and Catherine Roark didn’t just date. They lived as a couple before moving to New York together. They were living in Rhode Island where common-law marriage is still recognized.

Catherine wants nothing to do with the lawsuit. She insists those communications were private and between husband and wife. Therefore, any texts between Catherine and Dr. Blackwell cannot be admitted into evidence. Amy says the text chain will be barred from being submitted into evidence. Paige realizes they can’t prove causation without that. Amy tells them to go home unless they have anything new to submit. Matty warns Jessie that she will be looking at a countersuit if she says anything about the lawsuit online. Kira talks to Sarah about being part of the singing group. She takes her somewhere private and makes Sarah sing for her. Kira begins kissing her. Senior tells Julian great work only to find out that Matty won the case. Elijah (Eme Ikwuakor) returns and speaks to Olympia. Julian comes over to welcome Elijah back. Julian leaves with Olympia moments later. Matty speaks to Senior about winning the case.

Trent says they’re calling beginning for the 50k they offered first. Matty thinks they should give it to them, but the others do not think so. Matty’s bracelet breaks and the beads are stepped on. She leaves. Once she gets home, she can’t stop thinking about the case. She’s so upset that she has to take medication. Billy takes Claudia to a private spot and tries to propose to her. Claudia says she loves him, but she doesn’t think they belong together. Once she leaves, Sarah enters and finds out what has happened. She attempts to comfort Billy. Julian tells Olympia that his dad said something. He believes they need to start fresh. Before they separated, he had an affair. Olympia gets upset and walks away. Stuart gets a call from Senior who needs his help. He says he forgot his password. In reality, it’s Matty using an AI voice generator. Matty gets the password.

 

Matlock Review

The worst episode by far. The social media aspect is so overused and tiresome. Paige was the least likely attorney of all time. It would be difficult to imagine anyone taking her advice seriously. Although the episode was Christmas-themed, nothing came of it. The domestic drama is corny filler.

The Jacobson Moore cases are mere side stories to drag the season out for 18 episodes. The series is already too long and this is not to mention the frequent hiatuses since its debut. The question still remains, will viewers stick around for the summer 2025 finale?

The episode deserves a 4 out of 10. Get more Matlock recaps here. Learn more about our advertising packages by clicking the link. See what others are saying about the show here. Support our platform here.