A Guy Named Greg – The episode opens with Madeline “Matty” Matlock/Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) and Alfie Kingston (Aaron D. Harris) profiling Judge Bolding (Chuck McCollum), a marine vet. She is happy with their results. At the firm, Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) and her team search for suitable juror candidates for an impending wrongful termination trial.  A candidate, Joelle Miller (Kelsie Kiana Plini), took to social media when she was terminated two years ago. Later Olympia confronts Joelle for not being truthful about her cousin working for Lock Stone Capital. Joelle denies being close to her cousin. Olympia requests to strike for cause. With a full jury, Bolding thanks everyone when Matty’s phone rings. She haphazardly searches for the silence button as the phone continues to ring. The prosecution team laughs. Bolding orders her to turn it off and bans all phones from his courtroom. At home, Matty boasts of her success. Edwin Kingston (Sam Anderson) congratulates her. Excited, Alfie stresses the need to get Olympia’s phone, so they can unlock her computer. She promises to do it tomorrow while Olympia is in court.

Matty insists Alejandra “Alex” Ramos (Daniell Larracuente) wear a black jacket to cover her “loud” shirt and boobs. Alex says it shouldn’t matter before claiming to understand and leaves to change. Sarah (Leah Lewis) complains about Olympia congratulating them on their research when it was all her research. Keeping her eye on Olympia’s unattended phone, Matty warns Sarah against asking Olympia how she feels about her. Olympia retrieves her phone as Elijah Walker (Eme Ikwuakor) approaches and asks how the split is going. She claims things between her and Julian (Jason Ritter) have improved and starts to say something about their impending November rendezvous when Julian approaches. She and Julian disagree about Meerkat, Shae Banfield (Yael Groblas). Elijah makes a quick departure to avoid getting caught up in it. Ignoring Matty’s advice, Sarah asks Olympia if she is upset about something she did. Olympia says, “You know what you did.” Sarah continues to pry her for answers. Placing her phone on the table, Olympia suggests Matty support Alex in the courtroom. Disappointed, Matty lays her phone on the table and follows the others to the courtroom. Later, Olympia questions Alex about her relationship with her former boss, Jeremy Brooks (Chad Coe). After denying any attraction to him, Alex tells the jury that he had been sexually harassing her for some time but never reported him because it was her dream job. Matty encourages Alex from the plaintiff table. Jeremy sexually assaulted an intoxicated Alex at a holiday party. It stopped when she vomited. She started having panic attacks and stopped going to meetings. Alex insists he should have been fired, not her. Olympia says no further questions. Defense Council Veronica Cabrera (Natalie Ceballos) asks Alex to tell the jury about her relationship with her co-worker, Derek Liu (Andrew Grace). Alex admits to being romantically involved with Derek for six months. At the judge’s bench, Cabrera presents Derek and Alex’s sex video. Olympia argues that it is prejudicial. Bolding reminds her that Alex lied under oath and plays the video to the jury.

Alex claims to have met Derek before and called off their relationship when he was hired at Lock Stone. Olympia warns that the jurors’ opinion of her has changed. Billy (David Del Rio) suggests attacking Jeremy before pointing out inconsistencies in his resume. Jeremy volunteers at a park known for court-ordered community service. Olympia stresses the need to consult with Meerkat. En route to the council, Billy tells Matty about Meerkat’s superior ability to read people, calling her a “human lie detector.” Upon arrival, Billy encounters his sister, Natalie Martinez (Karina Noelle Castillo), and mother, Grace Martinez (Margarita Franco), who informs them that Jeremy’s case is sealed but he is wearing a state-issued vest in the photos. Matty asks Natalie about Billy’s human lie-detector claim. Natalie says they work at Bougie law firms where they are paid a lot. Meerkat warns Olympia that she lost four jurors because of the sex tape. Billy tells them that Marla Freemont signed off on Jeremy’s community service. Meerkat insists Matty sit with Alex in court, so the jury sees she supports her. She detects Matty’s anxiety. Matty voices concern about botching the case.

Olympia questions Lock Stone Capital Human Resources Tori Park (Jennifer Aquino) about how Alex’s complaint was handled. Park says after speaking with Jeremy, it was determined there was no evidence to support Alex’s claim. Matty pats Alex’s arm and smiles at her. Jeremy and Sheryl Mathers (Polly Humpreys) logged four negative performance reviews against Alex before she filed the complaint. Meerkat studies the juror’s body language from the gallery. Sheryl claims Alex skipped meetings and her reports were late. Cabrera asks her if she came on to Jeremy. Squirming in her chair, Sheryl denies the allegation. Jurors can be seen smirking. Alex’s performance was outstanding for several years before it started deteriorating. Alex’s former co-worker, Isabel (Zoe Himmel) tells the court that all Lock Stock employees are expected to attend parties. Cabrera points out that Isabel wasn’t fired for reporting Jeremy. Olympia yells, “Rejection.” Bolding sustains the comment. Later, Meerkat warns Olympia that the jurors dislike her but like Matty. Olympia insists Matty be removed from the courtroom. Billy informs them that Jeremy was convicted of groping. Olympia can’t find her phone. When Matty urges her not to keep Bolding waiting because he is a former marine. Taken aback, Olympia says her late father was a marine. Once alone, Matty dials a number and says, “Send the flowers.”

Matty receives a call from Matty saying Bolding ruled Jeremy’s criminal record prejudicial. A deliveryman arrives with a bouquet of flowers. In court, Derek tells the court that his relationship with Alex lasted less than three weeks after he started working at Lock Stone because she thought it was inappropriate. Meerkat studies the jurors’ reactions. Olympia suggests he leaked the sex video to get back at Alex. He claims to have been angry and showed the video to his colleagues. After court is dismissed, Olympia agrees to let Matty take over Alex’s case. Matty gives the bouquet to Annie (Shelby Mayes), claiming they are for Olympia. Realizing the card is unsigned, Annie races off to catch the deliveryman. Matty sneaks into Olympia’s office. Olympia is stopped by Elijah en route to her office. Matty utilizes a verification code to access Olympia’s laptop and starts uploading files to her phone. Olympia fills Elijah in on Alex’s workplace romance. He says they are playing it safe by waiting until November. She enters her office to find Matty on her laptop. Startled, Matty spills her coffee, covering the laptop. Brushing it off, Olympia says she is going to step in for her. Frantic, Matty says her last case was 30 years ago. Olympia promises to bring her up to speed. Billy tells Sarah that Marla Freemont was fired. Sarah complains about Matty getting a case before her. The IT tech (Chris Bey) says Olympia’s laptop cannot be repaired. She admits that some of her files weren’t saved to cloud when Elijah and Julian arrive for the mock jury. Felling pressure, Matty says they shouldn’t have taken the case, and back in the day, they would have avoided the guy, not get hammered, and caught with him alone. Alex hears everything. Olympia took the case because she wants her daughter to have the option of being messy like Alex. Matty says Alfie’s parents died in a car accident.

Edwin gives Matty a pep talk before going to bed. The next day, Matty takes the floor, goes back to retrieve her notepad, greets Jeremy, and remembers her glasses. Jeremy explains why he felt Alex was a good candidate for Lock Stone. Matty asks what he thinks is a good person. He says someone nice, honest, and works hard. She asks what about someone who steals from the firm before retracting her question. She asks if a criminal is a good person. He says no and labels himself a good person. She asks to approach the bench with impeachment evidence. Cabrera reminds her that Jeremy’s criminal history was ruled inadmissible. Matty disagrees and suggests lying under oath, Rule 609, is how the sex video was slipped in. Bolding allows Matty’s evidence into court. Matty asks Jeremy if he has ever been convicted of sexual assault. He hesitantly says yes but it was expunged. The next day in court, Matty recalls being sexually harassed by a notable attorney. After he took things too far, she stayed away from litigation which was his specialty. She tells the jury that it destroyed her dreams. She admits to being biased against Alex. She says Alex should have been able to continue working at the job she loved.

The jury foreman (Drew Curtis) asks Bolding if the jury can award more than the plaintiff requested. Alex embraces Olympia and Matty. After court, Matty and Olympia celebrate the $9-million judgment. Later, Olympia tells Meerkat that she suggested Senior to not her but she was wrong. Meerkat claims Julian hired her to work on Alex’s case before warning her to be careful with Elijah. Meerkat asks Olympia to tell her the truth about Gramercy Tavern. Olympia confesses she told Senior that he shouldn’t hire her. She didn’t trust her, but believes she was wrong. Julian paid Meerkat’s full fee out of his own pocket. She urges Olympia to be careful about whatever she’s doing with Elijah. Olympia speaks to Elijah about the case. She was fooling herself into believing November would make everything okay. She’ll be divorced officially, but Julian is still going to be ticked off. Olympia says she has to put her family first and she can’t be the center of gossip. Elijah says he’s not going to beg her. Sarah approaches Olympia to find out what she did. Olympia reveals she told her five mistakes she made unsolicited. Her ambition to get ahead is clouding her judgment.

Madeline tells Billy that his discovery was a game-changer. She mentions his mom who has been texting her and sending her baby photos. Billy argues that Madeline won the case today. He admits he might have a bit of an impostor syndrome before he went to city college. Billy believes his cop connections are the only reason he was hired in the first place. Madeline suggests otherwise. She notices Meerkat watching her. At home, Alfie tells Madeline to stay away from her. He explains that he’s going to read through everything on Olympia’s computer. In a flashback, Madeline swaps out Olympia’s laptop only to spill coffee on it when Olympia enters her office. In the present, she tells Alfie that she was really worried about something she didn’t back up.

Alfie shows her what he found in an unmarked folder in a zip file. It’s a recording of Ollie’s dad giving him encouragement for the test. Madeline says they’re not friends.

 

Matlock Review

It’s unfortunate that the plot is put on the sideline to focus on irrelevant side stories and characters. Anyone watching should know it is to drag the season out for 11 episodes. Unlike the original Matlock, this series introduces a new case while also having a hidden agenda. As a defense attorney, Ben Matlock’s only goal was to find evidence to secure a not-guilty verdict. Matty’s agenda is to find the attorney responsible for concealing documents that could have taken Opioids off the market. This sounds great on paper but in the real world, there is too much to gain from these highly addictive drugs. It would take an act of Congress to ban opioids which will never happen.

The 12-year-old Alfie is portrayed as a computer genius. While 12-year-olds are in-depth in technology, not many fall in the same category as Alfie. To legitimize the character, he should have been an older teen or young adult.

The in-office drama is petty. Sarah’s constant trying to earn Olympia’s approval, Olympia and Julian’s divorce and custody dispute, and Olympia and Elijah’s affair are all petty. Natalie and Grace are pointless characters.

Since CBS has already commissioned a season two, it unlikely Matty will bring down the corrupt attorney this season. It’s questionable how many viewers will be willing to stick it out at this rate.

The series’ best quality is its cinematography. The editing could do with a bit of tightening up. More action and less dialogue would be nice. The episode deserves a 5.2 out of 10.

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