In a television universe ruled by the key 18-to-49 demographic by which advertising rates are set, the new CBS legal drama television series Matlock, which stars 76-year-old actress Kathy Bates, is defying the laws of gravity, at least judging by how the show’s premiere episode attracted the largest series premiere audience for CBS in more than five years. In Matlock, Bates plays Madeline Matlock, a supposedly inexperienced and widowed ex-lawyer who happens to share a last name with famed fictional criminal defense lawyer Ben Matlock, played by Andy Griffith in the original Matlock television series, which aired from 1986 to 1992 on NBC, and then from 1992 to 1995 on ABC.
In the Matlock reboot pilot episode, which presently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Madeline gets a job at a corporate law firm, where she quickly gains the trust of her colleagues, who are unaware of Madeline’s true identity and motivation, as is the audience up until the pilot episode’s closing scenes. For Bates, who said that she considered retirement prior to joining the Matlock reboot, the series showcases her impressive acting range, as Madeline’s harmless old lady persona is revealed to be part of a calculated strategy, in which, in Madeline’s words, no one sees Madeline coming until it’s too late.
Kathy Bates’ Matlock Has a Spiritual Connection with the Iconic Television Character
Instead of being introduced as Ben Matlock’s daughter or a reincarnated version of Andy Griffith’s iconic television character in the Matlock reboot, Madeline Matlock lives in a world in which Ben Matlock was a fictional television lawyer who was featured in the original Matlock television series between 1986 and 1995. Despite being unrelated to the fictional lawyer, Madeline emulates the fictional Matlock’s befuddled charm, in addition to her corporate espionage.
In order to land a job at a prominent corporate law firm, Madeline introduces herself as a bumbling though perceptive lawyer. She claims that she was forced to emerge from retirement and reenter the workforce because her ex-husband gambled away her retirement savings. When introducing herself to her new colleagues, Madeline says that her last name led people to compare Madeline to the fictional Ben Matlock in the 1980s and 1990s. However, Madeline’s connection to the original television series runs much deeper than this, as Madeline used the television series to construct her own fictional identity.
Except for being an attorney and having lost a daughter to drug addiction, everything about Madeline Matlock’s history turns out to be a lie, including her last name. Through Madeline’s masquerade, which serves as a deranged tribute to Ben Matlock’s sometimes morally ambiguous approach to practicing law, Madeline reveals herself to be more similar to the fictional character than her new colleagues could possibly imagine.
The Matlock Reboot Isn’t Your Parents’ Matlock
In the original Matlock series, Ben Matlock is a high-powered southern-based criminal defense lawyer who brings a legendary reputation into the courtroom. He exclusively tries murder cases, in which his folksy charm disguises a razor-sharp legal mind, and always emerges victorious. Whereas the Matlock reboot is primarily set in a corporate law firm, where Madeline appears as a debt-ridden, inexperienced, widowed former lawyer whose knowledge of the law is secondary to her keen understanding of human behavior. Through her disarming directness, ingratiating manner, and uncanny observational skills, Madeline quickly makes herself indispensable to her new colleagues.
In contrast to grizzled trial lawyer Ben Matlock, Madeline takes the form of a confidante, mother figure, and mentalist who is able to subtly bend others to her will while reading their thoughts. In a scene between Madeline and her immediate boss, Olympia, a slight brushing of hands between Olympia and a fellow lawyer enables Madeline to intuit that the lawyers are having an affair.
Through her concealed deceptiveness and obsessive behavior, Madeline resembles the crazed Annie Wilkes, the role for which Kathy Bates won an Academy Award from the 1990 thriller film Misery, as Madeline has the same twisted fixation on Ben Matlock that Annie had with fictional author Paul Sheldon.
Madeline Matlock Isn’t Who She Appears to Be
Up until its shocking climax, the Matlock reboot pilot unfolds as a fairly typical television legal drama, which is only distinguished by the fleeting novelty of the fish-out-of-water dynamic between septuagenarian Madeline Matlock and her younger colleagues, several of whom weren’t alive when the original Matlock series first aired.
However, the pilot episode completely upends expectations through a shocking plot twist, in which Madeline is revealed to be a complete impostor. Madeline Matlock is actually Madeline Kingston, a wealthy woman who sports a diamond ring while being transported by limousine to the lush mansion she shares with her complicit grandson and husband, both of whom assisted Madeline’s infiltration of the law firm Jacobson & Moore by creating a fake online work history and profile for Madeline Matlock.
The impact of this revelation is heightened by the breadcrumbs that Madeline provides throughout the pilot, specifically in terms of Madeline’s mention of having had a daughter who died of a drug overdose. Madeline’s daughter was a fan of Ben Matlock and the original Matlock series, which inspired Madeline’s daughter to want to become a lawyer prior to her death.
Madeline infiltrated Jacobson & Moore to find out which of the firm’s three partners was responsible for withholding documents that might have prevented the opioid epidemic that led to Madeline’s daughter’s death. This sets the stage for a tense remaining first season filled with Madeline’s continued deception, in which Madeline continually gains the trust of her law firm colleagues, especially the partners, none of whom have a clue that the kindly-seeking Madeline intends to destroy them.
