written by Cristina Escobar, RogerEbert.com
For movies and TV shows set in our modern era, who are the best (or should I say worst?) real-life villains? The ones everyone agrees are terrible and can easily root against? From where I’m watching, the Sackler family, their enablers, and their competitors are making a run for it. The profiteers of the opioid epidemic have had a hand in hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S. And with shows like Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and now CBS’ “Matlock,” they’re being shown as the truly destructive force they are.
“Matlock” uses this premise to great effect. Kathy Bates leverages her formidable powers as the titular Madeline “Mattie” Matlock, this time with a hidden (and righteous) agenda. Bates’s Matlock knows what people see when they look at her–if they look at her at all. She’s invisible to many, underestimated by nearly everyone, deemed a harmless (and kind) old woman. She is some of those things, but she’s also incredibly savvy, able to use those expectations to her advantage everywhere she goes. She can also laugh at herself, making the show eminently watchable.
Now, I don’t want to lead you astray–this is a CBS legal drama with the trappings to go with it. In each episode, we review Matlock’s persona and re-meet the supporting characters. The repetition gets annoying if you’re binging the show, but if you’re watching it in weekly installments, as it was meant to be, it’s less grating, just part of the formula.
And a twist (which I won’t spoil here) revealed at the end of the pilot works. It exposes the artificiality of some legal dramas while never forsaking its source material. And while the full setup is weighty, there’s plenty of room for Bates to have fun along the way, solving crimes while she jokes about being broke and winning over nearly everyone she meets with her folksy charm.
It helps that she’s surrounded by a diverse cast of lawyers who know exactly what show they’re in. Partner Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) is a strong workplace foil and potential ally for Matlock. She has insider access but knows that as a Black woman, she’ll always be somewhat of an outsider in the legal profession. Matlock’s two fellow associates Billy (David Del Rio) and Sarah (Leah Lewis) are having fun with it. They’re try-hards who can’t match Mattie’s savvy but they can match her charm. They’ve also got technology on the side, using the internet in ways that astonish the septuagenarian. Queue the intergenerational jokes (hey, they’re repeated for a reason).
Still, the heart of the show lies in its exploration of the opioid epidemic, which is where it surprises. Bates’s Mattie and the series creators never falter (or at least not in the six episodes provided to critics) in seeing those battling addiction as human beings worthy of sympathy. At one point, they even use language along those lines, calling one woman facing addiction “a person who deserves dignity and respect.”
Along the way, Mattie drops a lot of wisdom on the subject, making the show a powerful tool in counteracting some of society’s least charitable assumptions about addiction. I’m not going to say it never gets preachy, but rarely. And when it does, it’s easily forgiven because showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman of the phenomenal “Jane the Virgin” (and her vessel Mattie) clearly have their hearts in the right place.
This earnestness, combined with Bates’ performance and the show’s strong and consistent use of humor, makes for a good watch. “Matlock” isn’t exactly throwback TV, but it delivers on the comfort food of solving at least one complex problem in forty-two minutes. That it’s funny and heartfelt along the way just adds to the charm, particularly as the suspense mounts. Toying with our expectations of a recognizable persona like Matlock, CBS’s newest legal drama honors the original while creating something new entirely.
Featuring work from John Tanzer, cinematographer.
