Matlock’s New Olympia Cliffhanger Might Be Its Most Important, And I’m Nervous With Just Three Episodes Left

Warning: spoilers for Matlock, Season 1, Episode 16 “The Johnson Case” are in play.

Forgive me if you’re getting tired of me trumpeting every time Matlock delivers a cliffhanger in the 2025 TV schedule, but there have been some legit nail-biters as of late. The revelation that Mrs. Belvin (Patricia Belcher) was the Redditor who tipped Kathy Bates’ legal eagle off on the Welbrexa mystery’s existence was a game-changer. Now, with three episodes left, a greater development has taken shape.

From this point on, it’s going to be spoilers for “The Johnson Case,” so if you haven’t watched – you have been warned. But before we jump in, let me just say one thing: Skye P. Marshall’s Season 1 finale tease just became even more intriguing – considering her character of Olympia Lawrence is a huge part of this new turn.

Olympia May Have Figured Out Matty’s Ruse

At the end of Matlock’s sixteenth episode, we learned what that file from the title actually contained. “The Johnson Case,” as it turns out, was Olympia’s file of Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates), a.k.a. Matty Matlock. Confronting “Matty” outside of the bus she takes as cover for her actual limo home, the supposedly impoverished single grandmother was presented with a deluge of evidence.

You’d think the candidate for partner at Jacobson Moore had a Paramount+ subscription for all of the clues she’s gathered. But it appears that Ms. Lawrence has been playing the long game, as shown by a new usage of Matlock’s “twist-of-the-week” formula.

Between the recording pen that led to Matlock’s fall finale bombshell involving Julian (Jason Ritter) and a wallet used in a distraction earlier in Matty’s investigation into her ex-husband’s whereabouts, Ms. Lawrence had a pretty good case.

However, what may have been the kicker was the appearance of Madeline’s sister Bitsy (Julie Hagerty) in court, seeing as that was where the license plate for Matty’s limo came from. With all of these clues in place, Olympia was left to ask the question that’s left us hanging for the next week:

Who the hell are you, Madeline Matlock?

Oh, this could be bad. There are several reasons to be concerned, and we’ll run through them all now.

Kathy Bates as Matty in Matlock Season 1x07

(Image credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS)

Matlock’s Nerve-wracking Cliffhanger Could Change Everything

It figures that the Matlock episode that seemingly clears Olympia of all wrongdoing on Welbrexa is the one in which she confronts Madeline. Just as these two became friends, only for Matty to question it when it looked like her pal was back on the clue board, the ultimate vindication has come too late.

Not only could this totally kill their legal sisterhood, but it could also end Madeline Kingston’s investigation through termination. And with the only suspect left being Jason Ritter’s kinda nice but kinda shady lawyer, my final Matlock Big Bad prediction is still in the air.

Skye P Marshall points towards Kathy Bates with a big smile on her face in Matlock S1 E13 -

(Image credit: Michael Yarish/CBS)

Also, we could be seeing the Welbrexa mystery that’s been so central to Matlock Season 1 going away soon. Or, potentially it could morph so that if Olympia needs to start her own independent office, she can take Madeline Matlock with her to continue digging away from prying eyes. That is, if whatever waits at the other end of this shocking development allows for any sort of professional/friendly chatter.

Set your watches, folks, because Madeline Kingston will return in the “I Was That Too” episode on Thursday, April 10 at 9 p.m. ET. If that title isn’t a reference to Olympia Lawrence telling Matty she thought they were friends, I’ll be very surprised.

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