MATLOCK Post-Mortem: Jennie Snyder Urman on the Big Season 1 Finale Reveal and Those Cliffhangers

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the MATLOCK season 1 finale.]

MATLOCK finally answered the question of who hid the Welbrexa study—but, naturally, there was another quasi-twist attached.

In the two-hour season finale, Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) went looking for the trust to prove that Julian (Jason Ritter) hadn’t been bribed by the company to hide the paperwork and he had gotten money for their home because he had access to his trust. She found proof and called Matty (Kathy Bates), overjoyed, and said she wanted to help build a case against Senior (Beau Bridges).

Olympia promised she’d be at Matty’s house at 4 to discuss further, but when Olympia was about to leave the bank, she was offered a chance to look at the safety deposit box…where the stolen study was hidden. Even more unfortunate for her? Julian found her. 

When he questioned what she was doing, she replied, “The better question is why are you hiding a missing Welbrexa study about opioids in your safety deposit box?”

After pushing him to tell her the truth (and only the truth), he finally copped to it. “I was 26 years old,” Julian said. “You know who my dad is. You know what he was to me back then. I felt invisible. And disposable. And I just wanted him to value me.”

Olympia insisted he would have if Julian kept his head down and worked hard, but Julian scoffed at that. “That is not true,” he insisted. “That is everybody else but not me. I was starting behind.”

Now it was Olympia’s turn to dismiss that, and he clarified he was starting behind not in the world, but specifically with his father. “He could not respect me.”

So one day, while they were working the case, he found out something was going on and mentioned it to his dad, who instantly went to Australia. Once there, Senior called and asked Julian to get rid of the study.

When Olympia asked if Senior orchestrated the fire drill so Julian could steal it, he realized she knew more than what he had told her. She wouldn’t give up her sources, but he confirmed she was correct.

But why did he keep it? “I don’t know,” Julian admitted. “Guilt? Shame over what I did? A way to remind myself or punish myself. I should have shredded it then. Give it to me, I’ll do it now and there’s no evidence.” 

Olympia insisted he’s just like his father, but he promised he’s a different man now. In fact, he said he was leaving the firm. He offered to give up his law license if it would make her feel better. “I made a huge mistake, Olympia, and it has haunted me,” he said. “But I am not that person anymore.” 

He insisted she knew him better than anyone else. “I’m out. I’m out. I am,” he promised. “Please, please don’t let me be defined by the worst thing I ever did. If not for me, for our kids. Please. Let’s shred it.”

But what happens next? MATLOCK creator Jennie Snyder Urman talked with Give Me My Remote about the fallout from those season 1 finale cliffhangers and what’s already planned for season 2.

It was Julian! Obviously, things can change so much in shaping a season in the writers’ room. What can you share about how his motivations might have changed throughout the season, how much you knew from the start, etc.?  
Yeah, we were sort of back and forth in the beginning of the year, last year, about who it would be—would it be Senior, would it be Julian? And pretty early on, we locked into Julian because it would be so difficult for Olympia, and because we love Jason, and love his character, and he gives Julian the privileged circumstances, but this kind heart, too. That he’s always trying to be better than he acts or some of his decisions would seem to suggest. So it just felt like the most painful for the most amount of people, honestly. And it would leave us with the most dilemmas for the next season.

And, also, the most true to character that he did this—he wants his dad’s affection and appreciation so much. And he did this, and he’s felt terrible, and he’s kept it in a box. It’s his “Tell-Tale Heart,” he feels so guilty about it. It’s the worst thing he ever did. And he knows it, which is also why he can’t throw it away, because it’s a little bit punishing himself. And I think that having a character that is not a clear villain, but that did something really, really, really bad is really interesting.

You mentioned that you were flipping back and forth between Julian and Senior—was Olympia ever a consideration for you, or was she always off the table?
She was always off the table for me, because of the love story. And I just didn’t see her doing that in it didn’t seem consistent with a character who was fighting so hard for justice and social justice and social causes, even though we explored it because, obviously, if she did, it would be horrible for Matty. It did not feel like it would be consistent with the character, like I really couldn’t see that character taking that [step]…I just couldn’t see it. It’s such a big deal and it has to feel truthful to us as writers, too.

Julian is offering basically everything—he’s offering to give up his future and everything he can to keep this quiet. What can you tease about what this means for Olympia and Julian going into season 2?
She’s got a devastating choice. And the choice is more complicated because she’s not the only one who knows about it, right? Matty is involved, too, and she is not telling Julian about that right now, so it’s not as clean-cut as he thinks, which is, “No one will know.” And yet she could [go along with this], and then there wouldn’t be any hard evidence. But could she? Because she is a person of integrity, and it’s a really bad thing that he did, and it goes against everything about who she is. To align herself with Matty would be exposing her family. And to align herself with Julian would be to sell out her ideals and her values. And could she live with herself? 

There’s just so much to it, which is what makes it really juicy. And then next season—and we do have it all plotted out, so I could tell you exactly how it goes down, but I’m not going to—it’s good. It just puts everyone in really hard positions.

Are we going to pick up basically instantly where this season leaves off? And will we be learning right away what decision Olympia makes or could we be in the dark, too? 
[Pauses.] I’m trying to think of how I can answer that. It will be almost a direct pickup. And you will know the fate of the document by the end of the first episode.

I’m very intrigued to see how that is actually literally true, but, also, probably a twist with your phrasing that I cannot even see yet.
[Laughs and nods.] Exactly. Careful words!

Alfie’s potential father showed up at the end of the episode, which could also blow up Matty’s life. What can you share about how this will impact her, both in the short-term and the long-term?
The first question is, is this his father? And they have to make sure that it is. 

But regardless of whether this is his father or his father is someone else, it opens that door, and that is going to destabilize their whole home life. And Matty and Alfie have been just in lock-step for so long. So what happens when they’re at odds? And when he’s angry with her? We haven’t seen that, when they disagree on things that are central and important. 

She’s coming from experience, and he’s coming from hope. Her whole home life is going to be destabilized in this next year, which is…this is a woman who we built the whole first season around the fact that she’s in control. The structure of the series was revealing that she was in control. She was always a few steps ahead of the audience and the characters. And going into season 2, she does not have all the control. And that’s going to put this character in a very different set of circumstances. And that’s both at work and at home.

It’s been beautiful that there were obviously conflicts within the marriage, but Matty and Edwin were really supportive of each other. But now they seem to be at a crossroads in what they want. What can you share about how they will be fighting to kind of overcome these differences and if they can overcome these differences?
We deal with all that very pretty early on. But it’s a long-term marriage, so divorce is not on the table for them. They have to figure it out. I always joke, “I am as committed to this marriage as I am to my own, and I’m quite committed.” Like, they’ve got to figure out how to work through really difficult things, where two people want opposite things, and how they choose to do that, what they come to is really surprising. Where it leads is really surprising, but they have to fight to get back on the same page. 

And this is a marriage that’s been [going for] 50 years. It’s seen dark days, it’s seen beautiful days. It’s seen differences of opinion. It’s seen real trauma. And so now they’re at another sort of crossroads. Alfie’s father and that story is going to stress the house even more. And then what the aftermath of everything is going to stress it. But they have to figure it out.

That parallels legal cases: You have to keep negotiating until you find something that both people can live with. That is going to be the approach that will lead to surprising and fun areas, I think.

I love them, so I’m glad to hear that they won’t be split.
No, I mean, I just couldn’t see it. I can’t see it every time it comes up. I’m like, they’re not. And in the second season, Matty says, “We’ve got to work it out. What, you’re gonna go to the pickleball court and find someone else who’s gonna rub that spot on your arm? I mean, we’re in this.” So, what can come of that? I think it gives us surprising comedy and drama.

The other love story, as we’ve discussed, is Olympia and Matty. What can you share about how you’re writing the dynamic in season 2, given things are fundamentally changed between them no matter what she decides? And will they have to hide the shifts in their relationship so others don’t find out?
Yes, all of those things are at the top of our minds in the writers’ room. And we start with the Olympia and Matty spine. And we arc it and talk about it like an epic love story. So I think, like all epic romances, there’s yearning, there’s wanting to get back together. There’s will they/won’t they? There’s twists and turns, and there’s emotions. So we’re going to be going into all that, which is, if we take the romantic love as the paradigm, somebody cheated or betrayed in this really deep, hurtful, hurtful way. There’s love underneath, and find your way back. And really, it depends on what the moves are that are decided post the finale. 

So I can’t be that specific, but it is this: It’s the spine again, but it’s not an easy spine. And now they have more history, but they’ll have more memories—but they also have more hurt and pain and betrayal. You know, Olympia thought she was someone totally different, and she was lied to, and that’s a hard thing to get over.

On a different note, Billy may be a father. What can you share about how he’s dealing with that in season 2?
Poor Billy. He’s an ultimate people pleaser, and his journey of this of he’s gonna make a big move at the end of this second season that he could never have made at the beginning of our journey, or at the beginning of the second season, even. 

The pregnancy, the decisions around it, all of that is going to completely change his role and upend and change his views and forces him into new situations. And I can’t really say more without telling you all the things in the premiere. [Laughs.]

Sarah also got a big win. Why was it important to have her have that moment, especially in a finale? And how does that impact her going forward?
You know, I think she’s a character that came in with so much ambition and got knocked down a bunch of times, but also when we’re constantly trying to dramatize the human collateral damage of Matty’s plan. Sarah got a case taken away from her at this critical moment. And Billy got it, and it was a win. And Sarah still internalized that as she wasn’t good enough, she didn’t get it, and it did shake her ego. 

This is the last piece that Matty is feeling like, “I did some damage here” that she wants [to] clean up, emotionally, with Sarah. So it was building that. And having Matty be…they’re all a team, and having Matty talk through the last thing that she did that was hurtful to someone that she cares about. So it was on that Matty [point of view] that she wants to leave the place like she came. [She went] into this doll house and she wants to leave it not broken, right? Like, with the pieces not broken, with the least amount of fingerprints on the furniture. And so Sarah is part of that. So that’s on the Matty side of it. 

And on the Sarah side of it, I think the audience, everyone, is like, “Can this character do it?” She talks a big game. But she’s been knocked down. Can she do it? And then we’re kind of building to wait for her to have her big moment. And then Leah [Lewis, who plays Sarah] would always be like [jokingly asking], “When is it going to be my case? When is it going to be my case?” And I’m always very tight-lipped. And then she was like, “It’s the finale?!” She couldn’t believe it. She was so excited for Sarah. 

I love the way that the actors are so excited for their characters, because they become so close to them. It’s a second skin. And she was like, “I can’t believe Sarah’s getting this opportunity.” And she was so excited. And I think she just crushed it. And I wanted some beautiful team unifying moments too, in this finale.

And Julian has said that he quit. What can you quickly tease about how that will impact the entire firm, regardless of what happens with the paperwork?
[Long pause.] Well. [Laughs.] I don’t think I can, Marisa. He did say was going to quit, and everything else sort of unfolds from Olympia’s decision, I would say, of what to do with the papers.

MATLOCK, Thursdays, 9/8c, CBS

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