Things got tense between Jason Ritter‘s character Julian and David Del Rio’s Billy in the newest episode of Matlock.
During the Thursday, October 16, episode of the hit CBS series, Billy tried to bond with Julian when it came to fatherhood — to disastrous results. Julian, who was still dealing with being demoted, wasn’t thrilled to be looking at the same apartments as Billy, who was a second-year associate.
The situation built up to Julian yelling at Billy in the office.
“I don’t want to be your neighbor! Back off!” Julian told Billy as others watched. “I am a grown man who has been working since you were waiting in line for school lunch. That is why I had a car service, an assistant and my own damn office.”
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Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) pulled Julian away before he admitted he “got triggered” and “snapped” at Billy over something that had nothing to do with Billy. Later in the episode, Billy told Matty (Kathy Bates) that Julian “apologized” for his behavior.
“I probably came on a little strong,” Billy admitted. “I was just trying to get the whole dad thing right since I didn’t grow up with one.”
Ritter’s character has been struggling after Julian was revealed to be the one who hid documents that would have taken opioids off the streets sooner.
“[In season 1], Julian was in the middle of a divorce, but he was going through his life with his skeletons safely in his closet. Now, with the affair coming out — and then with the other big reveal coming out — he’s in a new boat,” Ritter, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly in August. “There is no pretending with [his ex-wife] Olympia anymore. Or compartmentalizing and putting [things] away in a dark and shameful drawer.”
Ritter noted that Julian will have to face his mistakes in season 2 of Matlock. “Julian is going to have to grapple — one way or another — with this. It’s such a shameful thing that he has just put it away, tried to be a good dad and focused on his family,” Ritter explained. “Now, he is grappling with the ramifications of what he did. Also he’s terrified.”
At the time, Ritter said he was thrilled with how the season 2 story arc pushed him as an actor.
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“They have already taken it in some different directions,” he shared. “I’ve gotten to show other sides [to Julian] and it’s been a lot of fun so far. We’re only at the beginning, so I can’t wait to see what they have in store for me later.”
Season 2 of Matlock isn’t just going through changes in front of the camera. News broke earlier this month that Del Rio, 38, was fired following an investigation into an alleged incident. It was reported at the time that costar Leah Lewis accused Del Rio of assaulting her in late September. Days later, Lewis, 28, reported the incident to CBS and Del Rio was removed from the set.
Us confirmed that Del Rio, who appears in the first half of Matlock season 2, is being written out of the remaining episodes. Fellow costars subtly showed their support for Lewis by unfollowing Del Rio on Instagram amid the scandal.
Lewis, meanwhile, released a statement, which read, “Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands. Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength. Key word, strength. Please, let that be the take away.”
Matlock airs on CBS Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
