Matlock finally revealed who was responsible for stealing the Wellbrexa documents — but where will the show go from here?
During the season finale, which aired on Thursday, April 17, Julian (Jason Ritter) was unmasked as the person responsible for hiding the docs. When Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) confronted him, Julian begged her not to reveal his secret to anyone — despite Matty (Kathy Bates) waiting to find out whether Julian was at fault.
Ritter, 45, broke down that shocking moment in an exclusive interview, telling Us Weekly, “There was a point about halfway through the season where I was told that it was me. It was helpful because there were some things where in the story I can be a little coy or withholding. But you don’t know if it’s about the big lie or about some smaller lie.”
After being out of the loop in the first half of the season, Ritter was glad he knew ahead of the finale.
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“At a certain point, I felt like it was important to know what it was. I didn’t decide when that moment was, but I trust [creator] Jennie [Snyder Urman] so much. I think she’s such a brilliant writer and showrunner,” he told Us. “So she pulled me aside at the exact right time and let me know what was going on. But I didn’t know how it was going to unfold.”
Ritter was intrigued by how Julian’s fate was “left in Olympia’s hands” without a resolution.
“To have it end like that with Olympia and Julian in this safety deposit box room where it is just the two of them begging for his life, that was the only version I ever read,” he shared. “When we did the table read, people really loved that scene and were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what happens next?’ Which is exactly what you want for a cliffhanger.”
Julian’s reasoning was explored leading up to Thursday’s episode, and Ritter hopes viewers understand his decision, saying, “There’s a tragic element. From the beginning of the season, they set it up where you are like, ‘Whoever did this has to go to jail. That’s it.’ Now you can see the person behind it who still did a terrible thing, and that can’t be discounted.”
Ritter continued: “But as Jennie’s writing always is — it’s more complicated and layered than that. Human beings are complicated. It’s one thing as a lawyer in the world and then it’s another thing for Olympia to be talking to the father of her children and thinking about how it’s going to affect them going forward. They’ve created a huge mess and I can’t wait to see how they decide to clean it all up.”
According to Ritter, Julian may have regrets even though hasn’t vocalized his guilt outright. “He put those documents in that safety deposit box and spent probably 10 years thinking he was going to get caught,” he explained to Us. “Eventually he is raising kids and things start to look normal. Maybe him being a good dad offsets the terrible thing that he did. I don’t think that he ever thought that however many years later, this would come back and he would be fighting for his life.”
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Matlock, which premiered in September 2024, follows a wealthy retired lawyer named Madeline Kingston (Bates) who pretends to be a poor widower named Matty Matlock to get a job at Jacobson Moore law firm. As it turns out, Matty thinks someone at the company is complicit in the opioid epidemic that resulted in her daughter’s death.
The first season revealed Julian’s mistake only to Olympia, but it remains unclear whether Olympia will tell Matty or protect Julian for the sake of their family.
“Olympia has such a strong moral center that if they didn’t have children together — even if they were married — she would say, ‘I’m sorry, but you did this.’ If Julian goes to jail or if Julian is outed, I don’t know what she will do,” Ritter teased. “I’m so interested to see. But I wonder if once she hears the reasoning being connected to his dad, will that be enough to refocus the energy on Senior? Or is that too far removed to actually ever get him in trouble?”
There’s also the topic of Olympia and Julian’s potential reconciliation.
“I don’t know where that leaves their romance. I think Olympia being such a good person and a morally straightforward person, it would be really hard for her to trust him again,” he told Us. “After the affair and now this huge, devestation, trust is such an important part. It’s so easy to destroy and so hard and painful. You can build it up, but it’s a lot of hard work for both people.”
After the shocking finale, there’s a lot of potential when it comes to Julian’s story in season 2.
“We’re going to see a lot more of Julian and get to know not only him. We got to meet his mother, which was very exciting for me. We may meet more members of his family. Julian is not Junior. So I’m very excited to meet my brother,” Ritter explained. “He has a completely different relationship with our dad than Julian does, which is also painful.”
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Ritter is also excited for “more backstory,” saying, “Olympia talked a lot about his family, but we haven’t gotten to see a lot of it. It’s a really fun character to play. There’s so many different elements to him and it’s fun to be free of having to be one thing.”
The best part of the finale reveal? Knowing Julian will have more scenes with Matty.
“That’s the thing that I cannot stop thinking about because we don’t get that at the end of season. Is Matty going to know for sure that Julian did it? If she does know for sure that Julian did it, there’s so much pain and there’s so much anger about the loss of her daughter that how would these two people find a way forward that doesn’t involve Julian behind bars?” Ritter asked. “I’m so intrigued. Is there a moment where Matty understands why Julian did it and is able to forgive? Or are we just at odds for an entire season, which it totally could be. I just know that the writers will choose whatever is the most interesting and fascinating version.”
Matlock has been renewed for season 2 and all episodes are available to stream on Paramount+.
