The first episode of Matlock (2024) was titled Pilot and was the first episode of the show’s first season. Madeline persuades the firm of Jacobson Moore to hire her and helps with a claim for wrongful imprisonment. In this podcast Gerry and Iain look at your references.
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We’re introduced in this initial episode to Kathy Bates’ Madeline Matlock as she finagles her way to a job at elite lawfirm Jacobson Moore. Assigned to Olympia Lawrence (Skye P.Marshall), a partner, she meets fellow underlings Sarah Franklin (Leah Lewis) and Billy Martinez (David Del Rio), with whom she will be working most closely.
Olympia, it transpires, is in the process of divorcing Julian (Jason Ritter) who’s also the son of the firm’s most senior partner, Senior (Beau Bridges). Meanwhile, Madeline has to get to work on a case. The firm is representing Raymond Harris (Rothaford Gray) who was wrongly imprisoned for many years. Despite an initial mis-step, Madeline is able to get information from former prostitutes Sherleen (Coleen Camp) and Carlin (Nicole de Boer) that may prove decisive.
This episode was directed by Kat Coiro. The writing credit goes to showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman.
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Pilot was released in 2024. It is 43 minutes long and originally aired on CBS. Episodes continue to stream on Paramount+ internationally and on Sky in the UK.
