Critic Reviews

Matlock is the type of series that becomes more and more addicting with each episode, and you won’t be able to stop yourself from getting increasingly engrossed in the lives of each of its characters, especially Matty. Keeping the original series’ folksy charm and blending it with completely new ideas makes Matlock addictive fun.

We may not get the sweeping courtroom declarations that Griffith often deployed as Ben Matlock, but there's something equally (or even more) compelling about the quiet competence that Bates' performance radiates. Her age is an asset, not a handicap. .... Great storytelling has no retirement age.

Unlike many CBS procedurals, this one’s lighter and while the lawyering isn’t always in the realm of reality, the show’s breezy tone should win over CBS viewers with ease.

Matty may think that she's invisible, but you won't be able to take your eyes off of Kathy Bates in Matlock.

That it’s funny and heartfelt along the way just adds to the charm, particularly as the suspense mounts. Toying with our expectations of a recognizable persona like Matlock, CBS’s newest legal drama honors the original while creating something new entirely.

Like its main character, Matlock the show has more to it than you’d think it does on the surface—even though Bates playing an aged yet savvy lawyer who uses her appearance as a weapon already sounds like a fun time.

When Bates reveals the emotional cogs that belie Matty's codger persona, she becomes the most interesting lawyer in ages. [28 Oct - 17 Nov 2024, p.4]

It morphs into a mystery that touches on corporate greed and human suffering. Not what you’d expect from the pilot, but it is worth a closer look.

Yes, you have to suspend a fair chunk of disbelief to buy the idea Matty’s double whammy, a combination of homespun charm and total lack of perceived threat, gets the key suspects to open up to her every single time. But a little suspension of disbelief is what we need every once in a while.

Their [Matty and Olympia's] strained relationship is the heart of Matlock’s Season 2 premiere, which debuted Sunday night, as both have second thoughts about jeopardizing their friendship to protect their own personal agendas. It’s an episode of theatrics even more so than usual, both on and off the clock.