Matlock's Kathy Bates Reveals the Major Flaw in Matty's Master Plan

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the series premiere of Matlock on CBS. Read at your own risk!]

We are only one episode into Matlock, and things are already not what they seem. The CBS sort-of-reboot stars Kathy Bates as Madeline "Matty" Matlock, an older woman — who has no relation to the iconic Andy Griffith character — who lands a job at a high-powered corporate law firm using her folksy charm. In the first episode, Matty claims that she's a retired lawyer forced back into the workforce because her ex-husband gambled away all of her retirement savings, but it's a fib. 

At the end of the premiere, the audience learns that Matty is actually still happily married and very affluent. And she didn't just wander into any random law firm. She believes that one of the partners in the firm is responsible for hiding documents, allowing a pharmaceutical company to keep its opioids on the streets — one of its victims being Matty's daughter. Matty has infiltrated the firm to find evidence to put them away. 

There are currently three main suspects at the firm: Senior (Beau Bridges), who runs the firm; his son, Julian (Jason Ritter); and Jason's ex-wife, Olympia (Skye P. Marshall). Matty is assigned to work for Olympia in the first episode, but her mission is to get close to all three of the lawyers in hopes of finding justice for her daughter. TV Guide caught up with Bates to discuss the twisty premiere, and the Academy Award winner explained the major flaw in Matty's master plan. 

What did you want to take from the original Matlock into this character, even though they aren't related or really connected?
Kathy Bates: For both Jennie [Snyder Urman, executive producer and showrunner, and previously the showrunner of Jane the Virgin] and I, the folksiness was a quintessential element of Andy Griffith's portrayal. That's very much what we wanted to choose for Matty's disguise at the office. She's so very different from everyone at the law firm from the get-go, and I think that's part of what people are first repelled by, but also charmed by her bluntness and her honesty. The humor comes out of the folksiness.

What about Jennie Snyder Urman made her the creative partner you wanted to work on this project with?
Bates: The longer I work on the show, the more I realize that Jennie is Matty. I think a lot of what you see is coming from her and from her life experiences, and from things that interest her. I'm always astounded by how her mind works. She has created a Rubik's Cube, and it's fascinating because I know the character's arc. I know what's to happen during the season, but I've never read the scripts until they arrive. We get them maybe a week in advance. I'm always astounded. We have read-throughs and they are so fun. We're all pounding the table at the end of the read-through, literally cheering. It's so smart and so clever. It's also very deep — what Matty is going through, her mission, and what she's trying to accomplish.

What is Matty's ultimate goal at the end of all this, considering the twist at the end of the pilot?
Bates: She turns to her husband and says, "I'm going to put them in jail." She's going to nail the person who she feels was responsible, at least partially — although I don't even want to say partially, because she's so focused on retribution. She wants to find out exactly what happened and who was responsible, and she wants to put them in jail. Of course, she needs to find proof of that, and that is her undercover mission.

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How much of the mystery did you want to know ahead of time, considering you're also an executive producer on the series?
Bates: I didn't know who it was until now. We're on Episode 15, and I just realized who it was a few weeks ago.

Knowing what Matty's end goal is, is she at all concerned about how attached she might become to the people at the law firm who may inevitably be in her crosshairs?
Bates: Very much! It's one of the aspects of her journey, of her experience working with people. The young people remind her of her daughter, and she didn't expect that. She didn't expect to become so attached to Olympia. I've become attached to Skye Marshall. I think she's just fantastic. It's so much fun to play with her. Matty doesn't expect to form such a strong bond with one of the people she suspects.

What is it about Olympia that draws Matty to her? Because they do have an immediate connection.
Bates: In the first few episodes, Matty wants to get under her skin. She wants to get to know her. She wants to court her. She has to make Olympia love her and impress her to get into a position where she can discover more. It's very self-serving. At the beginning, she'll do anything to get what she wants. She wants Olympia to be proud of her. She wants her to look at Matty as an asset.

Matty is going to do this for her daughter. That's her magic cloak. That's the thing that keeps her going. She could never tell anyone. The closer she gets to Olympia, the more difficult it is to suspect her. That's what happens with Matty as she goes further into the series. She becomes closer to the people that she's working with. It's bittersweet. She doesn't expect all of these things to happen. ... Jennie said they have figured everything out. They have planned for every contingency, but they couldn't plan for the reality. The reality is being there with people every day and having to lie. That is an aspect that is just exhausting, and she's terrified she's going to be found out.

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What would you say is Matty's superpower when solving these cases?
Bates: Thinking on her feet. She's very good at it. She thinks on her feet all the time. When I took this role, I asked my closest friend, because he works in corporate, and I said, 'Could you do this? Could you really go into a firm and infiltrate it and have nobody know what you were doing?' And he passed and said, 'Yes,' and that absolutely stunned me.

What are you most excited for fans to see in the rest of the series?
Bates: I just think it's a cornucopia of surprises. It's also thought-provoking but also funny. I want fans to be entertained. I want them to have a good time. I want them to laugh. I want them to become as excited and pulled along as Matty is. I want them to go on the adventure with her. It's nail-biting at times. I really want them to experience all of that as they watch the show. 

Matlock moves to its regular time slot with a re-airing of the premiere on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 9/8c on CBS. Episode 2 will air on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 9/8c, with new episodes available to stream the next day on Paramount+.