Kathy Bates stars in reboot of classic CBS series

CBS’ heavily promoted new Matlockwhich is being teased on Sunday, September, long before its regular premiere in October, is probably not the show you’re expecting.

But now that I’ve told you that, adjust your expectations Matlockso now it can be exactly what you expect.

Sorry. Of course, stop reading if this contains more spoilers than what you are looking for… in a Matlock Review.

Restraint is key to the new series, which has so far received press attention largely because of star Kathy Bates’ announcement that this may be her last acting role (though given the lifespan of some CBS crime series, Bates may be growing into her 80s with this departure). Or at least it is for the first episode; after that, the series is what it is. I would just note that the revelation of what the new Matlock actually, it would probably attract some viewers who have no interest in a Matlock Restart, while some viewers with a passionate interest in a Matlock Restart.

Do you understand what I mean?

I will try to be a little more specific, but at the same time not give too much away, and use this simple summary: I liked Matlock much more than I expected, but my interest began to wane when the last of the six parts sent to critics was finished.

Bates plays Madeline Matlock — “Matty” for short, as CBS prefers, although it could just as easily be “Maddy” — a widow who comes to New York City from the nebulous South (perhaps “Georgia”). Faced with debt and parental responsibilities to her grandson (Aaron D. Harris’ Alfie), Matty decides to work as a lawyer for the first time in 30 years.

Aiming straight for the top, Matty initially lands a temporary job at Jacobson Moore, a prestigious firm with a lucrative corporate division. She is assigned to Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), a junior partner who was once a lucky guy but has begun to take an interest in more personal cases and charitable causes, much to the chagrin of her caring soon-to-be-ex-husband Julian (Jason Ritter), son of the firm’s aptly named senior partner, Senior (Beau Bridges).

A little older than the typical new colleague, Matty is immediately met with suspicion by Olympia’s more ambitious colleague Sarah (Leah Lewis), while her less ambitious colleague Billy (David Del Rio) takes an immediate liking to her. She quickly proves her worth through her inescapable ability to get strangers talking about the classic television show. Matlockwhich exists in this universe primarily as a reference that older people understand and younger people do not.

See (and this isn’t a spoiler), Matty isn’t a gender-swapped version of Andy Griffith’s Ben Matlock, remembered for his dapper suits, probing cross-examinations, and sly inversions of geriatric tropes. No, she’s a 75-year-old woman known for coincidentally sharing the same last name and for her tendency to do sly inversions of geriatric tropes with a fictional character. She notices that women of a certain age achieve a certain level of invisibility, which she uses as her superpower when she’s not busy tapping into her stash of caramel candies and her generally grandmotherly aura.

So there are traces of the original here, but even without going into the real show beyond the basic premise, what this Matlock is more reminiscent of a less complicated, less politically oriented, generally lighter version of CBS’ The good wife. It’s a fish-out-of-water dramedy in which the fish is older and less worldly than the fish around him, and not always versed in newfangled fish technology, but has a set of skills and relationships that almost immediately make his quirks an advantage.

Matlock was developed (with thanks to the creator of the original, Dean Hargrove) by Jane, the Virgin Creator Jennie Snyder Urman, who has worked on crime series before, but is much more of a character-centric writer. For some episodes at least, that’s a huge blessing. Matty is a complex main character and sometimes even a really funny one. She’s capable of playing so many mind games that it’s completely understandable why the project would have attracted Bates. The Harry’s Law The veteran (and of course Oscar winner and all) gets big speeches and alternating silly and very serious passages as part of expanding the narrative beyond the “case of the week” format.

These episodic jobs based on Olympia’s semi-altruistic tendencies are generally fine — lots of class action lawsuits that allow the firm to make a lot of money while doing the right thing, plus the occasional attempt to stretch the formula, as in one case where the firm takes on itself, complete with lots of talk about firewalls. The serialized plot would be thin and obvious if it were the premise of an FX drama, but in the context of a CBS crime series called Matlockit’s almost, almost, somehow close to being vaguely current.

The twist that Matlock not the Matlock They Expect caught my interest and kept me going. But it didn’t last. From the fourth to sixth chapters, the series stopped delivering on some of the basic things I expect from a good series, especially when it comes to character development.

Marshall has a fiery side that fits well with Bates’ folksy charm, but the need to make this character go through repeated cycles of “insult someone, get chastised, show the insult was committed for the right reasons” gets tedious. The same goes for Lewis, who is extremely amusing and just about stays in the right place of Type-A stereotypes, but keeps going through the familiar “worries Matty is squeezing her out, realizes Matty isn’t squeezing her out” moves. Right now, both Ritter and Bridges are mostly playing variations on their typical innate decency, which makes me suspicious.

Some of the best performances come, unsurprisingly, from experienced character actors who get welcome opportunities in such an age-hostile series as Matlockincluding the always welcome Patricia Belcher and Sam Anderson.

I also really liked the one-off guest appearance by Jane, the Virginis Yael Grobglas. She plays a human lie detector who works as a jury consultant, and her return might be what it takes to make me come back Matlock at some point. “Better than expected” is one thing and not the same as “good enough for long-term enthusiasm.” But it’s a start.