Matlock’s Midseason Return Answered That Huge Cliffhanger Question, And I Have A Wild New Theory On The Big Bad

Warning: spoilers for Matlock Season 1, Episode 9 - “Friends” are in play.

Fellow Matlock fans, the wait is finally, blissfully over. With CBS’ hit drama returning for the start of its 2025 TV schedule run, the Kathy Bates-starring series didn’t waste time to get to the drama. That’s because we got the resolution to Matlock’s Fall finale cliffhanger, and a lot quicker than I’d have expected.

Which could serve a purpose, as the identity of Julian’s fling partner just gave me a new theory on who Matlock’s potential big bad could be. So if you haven’t seen “Friends” just yet, you’re going to want to change that as soon as possible. Paramount+ subscription holders, this is your cue.

So we’ve now learned that the affair that Julian (Jason Ritter) engaged in was with none other than Shae “The Meerkat” Banfield (Yael Grobglas). Better still, as Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) revealed to Madeline (Kathy Bates) during a friendly round of drinks, the divorced couple and the human lie detector all met due to the Welbrexa case.

Matlock didn’t dive too deeply into this subject, but Madeline Kingston seemingly got enough to take Olympia off the Welbrexa clue board, and put Shae up in her place. I can’t blame her, as The Meerkat was also revealed as a Welbrexa employee liaising with Jacobson Moore.

Pulling together all of the threads that seem to be hanging in front of us at the moment, here’s what I think is happening. Shae Banfield’s access to Jacobson Moore’s work on Welbrexa, as well as her supposed homewrecking between Julian and Olympia, seem to indicate that she may be a saboteur.

Which makes me think that she is the person who forged senior partner Howard Markston’s signature to make sure that crucial file got lost. If that's true, then the human lie detector could be the greatest liar of all, as she would have manipulated a whole case of corporate malfeasance into oblivion – taking Madeline Kingston's daughter as potential collateral damage. Now who wants to tell Maddy that to her face?

I’ll admit, I had hoped for more Shae Banfield screen time in my Matlock Christmas episode pitch, and it looks like I’m going to get that wish. But the monkey’s paw has apparently caught up with me, as now Shae Banfield could be the most evil person in the halls of Jacobson Moore.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, Julian and Olympia have now agreed upon the ultimate professional wager. The terms were set by Julian, as follows:

On the plus side, Matty and Olympia are finally work friends, which gives Madeline Kingston a good opening to dig further towards the truth about the Welbrexa conspiracy. Although those previous Matlock fan concerns over Matty going to pharma look to be more valid than we thought, as our silver-haired sleuth will still be splitting her time between the feuding former power couple.

So if anyone was thinking they were merely going to drop their Thursday night appointment with Madeline Kingston, I’ve got one thing to say to you: good luck with that. Things are getting twisty on Matlock, and I think a lot of you would agree with me that we need to see this story through.

The perceived tonal issues of this CBS hit may become a thing of the past, as stories are getting so serious that I think it may be time to retire the OG theme slide whistle. Now, court's adjourned until next Thursday's episode, "Crash Helmets On." That doesn't sound dangerous at all!