INTERVIEW
‘Matlock’: Skye P. Marshall Warns of Turmoil With Julian After a Secret Gets Revealed
Matlock revealed the circumstances that led to Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) and Julian Jr.’s (Jason Ritter) divorce in Episode 6 on Thursday, November 14. Flashbacks showed their marriage in turmoil, but they were getting along great (and even flirting) in the present-day timeline. If you thought reconciliation and getting back together was on the table after that episode, Marshall warns that Episode 7 may prove otherwise, saying that the story made her “weep” and features “uncomfortable conversations” between Olympia and Julian.
Matlock Season 1 Episode 7, titled “Belly of the Beast,” airs on December 5. In it, viewers will see Kathy Bates’ Madeline Matlock finally on the pharma team at the Jacobson Moore law firm, taking her one step closer to answers on her mission to find the documents that would avenge her daughter. Matty will work on a case with Julian in which a young woman sues after experiencing severe symptoms from a clinical trial. Meanwhile, Olympia learns a secret about Julian’s past at the company holiday party.
“In Episode 7, you’ll definitely see what the Madeline-Julian world looks like at the beginning as she moves to big pharma,” Marshall previously told TV Insider, adding that viewers “will see that Madeline Matlock has to really be careful on what she wishes because big pharma is not to be played with.”
It’s going to be a big episode for Olympia and Julian’s relationship as well, one that will threaten to pop their blissful, amicable bubble seen in Episode 6. With the show already renewed for Season 2, and a major mystery still to unfold that has Olympia, Julian, and his father Julian Sr. (Beau Bridges) at the center, is Matlock going to play a long game with these exes?
“I definitely feel like it has a potential to be long game, but Julian, he has a lot of whys, and Olympia has a lot of questions,” Marshall shares. “It’s like when you’re in a relationship and you may love your partner wholeheartedly, but there’s a lot of why does he do this? Why does he say that? Why does he? Sometimes those questions are not comfortable, and you have to have the emotional maturity to sit in the discomfort of an uncomfortable conversation. Olympia and Julian both lack that level of emotional maturity to sit in the discomfort of an uncomfortable conversation, which you will see in Episode 7.”
Marshall hints that Olympia’s decision to divorce Julian may be more justified in “Belly of the Beast.”
“Why are they getting divorced? Once you get your answer, how do you work through that? That is the evolution of the relationship with Julian and with Olympia,” she says. “In Episode 6, you get the backstory of how Olympia ended up deciding to get the divorce, but not all is revealed in Episode 6. More will be revealed on how they got there, because not agreeing on one case is not enough to get a divorce. There’s always more to the story. That story will slowly start to be revealed, and there’s so much that will come out to back that story up in Episode 7.”
Marshall says that this episode made her “laugh and cry” in equal measure. “I literally sent [showrunner] Jennie Snyder Urman a photo of me weeping because I cried three times. I know that it’s acting, and I already know the script, and I still cried three times during Episode 7 and laughed hysterically in between every weeping session. And I’m just like, Jennie, you blew me away again. My goodness.”
She adds, “I have such a deep respect for post-production and the way that editors can take what we’ve created and just build this beautiful entree and these side dishes and dessert that is just, I’m full! I’m so full at the end of every episode. Episode 6 is the cake of Julian and Olympia’s relationship. Episode 7 drops a cherry.”
Matlock, Returns Thursday, December 5, 9/8c, CBS
