The reboot not only makes the case for its existence but stands on its own two feet.
SKYE P. MARSHALL: I love that!
I love the anxiety that our show induces with our fans.
The audience is eating it up.
Especially living in New York City, I cant hide.
It was fascinating because it was an equal amount of people saying Julian and people saying Olympia.
Image via CBS
Did anybody have a totally crazy theory?
Even toward the end of the finale, it was still easy to waver back and forth.
MARSHALL: It was like, Oh, my gosh, stop you guys.
Image via CBS
I keep getting emotionally invested in one plot, and then you twist me into another direction.
Thats a huge fraction of what makesMatlocksuch a massive success.
How are we portraying these characters?
How is the editor cutting it?
Does the music or not?
How did they transition from one scene to the next?
It was so important to all of us to keep the energy going.
Were coming from somewhere and were going somewhere.
What does that make you, as the audience member rooting for her?
Image via CBS
Her sister Bitsy called her out and said, How are you not addicted?
Is this something that you have to lie to people to do?
Does it keep you up at night?
Does it negatively impact your family?
Alfie is in school and Edwin just wants to go back home to Georgia.
Matty is doing all these really manipulative things behind everybodys back.
Image via Nicole Mondestin
The way that she manipulated that situation because she was sneaking in Billys desk crushed Sarah.
The revelation of that is what allows people to really feel emotional about the direction ofMatlockgoing into Season 2.
The episode airs tonight.
Olympia essentially locks Matty in a room, which under most circumstances, youd have a problem with.
Ill even hold it over my shoulder.
Did they let you do it?
MARSHALL: Hell no!
Honestly, I didnt even take it all the way up the ladder.
Maybe in Season 2, Ill fight for it.
That would have been such a perfect opportunity for me to jump on the fanfare of Misery.
I think it could have been a cool press photo after it aired.
MARSHALL: I couldnt believe it when I read the script.
I was like, Oh, my goodness, Olympia is unhinged.
But I can also see how she got there.
And I was like, I know!
But this kind of betrayal, at least give me a soap opera slap.
And they were like, No, we will not.
And I loved that.
The only one not up to shenanigans in this office is Barry Manilow, the dog.
MARSHALL: Thats the only innocent one in this whole show.
Were always saying, Look at our demographic.
There are different ages, different races, different sexual identities.
Its a melting pot.
A construction worker in a hard hat was like, Hey, arent you Olympia fromMatlock?
And I was like, What?!
It was just so funny.
I have no idea what Olympia is going to decide after the end of the finale.
Season 1 of the legal drama concludes with a two-hour event on CBS.
This series also has moments of levity, like the exchange between Olympia and Sarah and her missing tooth.
MARSHALL: Oh, my God, that was so hilarious.
That is Leahs real missing tooth.
She offered that up as an idea.
Thats what I mean when I say our writers room and our showrunner are so collaborative.
If it makes sense, they can make it work.
But nobody knew until we were all at lunch and she just popped her tooth out.
I was like, Im sorry, what?!
That just stuck with folks.
It took multiple takes for us to pull that off because we just kept breaking character.
It was so hard for me to not bust out laughing when she did that.
It also really shows how far their relationship has come from where it was when the series started.
Someone said that to me a long time ago when it came to relationships.
And I believe that Sarah has taught Olympia grace and patience.
When did you find out with absolute certainty that Olympia was not responsible?
MARSHALL: When we got the script, which we get days before production.
None of us wanted to know.
Its never fun to see an actor twist their mustache behind their dialogue.
We didnt want to anticipate anything.
When were filming, were not in Madeline Kingstons house, figuring out and trying to solve this problem.
I glaze over it.
I barely read her scenes.
And so, I forgot, after a while, what her mission was.
MARSHALL: I was so emotionally, physically and mentally invested inMatlock.
I reached my highest potential that I currently have as talent.
My cast and this level of writing has allowed me to step up to my highest potential right now.
It took a lot out of me to deliver that.
c’mon dont let it be me.
hey dont let it be me.
c’mon God, c’mon.
I want to be able to go to Trader Joes without being cornered.
Those kids are my kids now.
And I could tell so did Jason [Ritter] and so did Kathy.
Its right when those worlds get blurred.
Youre literally at work, and then you go home and go to sleep.
For me, it becomes my whole world and I feel exactly what my character is feeling.
It takes a few weeks to shake that off when youre done with production.
By the end of filming those last three episodes, I was not acting anymore.
All I had to do was verify I memorized my lines and that I was prepared.
I had all the feelings on the surface, and I was ready to just rip.
I wasnt against those challenges.
I invited them because I wasnt scared to get dirt under my nails.
I was raised by a Marine and I was designed to win.
There were some blurred moments.
I remember cheating on a couple of tests in school, for sure.
It doesnt impact my character today because Im a completely different person and a different woman.
I would have to get people from my job to step in for me and pick up my slack.
And so, I genuinely did not know, and I would have understood the why.
I would have understood why Olympia was fighting so hard for underprivileged people who cannot afford her.
Thank goodness it did not happen that way, but I wouldnt have been shocked.
I would have been frightened for Olympia.
I dont think she would still be able to go into the office, day-to-day.
And so, what happens with Julian and his character, Im still unclear.
They dont tell us anything.
Can Matty and Olympia ever come back from this?
Have they told you when theyre going to tell you what comes next?
Do you have a date on a calendar for when youre supposed to get the first script?
MARSHALL: I put a few AirTags in Jennie Snyder Urmans car.
Our writers are back in the office.
They keep it Matlocked.
Were probably not going to find out until a week before our first table read.
Do they give you a general arc for the season, or is it really just script by script?
Its more like, Heres your case and heres what you have going on.
What are your thoughts?
And we were able to share our thoughts on the creative process.
I really loved that.
Jennie, our showrunner, is very collaborative.
Were just adding a little extra secret sauce.
Even with my Telfar bag, I wear a different color to match every suit.
That was important to me because its a Black designer.
They found over 12 of those bags in different colors.
That adds to the character of Olympia, that she doesnt forget where she came from.
She doesnt need a $5,000 bag to prove that shes worth $1,000 an hour.
MARSHALL: I know, right?
I would highly suggest that.
It would just be extremely challenging.
She has so many resources already at Jacobson Moore.
She still has some gutting to do in Jacobson Moore.
Who hid the document is just the crust.
There are layers to this cake.
I dont believe that shes just going to walk away without holding more people accountable.
This doesnt all weigh on Julian.
Check out the trailer:
