Matlock has ended the Billy Martinez (David Del Rio) chapter. Matlock Season 2 Episode 10 revealed one last detail about Billy that solves the last piece of the puzzle of his exit. And then, it introduced the new member of Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) legal team, Hunter (Henry Haber), who is taking Billy’s place in the merged office. (Warning: Spoilers for Matlock Season 2 Episode 10 ahead!)
Del Rio’s last episode of Matlock was Season 2 Episode 7 in December. Billy called Sarah in the following episode to reveal that his partner, Claudia (Bella Ortiz), suffered a miscarriage, but he wasn’t actually heard on the call. All viewers heard were Sarah’s replies. The Jacobson Moore and Lamar Olsen law firms were preparing to merge into one company by the midseason finale later in December. When Matlock returned on February 26, Sarah moved to Julian’s (Jason Ritter) team, and Billy was still absent.
The Thursday, March 5, episode of Matlock cemented Billy’s exit through another phone call update. Matty (Kathy Bates) and Olympia received an email from Billy that shocked them both. Billy had accepted a severance package from Jacobson Moore amid the merger, and he won’t be coming back. When Matty asked Sarah if she knew about Billy’s decision, she smiled and said yes, noting that Billy had called her and let her know the night before.
Michael Yarish / CBS
Hunter made his debut very soon after. Haber’s character was described by showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman as a total “bro,” and the character described himself as having “therapy dog energy” in the episode. He’s a handsome, charming guy who lives an easy life because of said looks and charm. Getting information from clients was as easy as breathing for him in this episode. Even Matty and Olympia were a bit smitten with the guy.
The more serious plot of the episode came with the conflict between Matty and Julian. The plot picked up right after last week’s cliffhanger at the Kingston home, where Julian learned the truth about Matty’s real identity. For Matty to continue working with Julian on the Wellbrexa secret investigation without legally implicating him in it, she needs a real apology from Julian. But he’s feeling incredibly defensive and refusing to take responsibility for the death of Matty and Edwin’s (Sam Anderson) daughter, Ellie (Marnee Carpenter). He doesn’t agree that hiding the Wellbrexa study means that it is directly connected to her death.
For an in-depth conversation about Julian’s feelings about the real Matty Matlock, check out our interview with Ritter.
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