David Del Rio was fired from Matlock in October, but it’s unclear when his final appearance will be. He appeared as Billy Martinez in the episode that aired on Thursday, December 4, on CBS, and the story provided no updates to Billy’s confusing conversation with his pregnant girlfriend, Claudia, from the episode before. With the Matlock midseason finale coming up on December 11, viewers are left to wonder if that will be his last episode and how his exit will be explained.
Matlock Season 2 Episode 7, “Prior Bad Acts,” showed Matty (Kathy Bates) and Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) hoping that the Jacobson Moore board vote to remove Senior (Beau Bridges) from power would go through. But Senior came prepared to a pivotal meeting and successfully stalled the vote. This forced Matty and Olympia to regroup. Now, they’re focusing on trying to find an NDA that could implicate Senior in the Wellbrexa case they’re building. Julian (Jason Ritter) retrieved the NDA and an SD card that could help Matty and Olympia win, but Senior also recruited Sarah (Leah Lewis) to keep an eye on his son’s activity. The promo for the Matlock midseason finale (below) shows her deeply concerned in a conversation with Olympia and saying, “Standing up in these moments is important.” What is she going to reveal?
Billy’s only purpose in this episode was to assist Olympia on the case of the week, which involved her mother, Celeste (Vernée Watson), and her stepfather, and to give Sarah advice about the espionage she was committing for Senior. It gave no updates on his relationship with Claudia (Bella Ortiz). In the episode prior, Billy and Claudia made a big decision about their future, but one of the lines sounded weird.
“I was talking to my mom, and I had a revelation,” Claudia said at the end of Episode 6. “Billy, I don’t care about getting married. Seriously, it’s caused both of us so much stress and pain. And I have faith in us, married or not married.”
Billy’s response sounded like it was edited together with lines from previous scenes. “Claudia, I do want us to get married,” he said. Claudia replied, “Oh, thank God,” contradicting what she had just said about marriage. As the couple walked off, Billy said, “We were always meant to be a family,” but it was hard to hear.
Del Rio was fired over an alleged incident of sexual assault involving his costar, Lewis. CBS confirmed to TV Insider that Del Rio was promptly dismissed from the series after the investigation was completed. Matlock then went on a pre-scheduled filming break from November to December. This week, production resumed on the second half of Season 2. CBS previously confirmed that Del Rio’s character would be written out of the series after the break. While still unconfirmed, it seems that the Matlock midseason finale could be Del Rio’s final episode. He’s not in any of the photos from the episode or the promo (below).
The scene with Claudia in Episode 6 implies that Billy’s potential marriage is going to be the reason for his departure. But most of the first half of Matlock Season 2 was filmed before he was fired. His choppy dialogue could possibly be the result of the show using creative editing to lay the groundwork for Billy’s exit. The character was meant to be part of the entire season before Del Rio was fired, so they likely didn’t film a scene with Del Rio to explain the departure.
Fans previously theorized that Billy’s upcoming absence is going to be explained in a line from another character, such as his boss, Olympia. That could be done through automated dialogue replacement (ADR), a.k.a. clever voiceover work that can help fix episodic issues in the post-production process. Now that they’re back on set for the rest of Season 2 (premiering on February 26), the series could write a more detailed explanation for his departure to be revealed when Matlock returns.
Matlock, Thursdays, 9/8c, CBS
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact theRape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.
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