Skye P. Marshall as Olympia Lawrence and Jason Ritter as Julian Markston Sonja Flemming/CBS
Skye P. Marshall‘s Olympia and Jason Ritter‘s Julian are back together on Matlock — but will their reconciliation last?
After the fall finale on Thursday, November 14, director and executive producer Kat Coiro spoke with Us Weekly about what comes next.
“It was one of my favorite things about episode 6,” she shared about Olympia and Julian rekindling their romance. “Getting to see them while they were still married and seeing how much worse their relationship was then. [You then realize] actually how far they’ve come to this point and how they’re getting along.”
Coiro found herself rooting for Olympia and Julian while behind the camera.
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“When I was shooting this episode, all I wanted was for them to get back together,” she admitted. “And I kept bugging the writers and being like, ‘Come on. In a couple episodes, they [have to] get back together.’”
She continued: “I hope that the audience feels that way too because it’s hard not to root for those two. They are so likable. And you see that the breakdown of their marriage is they have a complicated life with Julian working for his father and working with his ex-wife. But I always root for them.”
Matlock, which premiered on CBS in September, showed Olympia and Julian trying to coparent amid their divorce. In fact, Olympia secretly moved on with another attorney at their firm: Elijah (Eme Ikwuakor). Olympia wanted to wait to tell Julian, which subsequently caused her and Elijah to part ways. This provided an opportunity for Olympia and Julian to reconnect.
Elsewhere in the episode, Matty (Kathy Bates) found herself at a crossroads when she considered quitting her job at Jacobson Moore. Julian, however, surprised Matty by bringing her on a case involving big Pharma.
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“This was very pivotal in. I do think after her health scare, there was a part of Matty that was ready to throw in the towel. From the pilot, one thing we discussed was how she thought that she was going to come in and it was going to be challenging and it was going to be hard,” Coiro explained. “But she didn’t anticipate her deep connection to the people that she’s working with. From Olympia to Billy to Sarah — and even the people in the cases she’s working on. She’s such an empathetic person that it becomes quite all consuming.”
This onscreen progression is building up to Matlock‘s season finale. While Coiro couldn’t give too much away, she teased some major shifts for the characters.
“I will say that it leaves all of our characters in positions where they have big decisions to make,” she hinted. “As the show progresses, we really get to know every one of our main characters and they’re all really a huge part of moving the show forward.”
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It’s clear watching Matlock that love and care goes into making the show. The same could be said for the energy behind the scenes, with Coiro applauding the Matlock cast and crew for being so supportive of each other — especially when it came to causes such as her Lights Camera Plastic campaign, which aims to eradicate waste from the screens.
“I work with a nonprofit called Habits of Waste and we have an initiative which aims to de-normalize waste — but especially single use plastic on screen. Matlock was the first time it was fully embraced by the studio network, showrunners, creators and actors,” Coiro told Us. “The idea is that any time there is something plastic, we analyze it and say, ‘Is this necessary for story? Is there a more sustainable option?’ Because it’s really true that what people see on screen influences their choices. Lights Camera Plastic is an entry way into a larger greener industry model.”
Matlock is currently streaming on Paramount+. New episodes return on CBS Thursday, January 30 at 9 p.m. ET.
