Matlock episode 12 recap: Olympia goes up against Julian in court

In Matlock episode 12, “This Is That Moment,” it’s the middle of the night, and as Edwin (Sam Anderson) sleeps, Matlock (Kathy Bates) bursts into the bedroom and says she found the email from Alfie’s (Aaron Harris) father. She accuses Edwin of lying to her. Edwin says he needed time to think just in case Alfie’s father wants custody. It’s just a nightmare, though. Edwin refuses to talk to Matlock about it.

Instead, he focuses on their search for the marketing document, as it proves that not only did Wellbrexa know the opioids were addictive, but they aggressively pushed them out into the world. Matlock believes Shae (Yael Grobglas) alerted Senior (Beau Bridges) to this discovery, and then an out-of-the-country Senior called in Julian (Jason Ritter) to solve it. They have to somehow place Julian at the scene of the crime, in the document room fourteen years ago. Matlock has an idea for how to do that too.

How will Matlock find proof of where Julian was fourteen years ago without a time machine? Will Edwin admit that he knows how to contact Ellie’s friend/Alfie’s potential father? Here’s our recap for Matlock episode 12.

Matlock gets Julian’s key

Matlock tells security that she has lost her purse. She’s actually there to see how the security system works. After a keycard is tapped on a computer, it shows every room that its user has been in and at what time. It’s also been used in the building for the last 20 years.

Later, Matlock accidentally spills coffee all over Julian. When she takes his jacket off, she snags his keycard and replaces it.

Sarah looks to build bridges and Elijah sends a text to Olympia

Now that she’s her mentee, Sarah (Leah Lewis) offers to babysit Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) kids. She has also come up with a way to attack their class action suits, which she believes is the best way for Olympia to win the race to partner.

Billy (David Del Rio) is still not talking to Sarah. She repeatedly tries to win him back over. But Billy insists they don’t have to be friends, just co-workers. Sarah apologizes to Matlock too, for how she treated her. Matlock accepts.

Sarah is jealous of Simone Delgado (Andrea Londo), who Julian has just picked as his associate. They studied together at law school and Sarah calls Simone her nemesis. Billy still has ill will towards Sarah, and when she accuses Simone of stealing her breath mints, Billy tells Sarah she’s toxic.

After spotting that Simone did steal Sarah’s mints, Billy apologizes. But Sarah says she feels toxic. She wants to make it up to Billy because he’s so important to her. She promises to make their relationship better. Simone pays a visit to Billy and they flirt. Simone asks Billy out for a drink.

Elijah (Eme Ikwuakor) texts Olympia telling her that he can’t stop thinking of her. It turns out, Elijah sent that message to Olympia instead of his new girlfriend by mistake. She is clearly upset by that.

Paloma vs Bruno

Olympia and the team are working on a child support case for Paloma Deleon (Greta Quispe), someone Olympia met when she was helping immigrants get small business licenses. Paloma has primary custody, while her money-bags ex-husband Bruno (Mauricio Mendoza) has visitation rights.

Bruno has been sheltering money in private offshore accounts. They’re re-negotiating a child support agreement. Olympia says that on the surface this is all about money, but underneath it’s about custody. After Olympia threatens to take away Bruno’s passports, he storms out insisting he isn’t going to pay for Paloma’s trip to Mexico, even though her father is sick.

Julian takes over as Bruno’s attorney, pitting him directly against Olympia. Julian says this is all a huge misunderstanding, and blames Bruno’s old accountant for the missing money.

Julian then accuses Paloma of turning their child Tenoch (Enzo Fabiani) against Bruno. Paloma told Tenoch that Bruno had an affair and she even bought Tenoch an XBox, which means he never wants to leave. Julian says Bruno wants full physical custody of Tenoch in response to this parental alienation. The judge arranges a custody hearing for next week.

Olympia’s plan is to show that Bruno’s more aggressive style of parenting isn’t good for Tenoch. They’ll use Tenoch’s soccer coach as a witness, as he’s seen how Bruno is too loud and intimidating on the sidelines, which affects Tenoch.

Simone is already at the school to tell the soccer coach Bruno is suing him for assault and defamation. This means the coach isn’t going to speak to anyone else from Jacobson Moore.

Paloma goes rogue

Julian tells Olympia that Paloma was caught at the airport trying to take Tenoch to Mexico without Bruno’s permission. Julian is setting up an emergency hearing with the judge. He promises to get full custody of Tenoch for Bruno.

Paloma tells Matlock she messed up. She was at the airport because her dad is dying, her sister called, and he wanted to see Tenoch. It was on her custody days and they were going to be back before Bruno’s days. Matlock wonders how Bruno knew that Paloma was at the airport.

Olympia tells Paloma she needs to be calm in front of the judge, otherwise it’ll hurt the case. But Paloma is becoming unhinged. After she’s told that Tenoch will stay with a social worker before the hearing, Paloma runs away with Tenoch and then locks herself in a room, vowing that she won’t let Bruno take Tenoch away.

Olympia asks the judge for a 30-minute delay. The judge says he’ll make his ruling in 30 minutes, with or without Paloma. Matlock tries to convince Paloma to open the door and go to court.

While at Paloma’s house to collect stickers that will calm Tenoch, Sarah finds a hidden camera outside her home. Bruno was paying a neighbor to spy on Paloma.

Julian and Olympia argue in front of the judge, but it gets personal. So much so, that the judge finds them both in contempt of court and they’re taken into custody.

In jail, Julian and Olympia finally have a heart-to-heart. Julian says he doesn’t want to fight with Olympia. Olympia says ugly stuff has happened. She just wants honesty from Julian.

Tenoch tells the social worker he just wants Paloma and Bruno to stop fighting. Olympia and Julian work together to come up with a fair agreement that they present to Bruno and Paloma. They sign it.

Matlock remembers

All the while, Matlock remembers her and Edwin taking Ellie (Marnee Carpenter) to court to get sole custody of Alfie.

Matlock tells the court that the drugs make Ellie scary. When she’s not on them she’s smart, funny and a caring mother. Ellie’s lawyer says Ellie has been off them for months. Matlock reveals that Alfie was born addicted to opioids and she watched him go through withdrawals, have seizures, all while she couldn’t console him because that wouldn’t have helped him. Ellie pleads with Edwin to make Matlock stop.

Matlock remembers Ellie coming to the house and asking not to take Alfie away. Matlock told Ellie she could have supervised visitation every single day. But Ellie needs to be off drugs for a year. Matlock then closes the door on Ellie, as a tearful Edwin watches.

When Ellie doesn’t show up to the hearing, the judge gives Matlock and Edwin sole legal and physical custody of Alfie. But Edwin then gets a call saying that Ellie has died.

After the funeral, Edwin tells Matlock about getting the email from Alfie’s potential father. Matlock says she can’t go through another custody battle. Edwin says he wishes they hadn’t gone through this one. Matlock asks Edwin if he blames her for Ellie’s death. He says of course not.

But, in 2025, Matlock checks Edwin’s account and finds the email. She confronts Edwin about it. She asks if Edwin blames Matlock for Ellie’s death. He admits that sometimes he does.

All episodes of Matlock are available to stream on Paramount Plus.