Matlock episode 9: Matlock rules out another opioid suspect

Matlock episode 9, “Friends,” opens with Madeline Matlock (Kathy Bates) sitting at a bar ordering a beer and flirting with a patron named Irv Lambert (Ron Roggé).

On the other side of Irv is Olympia (Skye P Marshall). She is there to talk to him because she represents Sam Prince (Allyson Brown) and they’re looking to prove she was wrongfully terminated from delivery company Stead Track. Sam was pregnant when she was fired, and Irv was a manager. Sam wants her job back, as she is due to give birth in six weeks. Irv agrees to help.

Matlock tells Edwin (Sam Anderson) that they took such an approach because other potential witnesses were too scared to testify. Edwin believes that Matlock is having too much fun with Olympia. He reminds Matlock that Olympia possibly withheld evidence that would have saved their daughter’s life. Matlock says that she will be careful, then laughs at a text she receives from Olympia.

Are Matlock and Olympia getting too close? Will Irv help Sam? Here’s what else happens in Matlock episode 9.

Alfie is bullied, while Sarah and Billy try to figure out what’s next in their personal lives

Alfie (Aaron Harris) is being bullied at school. Edwin wants Alfie to handle it by himself, while Matlock thinks Edwin should call the principal.

Later on, Matlock receives a call from the school saying that Alfie is still being bullied. So Matlock says she’ll get Edwin to call the principal. But Edwin refuses. Back at the house, Edwin accuses Matlock of coddling Alfie because of what happened to Ellie.

Billy (David Del Rio) is now living with his mother, as he refuses to kick his ex-girlfriend Claudia out of his apartment. Unsurprisingly, Sarah (Leah Lewis) makes fun of Billy’s predicament. At the end of the episode, Billy promises Sarah he will kick Claudia out.

Meanwhile, Sarah wonders if she and Kira (Piper Kurda) are in an exclusive relationship. But she’s too scared to ask. Finally, Sarah tells Kira that she’s not seeing anyone else. But Kira asks if she can continue to do so for a month. Sarah agrees.

Sam’s case

Sam explains that when she got pregnant she was accused of missing work and falling behind. She was also caught talking to other workers about unionizing. Then when her truck was stolen, she was fired. Shae (Yael Grobglas) believes Sam is hiding something.

Sam is suddenly arrested for grand larceny, with the company insisting that she stole the property inside the delivery truck, which had an estimated value of $50,000. Olympia insists Stead Track had Sam arrested in retaliation for her suing them. But Stead Track’s lawyer argues they have proof of Sam stealing the property. Olympia says it has been manufactured.

The company’s lawyer insists they have found a packing slip in Sam’s locker. But Sam’s friend Khadija (Ashli Auguillard) says she cleaned out her locker months ago and someone from the company must have planted it. A janitor handed the slip to manager Ahmed Hassan (Sriram Emani). Matlock can’t understand why a janitor would give a piece of paper that looked like trash to Ahmed. Olympia wonders why Stead Track’s lawyers are not calling the janitor to testify.

Olympia, Sarah and Billy interview the janitor, Portia (Jill Johnson). She reveals that Ahmed bizarrely stood over her as the locker was cleaned. When Portia found the slip, Ahmed immediately took it off her before she could even check it.

On the stand, Ahmed says Sam stole a Gucci bag and then admits that he doesn’t usually supervise the cleaning of lockers. When Olympia asks him why he did it this time around, his lawyers prove it was because the new employee had a lethal peanut allergy.

Florence Cruz (Maria Beck) testifies that a car pulled up behind Sam’s truck, they looked around like they were scared someone was watching, then Sam got in the person’s car, and it looked like she was in a hurry to get away. Olympia is losing control of the case.

Can Khadija be trusted?

Sam admits that Khadija was the one driving the truck when it was stolen. Olympia says they have to point to Khadija to create reasonable doubt. But Sam doesn’t want to do that.

Olympia tells Matlock, Sarah and Billy to look into Khadija. She has no priors. But they find out about her ex-boyfriend Demetri (Gary B. Curtis), who has a record and they broke up right after the theft.

Sarah and Billy question Demetri, who reveals that Khadija was $50,000 in debt from online gambling. When the evidence is put in front of Sam, she still insists Khadija isn’t responsible.

Sam previously admitted that her earbuds were also in the truck when it was stolen. Olympia and Matlock go to the building where the earbuds’ bluetooth was last detected. They see that Irv from the bar lives there.

Olympia questions Irv on the stand. She discovers that Irv was a union buster. He was pretending to be a dispatch manager to gather information on union efforts. When Irv realized Sam was the leader, he took her truck and planted the evidence in her locker.

Office romances bubble over

Olympia is still mad at Julian (Jason Ritter) for having an affair with Shae years ago. Olympia confides in Matlock about it.

After Matlock makes a remark, and with Olympia clearly avoiding her, Shae asks Julian if he’s told anyone about what happened between them. Shae tells Julian that Olympia was sleeping with Elijah. Julian confronts Olympia, only for Elijah to suddenly walk into the room too. Olympia denies the affair and calls what happened with Elijah nothing. Both Julian and Elijah storm out.

Olympia tells Julian that they shouldn’t work together anymore. Olympia asks Julian to leave. He refuses. He could become a partner at the end of the year. Julian says they should ask the managing board to pick only one of them to become a partner. Whoever doesn’t get it, has to leave. Olympia agrees.

Wellbrexa update

Over drinks, Olympia tells Matlock that she and Julian met at Jacobson Moore. When she was right out of law school, they worked on the Wellbrexa cases under Senior (Beau Bridges), and a number of lawsuits were coming to a head over opioids, how addictive they were, and who knew what and when. Olympia says that working on big pharma nearly killed her soul. Olympia reveals that she met Shae while working on the Wellbrexa cases too.

At the house, Matlock tells Edwin that she doesn’t think Olympia was involved. She thinks it was Julian, but maybe under the direction of Senior. Matlock doesn’t have any proof Olympia wasn’t involved though. She’s trusting her gut because the pair have now become friends. But Edwin doesn’t look convinced by Matlock’s judgment.

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