In Matlock episode 2, "Rome, in a Day," Matlock (Kathy Bates) brings a dozen muffins to Olympia (Skye P Marshall), Julian (Jason Ritter), and Senior (Beau Bridges). They ask her to sit. Olympia quizzes her intensely on the history of the Matlock TV show. Senior insists that she lied about her name. It’s just a nightmare, though. Matlock tells her husband Edwin (Sam Anderson) that she has to stop getting emotional, as that leads to mistakes.
Over breakfast, her grandson Alfie (Aaron D. Harris) gives Matlock a list of questions to ask tech support so he can get access to their computers. Matlock just wants to focus on getting closer to Olympia, then she’ll get more access. But Alfie doesn’t have much faith in her plan.
Will Matlock be able to get access to the company’s computers? Take a look below to find out what happens in Matlock episode 2. And if you missed what happened in the Matlock season premiere, we've got you covered.
Sarah hates Matlock and Olympia apologizes to Julian
Sarah (Leah Lewis) is furious that she and Billy (Davie del Rio) now have to share an office with Matlock, who Sarah sees as competition. The jealous sentiment isn't helped when Olympia later praises Matlock. But when Matlock tries to share credit with Billy and Sarah this infuriates Olympia. Disappointed that she annoyed Olympia, Matlock calls Alife, who looks to keep her spirits up by saying MWBSP — mum would be so proud.
Olympia eventually admits that she doesn’t yet trust Matlock, because she’s only known her for a week. Sarah also apologizes to Matlock and acknowledges she’s not out to get her.
In another scene, Senior repeatedly sides with Olympia over Julian as the pair quarrel over their divorce. Julian even tells Senior, "Most fathers side with their kids after a divorce." Senior counters with Julian that most people didn’t do what he did. Julian looks guilty.
Later, Elijah (Eme Ikwuakor) convinces Olympia to apologize to Julian for not telling him their daughter Kat had a stomach ache. Olympia and Julian both agree to put family first, then hug. Elijah watches the hug with concern.
Ariana’s death
Tera’s (Zylan Brooks) son Michael (Michael Casey) is accused of murdering 16-year-old Ariana Perez. Michael was found covered in her blood, plus there was a box of condoms near her body, and it’s common knowledge Michael had a crush on Ariana.
Ariana’s body was also found behind the bodega where Michael works. The bodega is owned by Jimmy (Victor Cruz), the father of Charlie (Alejandro Akara), who is going to MIT.
During the trial, the prosecution has a witness who says they saw Michael standing over Ariana. Michael has developmental issues and hasn’t spoken since he found the body. A public defender has offered Tera a plea deal, but she won’t allow Michael take it.
Matlock and Sarah visit the witness Autry (Hal Williams), who is 84-years-old and was 46-feet away when he saw Michael over Ariana’s body. It turns out Autry has 20/20 vision. Matlock asks Autry to talk her through the series of events. She realizes that Autry heard the scream 32 minutes before he saw Michael standing over the body. But Jimmy, the owner of the bodega, called 911 four minutes before Autry, insisting that he heard the scream right away. Why was Jimmy lying?
The truth about creepy Jimmy
Jimmy insists Autry is lying. Olympia asks to see the bodega’s security footage But Jimmy refuses to hand it over without a subpoena. Sarah, Billy and Matlock are tasked with finding something to connect Ariana and Jimmy.
Outside the bodega, Matlock sees a group of teenagers arguing about Ariana’s murder and takes a photo of them. Sarah quickly uses the internet to discover that one of the girls’ names is Aaliyah. She also discovers where she goes to school. At the school, Matlock makes Aaliyah think that she broke her glasses. Matlock uses this opportunity to ask who they think killed Ariana. They all insist it wasn’t Michael. Instead, they think Jimmy did it, calling him creepy and obsessed. Ariana’s texts repeatedly mention how creepy Jimmy is. That’s enough to get the subpoena.
But the video proves that Jimmy was cleaning up a party that Charlie had thrown at the time Ariana died. Jimmy was reluctant to give up the security footage because it showed him serving booze to minors. The footage also shows Michael stealing the same brand of condoms that were found near Ariana’s body.
Is the footage reliable?
Tara insists Michael is innocent. She’d know if he did something like this. When Matlock tries to say that there were things in her daughter Ellie’s life she didn’t know about, Tara explodes and says that’s because she wasn't paying attention. This upsets Matlock greatly, and when she returns home, she breaks down in Edwin’s arms.
Edwin consoles her, saying that addicts are liars. But Matlock says she knew something was off months before Ellie’s first overdose. She regrets not bringing it up and starts to get emotional again. Edwin reminds Matlock she can’t get emotional every time someone brings up a connection to Ellie, otherwise it’ll ruin their plan.
Back in court, Olympia interviews Jimmy on the stand where he accidentally reveals that he saw Michael steal condoms, when she knows that wasn’t possible.
Olympia sends Matlock to the bodega to buy condoms. Matlock gets the cashier to video her doing so. She’s too small to reach them. As she leaves, she calls Olympia and says we got him. Michael is the same height as Matlock and the footage showed him getting the condoms with ease. It turns out, Charlie used his computer skills to doctor the security video. It wasn’t Michael getting the condoms. It was Charlie.
Charlie breaks down on the stand. He admits that he and Ariana went out back to kiss, so they could do it behind Michael’s back. She got scared, slipped and banged her head. Charlie’s family told him to deny it after Michael found Ariana’s dead body.
Olympia visits Matlock
As she departs work, Matlock emotionally scolds Olympia for not trusting her. Instead, by icing her out, she made Matlock worry that she’d done something wrong.
Olympia can’t believe Matlock’s reaction at first. But Julian makes Olympia see the error of her ways. Since Matlock left her dinner in the office when she stormed off, Billy says it might be nice if she took it to Matlock as an apology.
Olympia walks into the building where Matlock apparently lives, having got the address from Billy. Olympia knocks on the apartment door. She waits and waits. Then, suddenly, Matlock answers. Olympia apologizes to her and the pair make up.
It turns out, this was all part of Matlock’s plan. When Olympia was standing outside of Matlock’s apartment, she typed in the code to her phone. Alfie set up a camera that recorded it. Now, Matlock and Alfie have Olympia’s passcode and may soon be able to check her emails.
New episodes of Matlock air live on its regular night on Thursdays on CBS. Episodes become available the next day on Paramount Plus.
