Matlock Season 2 Episode 10 Revolves Around The New Guy Not Being What He Seems

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

Matlock’s newest associate isn’t what he seems, and that’s a good thing.

Matlock Season 2 Episode 10 introduced Hunter, a new young lawyer who everyone clocked as a handsome face and not much more.

Fortunately, they were totally wrong about him, and he wasn’t the only one who was something other than what everyone expected him to be.

Hunter’s Quirkiness Flirted With Being Annoying

Hunter quickly established himself as a good-looking basketball player who held up a meeting because he couldn’t spell bridge.

That was only the first of many ways the lawyers at Jacobson Moore misjudged him.

Hunter’s inability to spell the word was soon revealed to be part of his dysgraphia — a learning disability that makes it harder to write by hand.

Dysgraphia isn’t often featured on television. In fact, I can’t think of any other time that a dysgraphic character has been featured.

Hopefully, Matlock continues to explore exactly how dysgraphia affects Hunter.

Since he’s the only one currently on TV with this disability, it’s even more important to get it right so that the writers don’t inadvertently spread misinformation.

Dysgraphia not only makes writing or spelling difficult, but can make it hard for the person to organize their thoughts in writing — something that will put Hunter at a disadvantage at Jacobson Moore if true.

We’re passionate about the big issues in TV as well as the small ones.
If you love that about us, subscribe to our newsletter using the big, blue button in the top right corner.

It seemed like he was able to write that note to Sarah about Billy’s stuff that he left behind, though, unless I misunderstood something.

I’m curious as to how Hunter’s dysgraphia diagnosis will come into play in future episodes, but including it on Matlock Season 2 Episode 10 is still somewhat of a win, even if it is never mentioned again.

The Jury Is Still Out on Hunter, Though (No Pun Intended)

Dysgraphic or not, Hunter had a lot of annoying traits.

The fist bumping and secret handshakes need to go, and I’m not particularly fond of the idea of him connecting with witnesses by “vibing” with them.

It’s cool that he knows more than he thinks, especially if he shocks people with his knowledge.

However, that’s going to become an annoying trope after a while. We already have Maddy disarming people by pretending to be an ignorant old woman, so we don’t need anyone else to do the same thing.

Julian’s Story Left Me With More Questions Than Answers

Julian dovetailed nicely with Hunter because they both were far more complicated than they seemed.

I’m still not sure what to make of Julian’s relationship to addiction. When he told Maddy that his college roommate was addicted to cocaine, the thought crossed my mind that there was no such person and that Julian was talking about himself.

Do you think Julian has more personal experience with addiction than he admits?
Weigh in in the comments, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends.

Julian’s story at the Narcotics Anonymous meeting felt too real to be made up, although he might really have been talking about his roommate.

His response to Alfie answering the door was even more confusing.

When Julian collapsed on the stairs after seeing Alfie in person, for a second, I thought he was having a heart attack.

I also didn’t quite know what to make out of it.

At this point, I believe Juilan really did hide the file.

It would be a ridiculous, cheap twist if all of a sudden it wasn’t him.

I guess meeting Alfie triggered his guilt, though we have yet to find out what that means for Juilan going forward.

All I know is that this Wellbrexa story should have ended about six months ago, and if Julian’s semi-redemption means we’re wrapping it up, I’m all for it.

Of course, we now have a new clue to pursue, so the story could go off in some other direction and continue overstaying its welcome.

The Biggest Weakness In This Story Is That Maddy’s Theory Isn’t Necessarily The Truth

Julian was adamant that he wasn’t responsible for Ellie’s death.

Matlock Season 2 Episode 10 suggested that he just didn’t want to face it, but the problem is that there isn’t a direct line between hiding the Wellbrexa file and Ellie’s choosing to use at the time of her overdose or any other time.

The Wellbrexa study might have made it harder for people to obtain opioids, had it not been hidden, but it wouldn’t necessarily stop someone who was already in the throes of addiction from giving in to the compulsion.

That has always been a problem with this storyline. Maddy desperately wants it to be true that if only Julian hadn’t hidden the file, her daughter would still be alive, but there’s no real evidence of that.

All of this stuff is less interesting to me than the cases of the week, so I’m glad we got a decent one this time.

I’m not sure why Louise was found not guilty of manslaughter. Isn’t accidentally killing someone with an aspirin-based skin product manslaughter?

Still, the case was far more interesting and ntegrated into the story than the last few have been, which I’m happy about.

What did you think about Matlock Season 2 Episode 10?

Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends.

Vote in our poll below to rank the episode.

If you enjoyed this article, check out our reviews of Elsbeth and Watson, two of CBS’ other mystery shows.

Matlock airs on CBS on Thursdays at 9/8c and streams on Paramount+ on Fridays.

TV Fanatic is searching for passionate contributors to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.