Hopes For Next Year

[retired watcher]

I hope they solve the drug issue by the end of this season. I am enjoying the actual cases Maddie works on much more than her trying to solve the who dun it? Next year I want just straight court cases with Maddie being used as investigator/lawyer.

[babyrambo]

I’d like to see more layers and depth with the daughter-pharma plot & also have it simmer on the back burner for a bit. It’s an interesting motive but the execution has been less than ideal and the way the show grinds to an halt to accommodate it (sometimes it’s well done sometimes it’s hamfisted) weighs down the show. Also hope they get an IT person that isn’t the grandson because for all that he’s a typical tv kid computing genius, the strain on his life is a bit much. And so far the cases have been the least interesting part of the show; I’d like to see some more nuance and complexity in that area and for them to up the stakes. The cast and their dynamic really works for me, I just need the writing to tighten up.

[Chicago Redshirt]

There are lots of things I would like to see out of the show that maybe we are gradually going to get. It has already been renewed for a second season. 

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/matlock-kathy-bates-renewed-season-2-cbs-1236186629/

In no particular order:

1. Either fleshing out or abandoning the Great Opioid Deception ("GOD"). Like I wouldn't mind if at some point Matty just was like, "You know, even if I put the guilty party in jail, it's not going to bring Ellie or the thousands of people who died back." Or "I can help the firm do a whole lot more good in my present position than I can undo the bad of the GOD." But as long as it's going to be the foundation of the series, I would like them to better explain the background of how Ellie died, Matty's relationship with her, and a dozen other related things.

2. I would love to have basically all the supporting characters fleshed out more. As I write this, we are six episodes in, and we only really know bare bones about any character who is not Matty or Olympia. Heck, I don't think we even know Julian's last name, Senior's actual name (I would have thought it's either Julian Jacobson Sr. or Julian Moore Sr., I don't think we have been told. But according to IMDB, Olympia's last name is Lawrence, and her kids with Julian are Lawrence-Markston so I guess Julian and Senior's last names are Markston, and despite it being Senior's firm, he's not one the firm is named after.).  I would like to have Sarah and Billy be the prime movers in winning a case for once. I want it to be established why and how Olympia got Billy and Julian assigned to her. 

3. I would like the show to take some chances and deviate for formula. Right now each episode has the same basic pattern of: Case of the Week gets introduced, Matty gets wrapped up in it. Matty has a minor victory that allows Our Heroes to make some headway. Matty makes a minor mistake that has her worrying about losing the case. Matty has a revelation that saves the case and wins her client a victory at trial/settlement. Meanwhile Matty continues to investigate which of the big 3 was behind the GOD. Matty runs into a slight obstacle in investigating. Matty overcome said obstacle without anybody at Jacobson Moore being the wiser. It's completely possible for there to be an episode where there's no need/time for a case of the week, or no need/time to investigate the GOD. It's also possible that Matty makes no mistakes, or makes big ones that can't be fixed. It's also possible that, like I said, sometime Olympia, or Billy, or Sarah (or Senior, Julian, Elijah or other characters we have yet to meet) can be the hero or the screwup. i would like to see the show take chances with cases that span more than one episode, with multiple small cases of the week where maybe Sarah or Billy have more of a chance to shine on one or the other, where people are mixed and matched.

Edited November 25 by Chicago Redshirt

[DearEvette]

Honestly, I want the Dead Daughter/Big Pharma plot put to bed by the end of season 1.

My biggest wish is that Matty discovers that her assumptions about what went down with Wellbrexa isn't what she thinks they are. That whatever that thread on Reddit said was misinterpreted or a lie or a hoax or whatever and her crusade has been flawed.

That would lead to a better dilemma for season 2. Matty, having come to like and respect Olympia and actually liking the work, has to decide between locking in as Matty and keep her real identity a secret, coming clean or just leaving.  Obviously the best choice from a drama perspective is her maintaining the Matty cover, which the great tension being the imminent discovery of her as Madeline Kingston.

Other than that, I agree that the COTW format can be a bit formulaic.  It is CBS so maybe they are locked into that, but yeah I'd like them to play with format a bit. Maybe have a horrible unsympathetic client that they have to put aside their dislike and really work to get a win where they don't feel great in the end. Or maybe a retired partner dies and they do a fully flashback ep where they reminisce about a case the partner did. Or maybe a very low stakes case they allow Sarah or Billy to take the lead on.