Matlock episode 10, “Crash Helmets On,” begins with Edwin (Sam Anderson) telling Matlock (Kathy Bates) she’s wrong to think that Olympia (Skye P Marshall) had nothing to do with withholding evidence that could have saved their daughter’s life, purely on her gut. Matlock says her friendship with Olympia will help them prove that Julian (Jason Ritter) forged Senior’s (Beau Bridges) signature and hid the documents.
They need Julian’s financial records though. Olympia previously admitted that he got a huge amount of money to buy their brownstone house around the time the documents went missing. Matlock believes Wellbrexa gave Julian the money. She wants Olympia and Julian’s divorce to get ugly so their accounting is revealed. Matlock hopes the recording pen she hid in Julian’s office will pick up all the details.
Is Matlock’s plan actually coming together? Or is she out of her depth? Here’s what happens in Matlock episode 10.
Walter’s Nursing Home Death
Olympia looks to represent Blake Ellison (Jesse Bush), the head of Tranquil Pines nursing home, instead of Julian. She does so by saying that they’re already culpable for the death of their resident Walter Higgins, as their facility had broken several regulations over the years. She impresses Blake by being on top of the lawsuit and he picks Olympia over Julian.
Walter initially refused to see the doctor on the night he died. But then his symptoms got worse. When the nurses checked in on him the next morning he was dead from a stroke. Walter’s family argues that the nurses should have checked in on Walter more frequently. Knowing that a jury will always side with the family over a death, Olympia says they need a new strategy.
Matlock discovers that Walter was having secret poker parties, where the winners would get Viagra. He was already on nitrates, which when combined with Viagra, increases the chance of a stroke. Olympia says it might be sticky to blame Walter for his own death. But Sarah (Leah Lewis) admits that everyone has heard of Olympia’s partner race with Julian and this is no time for morals.
Is the nursing home liable or is someone else?
They need to prove that Walter took Viagra that night though. The people at the nursing home are unlikely to talk about residents to them. They’re more likely to speak to an actual resident. That’s when everyone turns to Matlock, who agrees to go undercover at the nursing home.
Matlock gossips with the female residents, known as the Garden Girls Club, about the “social scene” at Tranquil Pines. They reveal that Walter was very popular until he got with Lucille (Joanna Cassidy). She ditched the Garden Girls Club to be with Walter, breaking their number one rule.
It’s later revealed that the Tranquil Pines nurses didn’t check on Walter at 4 am on the night he died, meaning the nursing home really is liable. Billy (David Del Rio) suggests they lean into the grey area around Walter’s time of death. They need to find an expert witness who’ll say Walter might have died before 4 am.
On the stand, a defense medical expert says Walter’s rigor mortis suggests he died at 1:30 am. But the plaintiff’s medical expert says Walter died at 4:30 am and his rigor mortis could have been accelerated because he was ill. The experts go back and forth over potential medical evidence regarding the time of death. But the plaintiff comes out on top.
A second autopsy reveals that no Viagra was found in Walter’s body. A depressed and tearful Olympia tells Matlock that she’s lost the case, the partnership battle and her marriage has failed, as has her relationship with Elijah. Matlock gives her a pep talk.
Matlock realizes that Lucille was actually involved in Walter’s death. The toxicology report reveals that Walter had arsenic in his blood. The tea he drank right before he died was laced with rat poison. Lucille admits that she helped Walter do this to himself. After he had broken his hip, he wanted to die and didn’t want to be a burden to his family.
Sarah turns on Matlock
Autry Tucker (Hal Williams) asks for help as his neighbors are illegally trying to remove him from his apartment, complaining that his television is always too loud. Autry’s next door neighbor really wants to buy Autry’s apartment.
Olympia decides that either Sarah or Billy can try Autry’s case, and Matlock is tasked with picking who will do so. She goes back and forth between picking Sarah and Billy.
After Sarah admits to Matlock that her grandmother suffered from dementia – and when she returned from college, her grandmother didn’t recognize Sarah and was racist towards her – Matlock briefly picks Sarah. But when Billy suspiciously catches Matlock at his desk, looking for the missing recording device (more on that below), Matlock goes with Billy.
Billy wins the lawsuit when he discovers that the neighbor stole Autry’s remote and was turning up the TV so that the other people in the building would side with them.
Everyone congratulates Billy on winning the case. But Sarah confronts Matlock about picking Billy over her, especially after she’d been so vulnerable with her. Matlock tries to apologize. But Sarah warns Matlock that she will regret making an enemy of her.
What about Alfie?
Matlock tells Edwin she’s scared of dying and insists they need to stay healthy. After worrying over who will look after Alfie (Aaron D. Harris) when they die, Edwin and Matlock decide to look for Alfie’s father.
Matlock’s recording pen goes missing
Mrs. Belvin (Patricia Belcher) removes Matlock’s secret recording pen from Julian’s office, as she’s getting everyone in the firm to sign a get well soon card. Matlock worries that someone will find out it’s a recording device and it’ll be traced back to her. Edwin insists that won’t happen. The problem is Alfie connected the pen’s transcriptions to an email address that could be traced to them.
The next day Matlock goes to Olympia’s office to retrieve the pen. But before she can get her hands on it, Billy recognizes that it’s a recording device. A quick-thinking Matlock suggests that Julian might be responsible for planting it. Olympia asks Billy to use his cop connections to see if the pen is traceable.
Olympia calls Matlock and says the pen is connected to a random email. They need a warrant to find it. It turns out Matlock was able to switch the pen in Billy’s desk before he spotted her. They linked that pen to Julian’s email.
A reinvigorated Olympia says she will beat Julian to partner, get the upper hand in the divorce settlement and demand forensic accounting to discover every penny he has hidden and lie he has told. Matlock promises to be by her side throughout.
All episodes of Matlock are available to stream on Paramount Plus.