Matlock Season 2 cast and character guide: Meet the new and returning actors in the new chapter of the legal drama

Matlock Season 2 premieres officially on Sunday, October 12, 2025, on CBS with a special season premiere on Sunday nights, at last continuing the drama of Madeline "Matty" Matlock following Season 1 cliffhangers. The show then returns to its regular Thursday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot from October 16, 2025.

Kathy Bates returns as Matty as she guides a returning cast with new faces to the Jacobson Moore law firm cast, keeping the series' emphasis on upscale case-of-the-week legal drama and character development.

Season 2 resumes where Season 1 cliffhangers had left us. It continues to mix episodic court cases with serialized family dynamics, moral issues, and law firm politics character plotlines. The season hits its balance of tone in the first two episodes, "The Before Times" (Oct 12) and "Another Matlock" (Oct 16), juggling continuity and newness.

Matlock Season 2 adopts a contemporary legal drama format but brings personal stakes for Matty and her staff.

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New cast faces introduced in Matlock Season 2

Justina Machado as Eva

Justina Machado guest stars as Eva, a new cast member for the season, whose new ideas and fresh energy upset the status quo with Matty and the firm's staff.

Beau Bridges as Senior

Beau Bridges guest stars as the elder company co-founder, and he adds weight and experience to important company issues and plotlines.

Niko Nicotera

Niko Nicotera also appears as a performer playing Alfie's dad, introducing new family and personal circumstances that heighten tension in the current storyline.

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Returning cast of Matlock Season 2

Kathy Bates as Madeline "Matty" Matlock

Kathy Bates reprises her role to play Matty, a retired lawyer who comes out of retirement to practice law again and fight for justice for the death of her daughter from an opioid overdose. Matty's clients remind her of her disturbing legal history and moral principles, and she becomes the new central character on the show.

Skye P. Marshall as Olympia Lawrence

Skye P. Marshall also returns as Olympia, junior partner at Jacobson Moore, who helps Matty but also struggles with career issues of her own. Her conversations with Matty and the other firm members are what provide some information about how the firm operates.

Leah Lewis as Sarah Franklin

Leah Lewis reprises her role as Matty and Olympia's new associate, Sarah Franklin. Her iteration gets the frustration of junior attorneys working in a high-stress law firm atmosphere.

Jason Ritter as Julian Markston

Jason Ritter reprises Julian, a senior partner in the Wellbrexa debacle, dealing with firm woes and personal issues that affect Matty's clients.

Sam Anderson as Edwin Kingston

Sam Anderson again guest stars as Matty's husband Edwin, whose ubiquitous presence injects personal tension into Matty's work life.

Aaron Harris as Alfie Kingston

Aaron Harris guest stars again as Matty's grandson, Alfie, helping out with the construction of family and legal plotlines.

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Cast exit

David Del Rio as Billy Martinez

David Del Rio, the actor who played Billy Martinez, was let go from the show after he was accused of sexually assaulting Leah Lewis. His character is seen in the already taped episodes, such as the Season 2 premiere, but will be removed from all other remaining episodes.

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Episode structure and storylines

Matlock Season 2 features stand-alone legal cases with multi-episode storylines. There's a stand-alone case in court every week, but collectively, they all feed into the firm's political, family conflict, and morality issues story arcs.

This makes it possible for the viewer to watch the action in court on a per-episode basis and the multi-episode character storylines, hence making the show stable and worth watching.

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Episode highlights

Its premiere episode, The Before Times (Oct 12), brings back Season 1 cliffhanger enigmas and fresh cases. The second one, Another Matlock (Oct 16), keeps building these plots and forging new relationships throughout the firm and Matty's family.

Season 2 is likely to have the same number of episodes as Season 1's 19 episodes, although the actual amount has not been confirmed yet.

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Matlock Season 2 returns and introduces new cast members to carry on the attorney drama, with Kathy Bates reprising Matty, Leah Lewis, Skye P. Marshall, Jason Ritter, and recruits Justina Machado and Beau Bridges. The show employs episodic courtroom cases and serialized work and personal storylines, extending themes of justice, morality, and complex interpersonal dynamics.

This fusion ensures that Matlock Season 2 is authentic to its original material but brings fresh storylines and interesting character interactions.

Also read: Matlock Season 2 Episode 2: Release date news, time, streaming details, cast, and more