“Matlock” is undergoing some changes.
In early October, David Del Rio, who portrays associate Billy Martinez, was removed from the set and fired after a sexual assault allegation. Season 2 was already in production when the incident occurred, and Del Rio had already filmed seven episodes. “Prior Bad Acts,” which aired on Dec. 4, marked his final appearance, showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman confirms to Variety.
That episode ended with Billy telling his pregnant girlfriend, “I do want to get married,” an odd-sounding line that appeared to have been mashed together later. While Snyder Urman didn’t confirm that was the case, she said, “I’ll just say there were creative changes that we had to make, and we made them. We’re ending up in a different place than what our plans were, but we really stopped and tried to think about how we can have an exit that makes sense in the world of our show and for the character.”
During the Dec. 11 midseason finale, Sarah (Leah Lewis) reveals Billy has taken a personal day from work, then later learns his pregnant girlfriend has had a miscarriage. “His exit will be explained in the course of the next two episodes, and it is really in line with the character and in line with what’s happening with the firm at large,” Snyder Urman says. “We want to remain true to the character.”
While Snyder Urman said she’s “not able to discuss the events” surrounding the allegations made against Del Rio that led to his firing, she added: “We just sort of plugged in and kept moving forward. We’re just all happy to be back, and focused on the work. I think that’s the thing — we want the show to be great. We want it to be joyful for the audience to watch.”
Though Lewis has never confirmed her involvement with the allegations, after the news broke that Del Rio had been fired, she shared a message via Instagram in which she wrote, “Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands. Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength. Key word, strength. Please, let that be the takeaway.” Del Rio’s wife, in turn, posted and deleted a photo of her and her own mom with text that read, “Mom is here. We’re moving forward in love and strength after what Leah did to our family. Thank you all for the love and support!”
On the show, Lewis’ character is facing a tough road ahead in Season 2, having been she was removed from Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) team during the midseason finale after lying to her boss. Plus, the merger is moving full steam ahead, which means no one’s jobs are safe. One positive note? Olympia and Matty (Kathy Bates) are finally back on the same team again.
“That relationship is just everything to me,” Snyder Urman said of Matty and Olympia. “If I could headline the back half of the season, it’s joy, because we have so much fun coming in with some new characters, some returning, and then we start flipping cards left and right. There’s a certain amount of joy that that brings, in terms of telling the story and getting answers. And then we get to have Matty and Olympia working together — this intergenerational friendship that was unexpected, but means everything to them both. They look at all these obstacles, but work on them together, which to me is a relief, because I hate writing them in conflict.”
Plus, two new characters will be introduced in the back half of Season 2: Sarah Wright Olsen as Gwen, an efficiency expert analyzing the firm; and Henry Haber as Hunter, a younger associate and “total bro.”
“Matlock” returns to CBS with new episodes on Thursday, Feb. 26.
