Matlock
After achieving success in her younger years, the brilliant septuagenarian Madeline Matlock rejoins the workforce at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. Inspired by the classic television series of the same name.
Wokeness: 50%
Overall Score: 70%
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User Submitted Reviews
NoWo
Based on 1st episode, good, but will possibly not watch further.
The good: Bates is (expectedly) brilliant, and her character is witty and well written. Nice bit of social engineering in the opening scene. All along really. Also, over-arching plot, apparently.
The bad: forced diversity. Nowhere is that diverse. Also, the episode does a very messy job of distancing itself from the original show (and thus accusations of gender-swapping), but a very good job of stealing its lunch, up until the court-room drama, and last-second surprise witness. So yeah, gender-swapped. Why not go for an original name instead of very obviously riding coat-tails.
The ugly: no man can be both (vaguely) competent and white. Women complaining about men every few minutes. I know, that’s what they do, but I want escapism, not a documentary. Also, SJW talking points raised, and not in irony.
It’s irksome. On the fence about the whole show. Somehow gives off same feeling as Inside Out 2: woke vehicle hastily dismantled in hopes not to go broke. Show creator quite possibly overt feminist. Del Rio self(?)-described as 'Latinx'.
Time will tell if show for everybody, or just the enlightened /s.
Edit: watched further, activism toned down somewhat, although 'privilege' and racism are still there. White males less stupid, Bates still excellent as a sly old she-fox.
Further edit: non-white lesbians! Non-white lesbians everywhere! Will they have the balls (not assuming gender) to make the not-white oppressed woman the ultimate villain? Not sure.
I stand by my initial opinion: it was planned to be far woker, was toned down, but clever editing has limits, particularly when you have a run time target. Excising the omni-lesbian would have also meant serious reshoots.
Created: 09-24-2024
Jon Loder
The woke starts slow and builds
The wokeness is mostly subtle over the first few episodes. Most of the cases involve greedy corporations exploiting poor black folks. White males are predominately either incompetent or nefarious. One of the running plots in character building is a lesbian. Her coworkers encourage her to pursue a same-sex relationship with a lesbian IT tech. As much as I like Kathy Bates and the basic plot, this one has an agenda.
Created: 11-19-2024
