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%
Please Log in to Submit a Review!
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 its limits, particularly when you have a run time target. Excising the omni-lesbian would have also meant serious reshoots.
Final edit: The writers never let go of the permanent nagging and complaigning about men. Usual talking points, stops just short of the word patriarchy. Or factual evidence, as always with that kind of discourse.
Well, art imitates life, but I like my escapism a little less realistic.
Also, white men can never be good guys. They're at best neutral, with barely a positive quality. Which begs the question, how in hell did all the strong independent women in the show get hitched with such pussies. On the other hand, I wonder how any men would want to marry a self-professed perennial victim, so maybe I just don't get it. Maybe it's that way over in North America. Quite possibly, judging by the marriage rates.
In which case, you lads have all my sympathy.
Still, it does evolve into pretty overt racism toward the end of the series. Or is it sexism? Hey, why not both. I'm all for free speech, and people don't have to like me. But it does make for contrived writing.
All in all, this series leaves me with a mixed appreciation.
It's a bit like the German mustache enthusiast: he did get the trains running on time, too bad he was a genocidal socialist (pleonasm intended).
Matlock is good in many ways, but also hateful. The somewhat disguised hatred of the almost clever. Those about which cannot be said to forgive, because they know not what they do.
This is written knowingly, and the hatred is assumed.
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
