Matlock’s Season Finale Revealed The Welbrexa Culprit, But That Wasn’t The Only Shocker That Left Us Hanging (2025)

Warning: spoilers for Matlock Season 1, Episode 18 - “Tricks of the Trade - Parts One and Two” are very much in session.

In the world of television, the season finale is a typical breeding ground for cliffhangers. Now that Matlock’s closing arguments for Season 1 have hit the 2025 TV schedule, I can definitely confirm that the “Tricks of the Trade” two-hour event gave us more than one rock formation to hang from until Season 2’s arrival.

And the craziest thing is, even with the identity of the Welbrexa culprit revealed, that’s not the biggest angle to talk out. So order some take out, and roll up your sleeves friends! We’re digging through the spoilers in the file room, and going over what Matlock Season 2 has to answer for in the future.

Julian Did Indeed Steal The Missing Welbrexa File

Oh, sometimes I hate to be right. As I’d predicted after Jason Ritter’s recent TikTok dance, Julian Markston is the person who stole the Welbrexa study that could have pulled their product from the market. In terms of Opportunity, that 25th floor fire drill was engineered by Senior (Beau Bridges), whose Australia trip happened to be a direct result of this study’s existence.

Turns out he’s the actual Welbrexa Big Bad, with Julian merely being the instrument. Which leads to Motive, a field I was not sure about. Trying to please his father in his younger days, he gave his father the inside tip about the file - something he learned through his Matlock affair with Shae (Yael Grobglas). Dad gave the order, his son willingly carried it out as a way to try and impress him.

Olympia Made Partner, And Hasn’t Rejected Julian’s Pleads For Mercy

If you couldn’t tell, Julian has officially lost the partner race. But seeing where “Tricks of the Trade” leaves him and ex-wife Olympia Lawrence (Skye P. Marshall), I’m not so sure his exit will be immediate and mean that he can only be found via old episode streaming on a Paramount+ subscription. Thanks to her tenuous partnership with Madeline Matlock (Kathy Bates), the financial records were proven to not be the smoking gun.

However, a secret safe deposit box was revealed to her, and it contained the missing Welbrexa file. Acting as the only piece of evidence that could incriminate the Markstons, Jacobson Moore’s newest partner is now faced with a choice: her job/family, or justice. That question is to be determined, as our last image of Ms. Lawrence is her tearfully clutching the Welbrexa study to her chest, with no decision to speak of.

Billy Is About To Become A Father

Speaking of families, it appears that Billy (David Del Rio) is going to be starting a new one! Matlock’s season finale saw the return of Claudia (Bella Ortiz), who was last seen rejecting a marriage proposal at the office Christmas party. Well, apparently the two of them have been hooking up around the same time that Billy was seeing Simone (Andrea Londo).

Just as he was about to break things off and declare the start of “Hot Billy Summer,” Claudia showed up to the office with her news. Naturally Sarah (Leah Lewis) is not very happy about this, and as for Simone, she doesn’t even know what’s about to hit her. This could complicate another thread dangling for Matlock’s future to pick up.

Sarah Has Won Her First Case, And Simone Is Gunning For Her

Remember how last week’s Matlock all-nighter started with Sarah writing a simple cease and desist letter to a client of Olympia’s? Turns out that matter escalated into accusations of attempted murder. “Tricks of the Trade’s” double length case of the week was focused on the gym owner Sarah wrote that letter for, and how he was accused of murdering his partner to gain control of the business.

After being in scalding hot water with Olympia, the young go-getter finally got what she was going for - her first legal win. And that’s part of why I’m starting to think that Matlock Season 2 is going to introduce Andrea Londo’s spiteful nemesis as a regular character in the halls of Jacobson Moore.

Throughout “Tricks of the Trade,” Simone not only shared her intentions to get Sarah in trouble, but she also started cozying up to the exonerated gym owner after dumping Billy. Two fronts of revenge seem ready to explode, possibly as the final sign that “Hot Billy Summer” is definitely not happening.

Alfie Got In Touch With The Man Who Could Be His Birth Father

Like any good lawyer, I had to save the best point of order for last in my closing arguments. Another chicken that came home to roost in Season 1’s finale was the Matlock mystery surrounding the biological father of Alfie (Aaron Harris). When we last left the issue, Madeline and husband Edwin Kingston (Sam Anderson) had a fight about the matter, but didn’t pursue it.

Alfie, the enterprising young lad, made contact, and hid this fact from everyone until the truth came to call at the Kingston residence. With Madeline answering the door, a man that seriously looks like Milo Ventamiglia, or a hybrid of the This is Us star with Ryan Gosling, makes his intentions pretty clear. He wants to get to know his family, leaving Matlock Season 1 to end with Matty welcoming this man into the family home.

For a brief moment, it looked like the Welbrexa mystery was going to be wrapped once and for all, with some members of the Kingston family looking to move back to San Francisco. At the same time, Madeline Matlock - which has been her legal name since the beginning of her Jacobson Moore sting operation - is tired of being invisible.

She has a taste for practicing law again, and even if justice for her daughter’s wrongful death was executed, she still wants to help others. How all of those family matters will resolve is just as big of a question mark as what Olympia Lawrence will do in her rather perilous predicament.

On one hand, if Matlock’s early Season 2 renewal hadn’t happened, I wonder if an alternate ending would have aired, closing this file for good. But we now have a whole summer to try and guess what happens next. Until we know when we’ll be returning to the law firm of Jacobson Moore, this isn’t a goodbye to Matty Matlock and her shenanigans, but rather a “see you later.”