Flipping the gender by casting Kathy Bates as Madeline "Matty" Matlock/ Madeline Kingston, who secures employment at Jacobson Moore law firm. The reboot is a cross between “Suits” and “The Good Wife”.

There’s representation of black excellence with the casting of Skye P. Marshall as Olympia Lawrence, who is Matlock’s new boss, and Eme Ikwuakor as Elijah, an attorney who has a romantic entanglement with Olympia.

Nepotism runs deep in the firm as it is owned by managing partner Howard "Senior" (Beau Bridges). His son Julian (Jason Ritter) is a senior partner and soon-to-be ex-husband of Olympia. They have twin girls.

Talk about complicated.

Olympia is a boss bitch. Her first-year associates, Billy Martinez (David Del Rio) and Sarah Yang (Leah Lewis), aren’t delighted to be working with Matlock as they are both ambitious and clamouring for Olympia’s attention.

In swoops Matlock, who disarms them with her nurturing demeanour and sage advice.

However, Matlock has an ulterior motive for joining the firm.

She needs to get to the bottom of who in the company was responsible for handling an opioid case that could have gotten the drug off the market long before her drug addict daughter died from an overdose.

She is a mother seeking retribution.

Unbeknownst to everyone, she pretends to be a grandmother, taking care of her grandson. She concealed her true identity from those around her, assuming the role of a grandmother caring for her grandson. Of course, it’s not a stretch.

She does take care of Alfie, her tech-savvy grandson. But she does so with her husband Edwin (Sam Anderson), who, to maintain her ruse, she killed off.

Also, despite being wealthy, she pretends to be struggling.

Matlock’s ability to empathise and spot clues that others might have missed helps her cement her cover story.

Bates pulls off the role with aplomb. She’s engaging, empathetic and commendably artful - for the right reasons.

Her heart is always in the right place, which is why it wasn’t a hard sell with TV buffs and fans of the original.

Overall, the layered storytelling, compelling cases, and carefully crafted character etches ensure a victorious reception.

Rating: 3/5 *** Solid and enjoyable, though not groundbreaking.

∎ “Matlock” airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) on Monday at 7pm.

#tvbuff

Kathy Bates steals the show in the gender-flipped 'Matlock' reboot