Matlock has closed the case on Wellbrexa.
The two-part season 2 finale, “Who Are You?” and “Matty Matlock,” officially brought the long-running storyline to a head as Julian (Jason Ritter) worked with Matty (Kathy Bates) and Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) to trick Senior (Beau Bridges) into giving the FBI the evidence they needed to arrest all of the senior partners, as well as Julian himself.
The season ended with Julian and Senior in handcuffs as Matty and Olympia walked away from Jacobson Moore toward a future that appears to include their own law firm.
“It feels great to have come to the end of this and to really pay off things for the audience that we’ve been setting up,” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman tells PEOPLE. “We’ve been laying out the logical architecture and the emotional architecture for two years to get to this point. And we really wanted satisfaction and to launch the show into a different direction in the third season.”
That includes introducing a new mystery, though Urman, 50, is remaining mum on what that mystery will entail.
The Matlock boss did share that she’s “grateful” to CBS for holding season 3 until midseason. “We have to plot a whole new mystery. So I’m going to have a nice long pre-production with the writers, and we really get to do it right,” she says.
The big question mark at the end of the season is who will be jumping ship with Matty and Olympia as they embark on a new chapter? Urman teases, “You could say that the plan is to start their own law firm together. What will happen? What are the iterations of that? Will Sarah join? That’s all to be seen.”
One thing is certain: Urman has plans for Sarah (Leah Lewis), Hunter (Henry Haber) and the rest of the Jacobson Moore team. “I love so many of our recurring characters,” she says. “I want to see Yael [Grobglas], Shae back, Mrs. Belvin [Patricia Belcher], just a… Hunter. They’re all part of the fabric of the show, and the people we like in it.”
Meanwhile, Edwin (Sam Anderson) will be stepping out of the shadows now that Matty is committed to keeping her Matlock persona alive.
“Like he said, Matty Matlock needs a boyfriend. And what does him play-acting look like? And how sort of airtight is it is something that we’ll play with,” Urman says. “Then new dynamics start to come into their relationship that I’m really, really excited to explore next season.”
Following his arrest, Julian’s fate remains the most unclear. The question of whether he’ll have to leave his legal career behind or potentially even face prison time remains to be seen. For her part, Urman can’t wait to see Ritter, 46, take on whatever challenges season 3 serves up for his character after his layered performance this season.
“What I love about Jason is just how seamlessly and expertly he does both comedy and drama,” the showrunner says. “And so, there will be plenty of both in this next season for him. Plenty of emotional stuff to mine about what the aftermath is and what that looks like. And also, knowing where his storyline goes, there’s going to be some fun too.”
One thing fans don’t have to fret over is sitting through another big friendship breakup between Olympia and Matty. Whatever comes next, Urman promises the two women will face it together.