Villainess Review: Nicola Caruso (Matlock)

When I heard about the Matlock reboot many months ago, I was all in from the get-go. For the life of me, I don't know why people diss reboots. "Hollywood can't think of any original ideas," they always say. I have news for you: nothing in TV and movies is an original idea. Everything comes from something else, or somebody else. Here's how I see reboots. I think today's generation watched the older generation's shows and movies, liked it, and then curiosity set in. "What would it look like now, with a different cast?" That's how the reboots came in.

I've seen my share of episodes of the original Andy Griffith-starred series that Grampa Simpson worships, so yeah, when I heard about this reboot, I was in. The show premiered on CBS with a sneak peek pilot on September 22, 2024, and stars the legendary Kathy Bates (Fried Green Tomatoes, Misery, and The Waterboy, among many other things) as Madeline Matlock, introduced as a down-and-out retired lawyer who is returning to the practice at the Jacobson Moore law firm, claiming that she needed to work due to her deceased husband's gambling debts, while raising her grandson on her own.

However, the pilot ended with a big twist, and I have to tell it, because it's a central plot. For one, Madeline's real surname is Kingston, and she's actually quite wealthy. Her "deceased" husband? Alive and well, and not a gambler. She is a grandmother, that part is true. Madeline's true mission: someone at Jacobson Moore concealed documents that could have taken opioids off the market. With the help of her husband, Edwin Kingston, and their grandson, Alfie, Madeline is seeking that person out, and for a personal reason: Madeline's daughter (Alfie's mother) died of an opioid overdose.

So that is the central plot of (at least) Season One, and yes, I can say that last part with certainty, as the show was renewed for a second season on October 22, 2024. Regarding the subject, the original series did have quite a few memorable and amazing villainesses, and we would finally get one in the reboot in the episode, "Claws."

The central case in this episode involved a lawsuit against a women's prison, as many of the inmates had been assaulted by the prison's guards. The centerpiece of the lawsuit was a former inmate, Katya Novik, who works as a manicurist. Upon meeting Katya, Madeline noticed one problem: Katya was as high as a kite. They could not have her testify. Meanwhile, Olympia Lawrence visits the prison and speaks with the new warden, Nicola Caruso, who was replacing the warden who was in charge when all of this happened, Kenneth Larson. Nicola spoke about bringing positive changes to the prison before allowing Olympia to speak to the other inmates. Unfortunately, the other women, upon learning about Katya's relapse (she had been clean for 18 months), backed off from testifying, because they feared retribution.

Something was rotten in Denmark, and the group knew it. Katya had mentioned that prior to her relapse, she was approached by a customer who was immensely rude to her, and that made Katya vulnerable to relapsing after a dealer entered and approached her, with the dealer's appearance coming right after the rude customer left. The dealer was spotted in the surveillance footage, but later on, we finally saw the female customer shown. Her face was hidden, but Katya worked on her, and while the rest of the group didn't recognize the customer, Olympia did and knew who it was.

At trial, Nicola was called to the stand, and again, she spoke highly about the changes she was making to the prison system. Olympia reminded Nicola that she still had some of Larson's guards, only for the warden to state that none of the ones she kept were connected to the lawsuit. When asked about Katya, Nicola claimed to have not known Katya, leading to Olympia playing the footage of the aforementioned customer with Katya:

That mysterious woman has quite a distinct birthmark on her left hand, and it was the same one that's on Nicola's left hand. So yeah, Nicola was the "customer," and knowing full well about Katya's past addiction, as well as Katya possibly receiving a settlement for her testimony, Nicola intentionally set out on causing Katya to relapse. Not only did she play the role of a mean and nasty customer in disguise, she had sent the drug dealer to Katya after doing an emotional number on her. When confronted with the facts against her, Nicola pleaded the fifth... twice, but when Olympia asked Nicola why she would want to discredit a witness who was harmed by the old system after appearing to work so hard to change said system in the first place, the evil Nicola had this to say:

"I... imagine... that someone may have thought that the settlement money could do more good if it went back into the system, where it could pay for programs to rehabilitate prisoners, fund more educational programs, instead of paying out one drug addict who chose to say 'yes'."

Wow. Absolutely cold-blooded and cruel words right there. Needless to say, Nicola was taken down and taken to justice, and regarding the settlement, the women are getting $2 million... each!

"Claws" was the fifth episode of the Matlock reboot's freshman season, and aired on CBS on November 7, 2024. The episode featured Kerry Cahill as villainous prison warden Nicola Caruso, the first villainess to appear on the series, and she was an amazing one! One thing I really love in a villainess is when she portrays herself as being virtuous and righteous, only for the whole thing to be revealed as a mask that covers up an evil and corrupt demeanor. That was definitely the case in spades when it came to Nicola Caruso. She was all about changing the prison system for the better, but when it came to Katya, Nicola turned heel against her vow and against Katya, and set out to sabotage her to get the settlement money for her own goals. Cahill's performance was absolutely amazing; she acted out Nicola's righteous stance very well, and really shined during the reveal and her character's true villainous colors being shown to the jury.

Kerry Cahill's done the villainess thing before, she played one of my favorite NCIS: New Orleans villainesses: Dr. Sandra Jones from the show's first season. Regarding other work, Cahill also played Dianne in 36 episodes of The Walking Dead, and she's also done episodes of True Detective and Mayfair Witches, among other shows. In film, I've seen Cahill in Tall Girl and in the thriller, Obsession, both coming out in 2019.

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Check out Nicola Caruso's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!