Matlock goes back to his hometown for a family reunion, but things turn sticky when a good friend of his nephew's son dies, and his rival is charged with murder. Not only that, but the whole town seems to hate Matlock, as many of them believe he thinks he's better than them because he's a big city lawyer.

After a second young man dies under mysterious circumstances, Matlock continues to do his best to defend Russ Gifford, and tries to keep his animosity with the town at a minimum while Julie makes friends with the local women, and Conrad investigates the tattoo that ties the whole case together.

Serial killer Jeffrey Speidel strangles his victims. When Matlock gets inovlved in the case, Speidel makes a point of turning Matlock into his next target...his goal is to ruin Matlock publicly before killing him.

After a bump on the head, Matlock has a nightmare where he is trapped in the Old West, and needs to save Conrad from an angry lynch mob when he is accused of murder. His is frequently distracted by Michelle, a beautiful saloon girl, and Julie, the vengeance-seeking sister of the dead man.

When a marriage counselor is murdered, the suspects include not only his fellow co-workers, but also the couples he was treating...apparently part of his treatment involved seducing the female half of the couples.

While dining with Julie, a chance meeting with a woman causes Ben to relate the story of his investigation, many years earlier, of a widow that Ben's father (played by Andy Griffith) believes may have been involved with the death of his friend - her husband.

Matlock defends a wealthy widow charged with the murder of her husband, while Michelle helps to defend a father accused of murdering the drug dealer who got his child hooked...a dealer who just happened to be a cop.

Teenager Danny Hayes is on trial for the murder of his father. Danny honestly believed that his father was about to kill his mother as he threatened to, but the testimony of his father's best friend threatens Danny's chances at freedom.

When the producer of the popular It's About Time gameshow is murdered, Matlock defends the aging host at the request of a friend of Conrad's, while Michelle goes undercover as a contestant.

Matlock reluctantly agrees to defend millionaire Ellis Blake when he's accused of murdering his daughter's fiancé, Jeffrey Holden, an enterprising golf caddy who supplemented his living by blackmailing the men he caddied for. At the same time, Matlock is dealing with a brand new deputy district attorney, Lauren Richmond, who just seems too sweet to be real.

After much persuasion, Matlock agrees to help his disagreeable cousin locate her erstwhile husband, using a doctored photograph to help find him.

Matlock successfully defends his cousin on charges of murder, but when it's all said and done, he still can't stand the woman.

Matlock retires from law after bungling up a case and forgetting his client's name. He heads out of town to do some fishing, but after a hitchhiker he gave a lift to dies mysteriously, he sticks around to investigate the case.

Matlock retires from law after bungling up a case and forgetting his client's name. He heads out of town to do some fishing, but after a hitchhiker he gave a lift to dies mysteriously, he sticks around to investigate the case.

Michelle helps an insurance investigator prove that a man killed his wealthy wife to collect on the insurance money.

Matlock has every intention of preserving lawyer/client confidentiality, but when a group of mobsters kidnap Michelle to extort information from Matlock, he has to weigh his professional ethics against her life.

Conrad asks Matlock to defend Anne Johnson when she's charged with the murder of her cheating ex-boyfriend Dwayne Meeks. It's not long before Matlock realises that Anne's son Jimmy is the key to the whole mystery.

A TV anchorwoman plans to frame a TV reporter for murder. When the intended victim fakes their own death, the reporter is arrested for a crime that was never committed and Matlock has to work to get them off the hook.

The real murdered winds up murdered himself, which doesn't help Matlock's client much...not only that, but there's a real estate scam looming in the wings that also affects the case.

When the local mayor is assassinated, Matlock's daughter Leanne comes to town to prove the case. The case takes a different turn when a judge is accused of murdering a local man's wife, and Ben and Leanne have to work out the problems in their relationship to clear Eller of murder.

While defending Judge Eller in his murder trial, Conrad uncovers the connection between the killing of a mayor and a pornography production using underage girls.