Matlock Mid-Season Finale Teases New Cast Members and Addresses David Del Rio‘s exit

Matlock showrunner and executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman is teasing the conclusion of the first half of the second season and what’s ahead when the show returns early next year. The mid-season finale “Call It a Christmas Gift” airs Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBS.

Two new additions have joined the recurring cast for Season 2: Sarah Wright Olsen (Parks and Recreation, American Made) and newcomer Henry haber. Wright Olsen will play Gwen,an efficiency expert analyzing the firm,and Haber will portray Hunter,a younger associate from the floater pool described as a “bro.” While these characters don’t appear in tonight’s episode, they have recently begun work on the series.

Snyder Urman confirmed that Haber is not joining Matlock as a “replacement” for David del Rio, who was fired from the series in October following an internal examination by CBS Studios into sexual assault allegations lodged by a co-star. Del Rio has denied the allegations.

The show boss declined to discuss the matter further, but confirmed Del Rio’s final appearance was in episode 7, and his character Billy Martinez’s storyline will conclude off-camera in forthcoming episodes.

“I’m not going to discuss details, but what I can talk about is in terms of the show,” she said. “The last episode you see him is in 7, and then you find out how Billy’s story ends, which is in a very organic way that has to do with our whole office and how things are being shaped in this merger.”

Regarding the addition of the new office hire, she revealed, “We’re always bringing in new associates, new people, as we want to give our characters diffrent energies to react to, and different obstacles to overcome. And one thing that we were talking about in the writers’ room that we’ve been wanting to bring in is a bro, like a real bro.”

Snyder Urman added about the new character Hunter, “What will it be like for olympia [Skye P. Marshall] and Matty [Kathy Bates] to be around a bro? They’ve been with characters that really see them as the pinnacle and do things their way. But what happens when you have somebody who spreads a little bit and shoots a