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The Best Episodes of Matlock Season 5

Every episode of Matlock Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Matlock Season 5!

Binge this in 4h 0m•Peaking at 7.9/10

Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock. The show, produced by The Fred Silverman Company, Dean Hargrove Productions, Viacom Productions and Paramount

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Matlock Season 5 Episode 1 - The Mother
    7.4/10(155 votes)

    #1 - The Mother

    S5:E1

    Phyllis Todd confesses to the murder of her boss to protect her daughter. Matlock soon sees through his client's ruse.

    Director:Robert Scheerer
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Matlock Season 5 Episode 2 - Nowhere to Turn (1)
    7.7/10(191 votes)

    #2 - Nowhere to Turn (1)

    S5:E2

    Matlock has to defend himself against a charge of murder when a judge who issued a contempt citation against him is found dead.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Matlock Season 5 Episode 3 - Nowhere to Turn (2)
    7.2/10(132 votes)

    #3 - Nowhere to Turn (2)

    S5:E3

    Matlock has to defend himself against a charge of murder when a judge who issued a contempt citation against him is found dead.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Matlock Season 5 Episode 4 - The Madam
    7.7/10(127 votes)

    #4 - The Madam

    S5:E4

    A call girl blackmails her employer to stay on the payroll, and when one of them winds up dead, it's Matlock to the rescue.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Matlock Season 5 Episode 5 - The Personal Trainer
    7.5/10(133 votes)

    #5 - The Personal Trainer

    S5:E5

    When personal trainer Harry Slade is murdered, Matlock agrees to defend his roofer, George Wilton, on the condition that George finish Matlock's roof like he promised. The case is complicated when it turns out that not only was Harry sleeping with beautiful blonde DeeDee, but also Bridget Laird, and Harry's wife and step-daughter!

    Director:Burt Brinckerhoff
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Matlock Season 5 Episode 6 - The Narc
    7.5/10(122 votes)

    #6 - The Narc

    S5:E6

    When Ed Tobias is found murdered after exposing his dirty co-workers to the top brass (they sold the drugs they didn't turn in), Lt. Brooks asks Matlock to defend his accused killer, Johnny Bauer, the only one in the unit who wasn't on the take. In between playing catch with Conrad, Matlock agrees to defend Bauer, even though he feels Bauer is just as dirty as his friends were because he knew what they were up to and he kept quiet.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Matlock Season 5 Episode 7 - The Secret (1)
    7.4/10(113 votes)

    #7 - The Secret (1)

    S5:E7

    When a gambler is accused of killing his bookie, Matlock agrees to take the case, believing that someone from the bookie's past is the guilty party.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Matlock Season 5 Episode 8 - The Secret (2)
    7.6/10(140 votes)

    #8 - The Secret (2)

    S5:E8

    Matlock sends Conrad to Chicago to collect the evidence that will prove his client is innocent.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Matlock Season 5 Episode 9 - The Brothers
    7.1/10(132 votes)

    #9 - The Brothers

    S5:E9

    Lowell Carr is a brilliant plastic surgeon. When his partner is found murdered after the two had a loud argument about dissolving their business, he is the immediate suspect...until Matlock meets his twin brother, Gary.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Matlock Season 5 Episode 10 - The Cover Girl
    7.4/10(133 votes)

    #10 - The Cover Girl

    S5:E10

    Conrad is thrilled to introduce Matlock to his new girlfriend Carla Royce. When Carla's boss is murdered, Matlock defends the accused at her bequest.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Matlock Season 5 Episode 11 - The Biker
    7.7/10(124 votes)

    #11 - The Biker

    S5:E11

    After Nicky, a well-known actor with a bad reputation, is murdered on his way into a premiere, a judge friend of Matlock's asks Matlock to defend his son Cliff, a biker who had been fired earlier from his job as Nicky's bodyguard.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Matlock Season 5 Episode 12 - The Broker
    7.7/10(120 votes)

    #12 - The Broker

    S5:E12

    When stockbroker Richard Wagner is murdered, his former partner Avery Campbell needs Julie's help to prove his innocence.

    Director:Robert Scheerer
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Matlock Season 5 Episode 13 - The Fighter
    7.5/10(118 votes)

    #13 - The Fighter

    S5:E13

    When fighter Billy Leon is accused of murdering reporter Nick Underwood, a man he thought was his friend who announced in the paper that he was using steroids, Matlock agrees to take him on as a client.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Matlock Season 5 Episode 14 - The Critic
    7.3/10(123 votes)

    #14 - The Critic

    S5:E14

    Matlock has known Sam Spelvin since he was six years old, so he agrees to consult on Sam's play, Lovers and Lawyers. Unfortunately, the play is truly awful. When noted critic John Bosley Hackett, who felt the play was truly one of the worst in history, is found murdered, Sam is arrested. Matlock agrees to defend Sam, even deferring his payment while they wait to see if the play is a success, and manages to find a few more people who would be more than happy to see Hackett dead...and to see Sam's play fail.

    Director:Robert Scheerer
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Matlock Season 5 Episode 15 - The Parents
    6.6/10(121 votes)

    #15 - The Parents

    S5:E15

    Howard and Amy have all their dreams answered when Jill plans to give them the child she was carrying. After Jill changes her mind and is found dead, Howard and Amy are the prime suspects in her murder, and Matlock sets out to prove that the birth father may have also had a motive.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Matlock Season 5 Episode 16 - The Man of The Year
    7.5/10(121 votes)

    #16 - The Man of The Year

    S5:E16

    Matlock is all set to be honored as the man of the year, but when his car breaks down and he's forced to ask his housekeeper for a ride, a simple twenty minute trip turns into a flat tire, a hostage situation, and an afternoon in jail.

    Director:Burt Brinckerhoff
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Matlock Season 5 Episode 17 - The Arsonist
    7.6/10(116 votes)

    #17 - The Arsonist

    S5:E17

    Marvin Sheam and Sid Franklin have been in business for 32 years. When their bank loan is denied and they can't pay their bills, Marv tries to talk Sid into hiring an arsonist to torch their business so they can collect the insurance money and rebuild from scratch. Just before Marv has a chance to talk to the arsonist again, he winds up dead outside his daughter's wedding reception, and Sid gets blamed.

    Director:Robert Scheerer
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Matlock Season 5 Episode 18 - The Formula
    7.8/10(136 votes)

    #18 - The Formula

    S5:E18

    Matlock receives a call in the middle of the night from a young man who once painted his house who claims he's been arrested for stealing the formula to cure baldness from a company who fired his friend and stole his work. Twenty-four hours later Ben gets another call from the same young man, who has been accused of murdering the man he claims he stole the formula for. The biggest problem is that none of what Jeff Duvall claims seems to be true; not only did Tim Crider not ask him to steal the formula, but he was never fired in the first place!

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Matlock Season 5 Episode 19 - The Trial (1)
    7.9/10(125 votes)

    #19 - The Trial (1)

    S5:E19

    When assistant D.A. Howard Wright is murdered in his workshop, the attorney general approaches Matlock and asks him to take on the assignment of special prosecutor. With Michelle and Conrad's help, Matlock begins to investigate Wright's past, and realises the man was spending money that he could not have earned legitimately. In investigating names that Wright had left behind, Matlock finds himself embroiled in a lawsuit involving Maxwell Toys.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Matlock Season 5 Episode 20 - The Trial (2)
    7.7/10(120 votes)

    #20 - The Trial (2)

    S5:E20

    Matlock manages to figure out what's going on, but his competition ices him out of the final round...or so it seems.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Matlock Season 5 Episode 21 - The Accident
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - The Accident

    S5:E21

    Eugene Dobbs and Nolan Wheeler are the perfect combination -- Dobbs presents the cases, and Wheeler does all the legwork. After Dobbs is unable to keep the promises he makes to football coach John Kramer, Dobbs meets his maker one night at the office, with Kramer as the prime suspect. Matlock takes the case, in part to prove to Kramer that not all lawyers are schmucks like Dobbs, and in part because the list of people who want Dobbs dead is getting longer by the minute as Matlock and Conrad find an interesting link between Dobbs, the owner of a local water park, and Dobbs' wife.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Matlock Season 5 Episode 22 - The Celebrity
    7.8/10(117 votes)

    #22 - The Celebrity

    S5:E22

    Ben defends a one time movie queen who is now a cosmetics mogul who is accused of murdering her ex-lover to prevent the publication of some revealing photos of her.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"The Mother" is the best rated episode of "Matlock" season 5. It scored 7.4/10 based on 155 votes. Directed by Robert Scheerer and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/18/1990. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Nowhere to Turn (1)".