7.3/10140 votes#1 - The Mother
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1990
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: N/A
- 7.5/10179 votes
#2 - Nowhere to Turn (1)
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/25/1990
Matlock has to defend himself against a charge of murder when a judge who issued a contempt citation against him is found dead.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/10116 votes
#3 - Nowhere to Turn (2)
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 9/25/1990
Matlock has to defend himself against a charge of murder when a judge who issued a contempt citation against him is found dead.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10117 votes
#4 - The Madam
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/2/1990
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: N/A
- 7.6/10118 votes
#5 - The Personal Trainer
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/9/1990
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: N/A
- 7.3/10108 votes
#6 - The Narc
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/1990
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: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10103 votes
#7 - The Secret (1)
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1990
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: N/A
- 7.6/10124 votes
#8 - The Secret (2)
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/6/1990
Matlock sends Conrad to Chicago to collect the evidence that will prove his client is innocent.
Director: Leo Penn
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/10117 votes
#9 - The Brothers
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/1990
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: N/A
- 7.4/10117 votes
#10 - The Cover Girl
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/20/1990
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: N/A
- 7.6/10113 votes
#11 - The Biker
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 11/27/1990
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: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10106 votes
#12 - The Broker
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 12/4/1990
When stockbroker Richard Wagner is murdered, his former partner Avery Campbell needs Julie's help to prove his innocence.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10111 votes
#13 - The Fighter
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 12/11/1990
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: N/A
- 7.3/10112 votes
#14 - The Critic
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 1/8/1991
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: N/A
- 6.6/10111 votes
#15 - The Parents
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 1/15/1991
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: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10111 votes
#16 - The Man of The Year
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 1/29/1991
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: N/A
- 7.5/10106 votes
#17 - The Arsonist
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 2/5/1991
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: N/A
- 7.6/10123 votes
#18 - The Formula
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/12/1991
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: N/A
- 7.8/10114 votes
#19 - The Trial (1)
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 2/19/1991
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: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10109 votes
#20 - The Trial (2)
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 2/26/1991
Matlock manages to figure out what's going on, but his competition ices him out of the final round...or so it seems.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votes
#21 - The Accident
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 3/26/1991
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: N/A
- 7.6/10109 votes
#22 - The Celebrity
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 4/30/1991
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: N/A
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!
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...
Genres:CrimeDrama
Season 5 Ratings Summary
"The Mother" is the best rated episode of "Matlock" season 5. It scored 7.3/10 based on 140 votes. Directed by Robert Scheerer and written by N/A, it aired on 9/18/1990. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Nowhere to Turn (1)".