The following contains spoilers from the March 13 episode of CBS‘ Matlock.

Talk about March Madness.

This week’s episode of Matlock was the CBS drama’s finest hour to date, 15 episodes into its 18-episode freshman season — and not only because of the masterfully edited closing montage that revealed the “Redditor” who had tipped off Matty to Wellbrexa’s wrongdoing in the first place.

Full disclosure, the Slamm’d storyline was losing my interest in recent weeks. (Is such a beverage even legal?) But in “Game Face,” the class action suit which Olympia (played by Skye P. Marshall) was so determined to win came to a head, forcing the wannabe partner to lock horns with Senior (Beau Bridges) and then make a mad dash for the finish line before her boss settled the case for a mere 3 mil, enough to cover costs.

There was so much going in in this episode, but it didn’t feel overstuffed, and each subplot (and sub-subplot) had both scares and crowd-pleasing moments. Matty valiantly submitting to the court evidence… that she didn’t have, because Bitsy had placed a tray of biscuits on top of it. Bitsy arriving with the documents just in time to witness her sister, in “Matlock” mode, mimicking her. And then Matty and Olympia having their nastiest clash ever, when Matty expressed umbrage at Olympia’s celebration of “smart” (read: sus) lawyering. So offended was Olympia, she sent Matty home for the day! Even though the team was about to get hit with a massive discovery dump, for Olympia, Billy, Sarah and Shae to rifle through.

At home, what Bitsy witnessed in court — her sister treating her like “a joke” — didn’t blow up into something ugly; rather, it teed up the loveliest of scenes between Kathy Bates and Julie Hagerty. A scene nearly as sweet as when Bitsy, at the top of the hour, revealed to her sis that Alfie was asking a girl to a dance, and had sought out her help with the invite, wardrobe and more. Later, Matty even asked Bitsy if she would be Alfie’s guardian, should anything ever happen to her and Edwin.

The concurrent discoveries of the “smoking gun” in the Slamm’d and Welbrexa cases was no less than thrilling. Regarding the former, Billy and Sarah had worked hard to connect a party thrown for underaged kids to the makers of Slamm’d, but never with quite enough success. But the aforementioned evidence dump happened to drop in Shae’s lap a video of a focus group — for the beverage company’s sports drink — that confirmed that Slamm’d’s tiger mascot was chosen because of its proven appeal to kids.

Running parallel to that, Matty, Edwin and Bitsy discovered a Wellbrexa label change that conspicuously didn’t have a study attached to support it. The wording had warned that crushing the tablets “leads to rapid release and absorption.” But as Matty noted, “It wasn’t a warning. It was a ‘how to’ guide, on how to get more high!”

All that is left to draw out the Redditor, ReadEmAndWeep31, who can confirm what was in the missing documents. To that end, Matty crafted an email appeal that was beautiful and moving in its own right. But it was also brilliant in how it subtly weaved in Barry Manilow lyrics, seeing as Matty had deduced the identity of her source! That closing montage, set to “Can’t Smile Without You,” played over a scene of Olympia and Julian (half-heartedly) toasting their official divorce, before cutting to the park where Matty was on the lookout for the Redditor. A clever fake-out had us thinking that Shae was the leak, before that similar-looking, leggy blonde walked on by, revealing an anxious Mrs. Belvin (Patricia Belcher) on the park bench behind her!

Matlock returns with the first of its final three episodes on Thursday, April 3, following a March Madness-related time-out.

Want scoop on Matlock, or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to [email protected], and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!