‘Yellowjackets’ Star Makes Surprise Appearance on ‘Matlock’

A Yellowjackets star made a surprise appearance in the latest episode of Matlock.

Melanie Lynskey popped up in Thursday’s episode of the Kathy Bates-led legal drama.

Episode 4, “Piece of My Heart,” saw Bates’ Madeline “Matty” Matlock continuing her investigation into Senior (Beau Bridges) and a mysterious trip. The case led her to meeting up with makeup artist Debra Palmer (Lynskey), a woman from Senior’s past. Matty was given an intense makeover during their conversation, and the two later met again, and it ended in them singing a duet. However, not everything was great, as Debra didn’t answer many questions about Senior and blocking Matty’s number by the end of an episode after running into Olympia (Skye P. Marshall).

While it is great that Lynskey guest starred, her appearance did not include an interaction with her husband, Jason Ritter, who stars on Matlock as Julian Markston. According to TheWrap, it’s unclear if Lynskey will be returning for future episodes, as CBS didn’t respond to a request for comment. Lynskey’s appearance comes months after showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman expressed interest in having her guest star, alongside Marshall’s husband Edwin Hodge, who starred on FBI: Most Wanted, which ended in May.

“Obviously I want Melanie Lynskey to come on and play a fun character, and I want Edwin Hodge to come on and play a fun character…,” she told TVLine. “I’ve got a lot of plans!”

Earlier this year, Ritter spoke to Decider about the possibility of his wife appearing on the show, saying that fans might be seeing her at “Anytime.” He continued, “I’ve passed the word on. I would love to see that, and Melanie would love it. Everybody who works on Matlock would love that, too. So I think when all the pieces are aligned. I think we can call it inevitable.”

Now that Lynskey has appeared on Matlock, will Ritter ever appear on Yellowjackets? He was supposed to appear in Season 2 but the episode has yet to see the light of day. It was recently announced that the series will be ending after its upcoming fourth season in 2026. Since Ritter is busy with Matlock, that might be hard, but it’s always a possibility. At the very least, it’s possible that fans haven’t seen the last of Debra, but for now, viewers will just have to wait and see. The latest episode of Matlock is streaming now on Paramount+. New episodes air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. The first three seasons of Yellowjackets are also streaming on Paramount+.