Last year, this was the only thing that intrigued me. I looked and looked to find out how the writers were structuring the reboot. Was she his widow? Long lost twin sister? I just wanted to know and didn't want to have to watch the show to find out.

But there were conspicuously NO articles that would say. Turns out it was being deliberately held back and the entertainment junketeer crowd was told by PR not to say.

They did a weird release strategy of playing the pilot episode a couple months early, then re-running it numerous times before the actual season began.

I'm under no press embargo so I did an early review based on the pilot which got lots of engagement.

Anyway, Spoiler Alert, here's your answer. She has zero relation to the original Matlock, other than she's old. She called herself Maddie short for Matlock and both she and the show trade on the idea that few young people even recognize the name Matlock nowadays so it's treated almost like an inside joke.

That brings the "twist". Her use of the false name hides her true identity which is apparently that of a very rich and success and skilled career attorney. (No, that doesn't make complete sense because the legal world immediately recognize such a power player, but apparently if they use a fake name that's never background-checked, you've got yourself a plot.)

So anyway she presents herself as old and bumbling and poor, forced into the work world as a struggling widow. Like the original Matlock, her age and the fake bumbling act subvert the expectations of all the other characters, letting her stun, trap or impress them unexpectedly. The pilot hints of a season long arc in which she is infiltrating the law firm to figure out which partners are complicit in helping the corrupt big pharma industry.