David Del Rio will no longer be appearing on Matlock.
The 38-year-old actor’s final episode on the CBS series aired last week and the way his character Billy Martinez was written off has been revealed.
Warning: spoilers ahead if you’re not caught up!
Keep reading to find out more…
In the mid-season finale that aired Thursday (December 11), it was revealed that Billy took a personal day off from work work and he later learned that his girlfriend suffered a miscarriage.
“His exit will be explained in the course of the next two episodes, and it is really in line with the character and in line with what’s happening with the firm at large,” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman told Variety.
The series creator also shared that his character’s exit is still staying true to the show and the character.
“I’ll just say there were creative changes that we had to make, and we made them,” she said. “We’re ending up in a different place than what our plans were, but we really stopped and tried to think about how we can have an exit that makes sense in the world of our show and for the character.”
Filming on the show resumed earlier this month following David‘s firing over sexual assault allegations.
“We just sort of plugged in and kept moving forward,” Jennie said. “We’re just all happy to be back, and focused on the work. I think that’s the thing — we want the show to be great. We want it to be joyful for the audience to watch.”
If you missed it, find out when Matlock is set to return with new episodes on CBS.
