'Matlock' Meets 'Mr. Robot' in CBS' New Sci-Fi Procedural From the Creators of 'Evil' | Review

Published Oct 8, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT

Therese Lacson is a Senior TV Editor who has been with Collider since 2021. She got started in this business over ten years ago working primarily as an interviewer and critic. At Collider, she works closely with the features team to support the writers and also ideates and develops content daily. She has covered major industry events including Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Toronto International Film Festival, and San Diego Comic-Con. Although she reviews and covers both film and television, her focus is in television and her expertise is in fantasy and sci-fi genre shows. Her favorite shows to cover include House of the Dragon, Bridgerton, Fallout, 9-1-1, and Rivals. 

It's safe to say that AI is literally everywhere these days. Whether it's generative AI or just a new program using AI as its marketing term, it's inescapable. So it was only a matter of time that we'd get a TV series set in Silicon Valley about the oppressively powerful tech companies and their new obsession. Billed as a David vs. Goliath story (something the show will repeatedly remind you of in every episode), Cupertino follows two attorneys who are wrongfully terminated from a Silicon Valley tech company and start their own firm to take on the "Goliaths" of the industry. Formatted as a procedural and presented as a legal drama, the CBS series comes from the creative minds behind Evil and The Good Wife, and delivers an extra punch of drama and sci-fi alongside its case-of-the-week format.

'Cupertino' Puts Mike Colter at the Heart of Silicon Valley

Confidently leading the series is Mike Colter, who previously worked with showrunners Robert King and Michelle King in Evil. In Cupertino, Colter plays Michael Price, a powerful attorney who is ousted by his partner, Richard Everett (Will Brill), from their company, S-Talk, after Everett decides to take control of Michael's equity. Colter's warm performance helps make him feel like the everyman of the series without blunting his edge or skill as a lawyer. S-Talk also fires Rachel Keller's Olivia Siffre, a young attorney who becomes a victim of Everett's sexual harassment. Keller's youthful performance presents her as an ingénue, but never lets her fall too far into naïveté or cluelessness. Tossed out on their butts, Olivia and Michael quickly realize that despite the fact that they have been wronged by S-Talk, there aren't any real legal options for them if they want to go up against Everett for wrongful termination.

Because all of the law firms in the area cater to the tech giants, the two lawyers decide to start their own slapdash firm in order to get some justice for themselves. Sidestepping powerful legal teams and biased judges, Michael and Olivia make a name for themselves as the Davids in this David vs. Goliath story. Operating on a shoestring budget while facing off against multi-trillion-dollar opponents, the upstart firm slowly gains the attention of the industry as it systematically takes on corporations that are seemingly omniscient and all-powerful.

Helping them is the spunky and enterprising Christy Palladino (Ella Stiller), another former S-Talk employee who works as Michael and Olivia's resourceful assistant. The second episode also brings in Vik Malhotra (Nik Dodani), their de facto tech guy who starts as a client and ends up being a helpful ally to the team when they need someone to speak from an expert's point of view. Bringing in financing is Busy Philipps' Natalia Boutella, the ex-wife of a tech billionaire who has an axe to grind and money to spend. On the flip side of the battle is Renée Elise Goldberry's Nichole E. Ferebee, a high-powered attorney who often represents the Magnificent 7 (the group of the biggest and highest-growing tech companies in the U.S.) and often goes up against Price & Siffre in their cases.

It's a classic procedural TV show cast, but Philipps' Natalia is probably the biggest wildcard of the series, acting both as a quirky and eccentric figure while also sometimes being an attorney and partner for the firm. It's the aspect that makes the least sense in the show, but Philipps' natural charisma and charm make it easy to overlook, especially when she's playing off Colter. Meanwhile, Colter and Keller deliver the most punch as a dynamic duo that has their own baggage that they carry through the series. Olivia is the daughter of conservative Christian parents, turning her religious beliefs into one of her main character traits, and Michael is the estranged son of Bayard Diamond (Joe Morton), a powerful and infamous celebrity attorney resembling the likes of Johnnie Cochran and Alan Dershowitz.

'Cupertino' Leans Into Big Tech and Modern Legal Battles

Image via CBS

While the concept for the CBS series is, admittedly, a bit gimmicky, Cupertino has no problem digging into all of the headline stories we're seeing these days. This gives the show a veritable gold mine of topics as it takes on everything from murders being influenced by AI chatbots to tech companies entering into shady military contracts. While it might seem a bit out of the realm of realism that a two-attorney firm could take cases ranging from family law disputes to criminal cases, Cupertino doesn't shy away from the emerging legal battles that often make reality feel like we're living in a near-future sci-fi world.

Just within the first ten episodes sent out for review, the series looks at polymarket betting, pig slaughter schemes, and the Magnificent 7. If you're scratching your head and wondering if the CBS series is just making up fictional terms, then it might be worth tuning into Cupertino just to get a cursory update on these very real topics that are popping up all over the news. Like any procedural worth its salt, Cupertino helpfully hand-holds the audience through these tech terms and emerging corners of the industry while also laying out some of its most problematic issues whose scope might be too difficult for a layperson to fully grasp.

On one hand, it can make someone feel woefully out of the loop if they're watching the show and realizing just how precarious the world has become; on the other hand, the series exposes the very real problems plaguing the general public and government regulators in these nebulous times. There are times when Cupertino goes a bit too far into the world of actual sci-fi as it takes on AGI and anti-tech domestic terrorist groups, but merging the show into a Mr. Robot-esque world is beginning to feel far more like reality than fiction these days. While the Rami Malek series that started over a decade ago dives into conspiracy and psychological drama, Cupertino's procedural presentation of these topics no longer makes them seem so outlandish or rooted in the realm of fiction.

'Cupertino' Struggles To Balance Stereotype With Seriousness

You might think that with so many unique and somewhat terrifying cases that Cupertino would be quite a serious show. But if you're going into this expecting a Mr. Robot level of techno-thrills, then you're going to be disappointed. At the end of the day, the show is still a CBS procedural and is undoubtedly packaged that way. While it doesn't become as formulaic as shows like Law & Order or NCIS, it emulates CBS' other current procedural, Matlock, in the way that it combines a more expansive serialized season arc alongside its weekly cases. Legal battles that might take years to dispute are quickly solved by the end of the episode, often leading to a disappointing and somewhat bittersweet conclusion as many of the clients end up settling rather than actually defeating the said Goliaths of the story. It's a cynical and capitalist look at success when it comes to facing these companies, that the best the clients of Price & Siffre can hope for is some cash and a scapegoat to blame after signing an NDA.

This wouldn't be as much of a problem if the series itself didn't lean so hard into the more lighthearted nature of procedurals. Its excessive use of comedy and dabbling in the realm of light romance can sometimes feel a bit jarring considering the subject matter. From tech bros endlessly quoting Ayn Rand to every random person pitching their new start-up to Olivia and Michael, Cupertino leans into the stereotypes we are already familiar with and makes light of them. But when compared to cases of children murdering their parents or tech companies bribing government officials, it causes a bit of tonal dissonance in the show. Is Cupertino trying to be a casual procedural that anyone can watch on a Thursday night, or is it trying to be a more serialized story that is showing a bigger conspiracy at the core of everything? I don't know, and the show doesn't either. For my money, Cupertino's most interesting conceit is when it leans into the more serious and sci-fi elements of the show, and it has the makings of a great serialized series if it can shed some of its procedural framework as the season progresses.

New episodes of Cupertino air every Thursday on CBS.

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  Michael Price

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  Olivia Siffre

Cupertino is a 2026 drama that centers on a determined lawyer challenging a dominant tech conglomerate. Set in Silicon Valley, the show follows the intense legal battle and the attorney's pursuit of justice for the underdog, as she confronts the complexities of power and innovation.

Pros & Cons

• Mike Colter and Rachel Keller strongly lead a fun cast with charm and compelling performances,
• 'Cupertino's willingness to lean into cutting edge legal battles in the tech field makes the show feel relevant.

• Although the show delivers interesting sci-fi concepts, the genre blending is not seamless when compared to the more lighthearted procedural tone.