Young and the Restless hints about Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) and whether he’s about to be Phyllis Summers‘ (Michelle Stafford) next romantic mistake. We know Matt’s not going anywhere anytime soon. And that means there’s all kinds of possibilities ahead, including a sizzling fling with Phyllis. And I’m going to tell you why I know he’s not going anywhere.
We’re going to get into how and why Y&R may have a long-term strategy to keep Matt in Genoa City despite his long list of crimes and how Phyllis may play into all of this.
Matt Clark Remains Mentally Lost on Young and the Restless
So this week, Matt remains mentally lost with no idea who he is other than his name and the fact that Noah Newman and Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) hate him. Although Matt did get back sort of a shadowy memory of Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) punching him in the face, but he doesn’t know who that guy is either. But once Phyllis realized she was talking to the Matt Clark, the guy that the Newmans are desperate to locate, Phyllis knew she was sitting on huge leverage.
She stashed Matt this week in a room at the GCAC and she warned him, “Don’t go wandering off.” And then Phyllis and Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) went over to the Newman ranch and they dangled the offer of Matt in their faces. Phyllis demanded that Victor call off Christine Blair Romalotti (Lauralee Bell) and make sure she doesn’t prosecute her for stealing Newman using that fake AI generated evidence that Victor created.
Victor Wants Matt on Y&R
So, he is interested in getting his hands on Matt, especially since Nick is getting high again and running around plotting premeditated murder with the insane idea that he can get Detective Burrow (Matt Cohen) to side with him on it being self-defense when it’s clearly murder one. That’s what it is when you’re plotting ahead to kill somebody. And Victor agreed with Phyllis that she could trade Matt for dropping the charges against her. However, he also wants Newman Enterprises back.
I mean, it seems a foregone conclusion that Phyllis isn’t going to be able to keep the Newmans’ company. So, she might negotiate some sort of buyout. You know, Victor gets Matt and Newman and Phyllis gets the charges dropped and a couple of million dollars. You know, we’ll see how that negotiation goes. But from there, you would assume that Matt would be taking a dirt nap or would be sent off to prison. However, there’s some new information saying it’s not going to go that way.
Behind The Scenes Info Says Matt Is Sticking Around Young and the Restless
With May sweeps wrapping up next week on Wednesday, May 20th, you would expect to see Victor get Matt and then boom, it’s all over. But here’s the new information. All right, so last week on May 6, Michelle Stafford posted a video from Hair and Makeup at Y&R behind the scenes and it was showing her getting ready to film that day.
So, stuff taping on May 6 would air sometime in early to mid June because they film roughly about 4 weeks ahead. And that’s fine. We obviously expect Phyllis to be around then, of course. But then she flipped her camera and said, “Look who’s here with me.” Michelle said, “Here I am with the great Roger Howarth.”
And then she said, “There’s many, many things to come.” So that means Matt is around for at least 3 weeks to a month more, and possibly longer. And when Michelle posted the video, she added the caption, “Let the games begin.”
Young and the Restless: Michelle Stafford Drops Huge Hint
So, if you happen to also watch General Hospital, you might know she played a character over there, Nina Reeves, who was romantically involved with Roger Howarth’s character, Franco Baldwin. He was an artist and a serial killer who was later reformed. So, there’s already a proven chemistry test on a soap for these two actors. And with Matt sticking around and Phyllis stumbling into his storyline, it feels like there’s more to it. With Michelle Stafford saying there’s much more to come, that seems like a huge hint.
Victor Cannot Let Nick Kill Matt on Y&R
Victor just told Nick flat out he cannot kill Matt. But also this week, Nick is buying more opioid pills from a dealer in the park, which means he will be high and out of control. And I mean, we all know Nick’s already a violent hothead. Plus, he’s really mad that Adam Newman (Mark Grossman) told Victor he’s using again on Young and the Restless.
That led to a really sweet scene this week with Nick hugging Victor and saying he wants to get clean, but until he gets into actual rehab, all bets are off. I suspect that Phyllis hands Matt over to save herself from prison and then Nick is high and his self-defense murder plan goes awry. Victor and Adam and everybody else told him not to do it. Only Noah Newman (Lucas Adams) is in support of Nick’s plan. And frankly, Noah’s an idiot.
Young and the Restless: Matt Remains a Free Man
Also, Matt was released from Genoa City police custody before he took off for Vegas because he didn’t do anything that they could hold him on. And after that, Matt didn’t commit any more crimes in Genoa City. So, Detective Burrow has nothing to arrest Matt for that was done in their district. As to any crimes in Las Vegas, there’s not a lot of tangible proof. Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) and Noah went to the old gas station of their own accord, and nobody else saw Matt there.
So, it’s a he said she said against Matt who will claim innocence or simply can’t remember. Nobody saw him blow up the place. Sienna did, but she’s his aggrieved ex-wife who attacked him. And in fact, the only thing that they might be able to prove is that Sienna violently bashed Matt in the head. You know, she might have left some DNA on him or they could find the rock with his blood and her DNA where she attacked him. And bottom line, none of the Vegas stuff is going to help the Newmans get Matt arrested in Genoa City.
Matt Could Press Charges Against the Newmans
So, when Sharon says she wants the cops to handle it, the question is handle what? I don’t think they’d go get Matt. And at this point, he’s an innocent amnesiac with some unprovable accusations against him from across the country. And when Phyllis hands him over to Victor, I absolutely think things are going to go sideways.
If the Newmans do anything to Matt, if they hurt him in any way, like if Nick violently attacks him like he’s planning to do, it’s actually Matt who could press charges. So, there is room in the storyline for Roger Howarth to stick around even if the Newmans hate it. And yes, Matt would probably be annoyed at Phyllis for handing him over to Victor, but he’d get over it, especially if she wound up with a pile of cash.
Young and the Restless: Phyllis Needs a Man?
Now, we know Phyllis usually needs a man in her life, but no sensible guy in Genoa City would go near her, but Matt would. And I expect that he may get his memories back, but keep faking amnesia. Or maybe they don’t come back. But the bottom line, Y&R might be planning to keep Roger Howarth around. He is an amazing actor.
If you’ve never seen him before, he’s doing great on here and I have years of watching him on General Hospital. He’s fantastic. So, Matt could stick around and be an ongoing sore spot for the Newmans and Phyllis would love that. The larger problem is his history with Sharon because Matt raped her back in the day.
However, if he keeps pretending he’s got amnesia or if that amnesia is long-term, that’s a possible way around this. If you remember, he asked Phyllis, “If you can’t remember the crime, are you redeemable?”
They were talking about Crazy Patty Williams (Stacy Haiduk) at the time, but Matt was clearly thinking about the villain that Noah accused him of that Matt just can’t remember. So, yeah, there is a chance Phyllis’s new man could be Matt. Even worse, there could be a Phyllis, Matt, and Patty triangle. Talk about a three-way match from hell. Genoa City would never be the same.
