Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) survived Sienna’s (Tamara Braun) brutal head strike… but his memory didn’t. The dangerous man who terrorized the Newmans is now a blank slate — wandering confused in a Las Vegas diner with nothing but a Genoa City Athletic Club keycard in his pocket.
When the waitress tells him it’s thousands of miles away, a disoriented Matt mutters the chilling words: “I gotta figure out what the hell happened to me… and who the hell I am.”
While it would be in character for Matt to fake amnesia to avoid jail time while furthering his diabolical plans to destroy the Newmans, the episode made it clear that his condition is real. Matt was shown at a diner in Las Vegas, not far from where he struggled with Sienna and she delivered the blow that she believed was fatal. He found a keycard in his pocket for the Genoa City Athletic Club and asked the waitress if she knew where it was. When she informed him that it was thousands of miles away from their current location, Matt muttered to himself, “I gotta figure out what the hell happened to me… and who the hell I am.”
Matt’s memory being wiped out opens up a whole new can of worms as he makes his way back to Genoa City in search of answers — and also allows the show to keep his Daytime Emmy-winning portrayer, Roger Howarth, on the canvas for more than just a short-term reign of terror.
The character’s amnesia is the twist that Howarth teased to Soap Opera Digest back at the end of March when he revealed, “There’s a shift coming up in the story,” one he described as “a lot of fun.”
Matt’s memory loss creates the possibility of Y&R attempting a total reset for the character — and his mental blank slate could pave the way for a redemption arc. Devoid of any knowledge of his litany of despicable crimes or the hatred for the Newmans that propelled him, a kinder, gentler Matt might emerge, one that could remain even if he eventually regained his memories. After all, Matt sprouting a conscience would add new emotional resonance to the character ultimately facing the music for his many misdeeds.
At this point, only one thing is for sure: Matt will have an uphill battle with the people he’s hurt, like Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Sharon (Sharon Case). Given everything that the psycho has done, could his victims ever feel anything but anger towards him, even if he doesn’t remember the havoc he wreaked on them?
Matt might have better luck with characters who aren’t as intimately familiar with his evil deeds. In the same interview teasing the storyline twist, Howarth also shared that “they’ve given me some new people to bounce off of,” which suggests that Matt may well find himself interacting with characters outside his usual orbit.
What do you think about Matt becoming the latest soap amnesiac, and who do you predict will find themselves drawn into the character’s storyline universe? Share your theories in the comments below!
