‘The Young and the Restless’ (Y&R) spoilers suggest that Y&R may be painting Roger Howarth into a corner as he’s playing the irredeemable Matt Clark.
The Young and the Restless Spoilers: Sharon Has Endured Enough Trauma
Apparently, Matt goes by the name Mitch Bacall these days and is married to Tamara Braun’s character, Sienna Bacall.
Y&R has this weird issue in which Josh Griffith can’t think of any other way to shake up the show than bringing in a villain to traumatize Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) in some way.
With all the trauma Sharon’s been through, after being kidnapped by Jordan Howard (Colleen Zenk), and then kidnapped once again by Martin Laurent (Christopher Cousins), Alan Laurent’s (Christopher Cousins) deranged twin brother.
Alan held her captive in an abandoned mental facility with her longtime nemesis, Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), and tortured them psychologically.
Now, Sharon’s rapist has returned to the soap in the form of the uber-talented and loveable Roger Howarth, who continues to play roles in which the villain he portrays is somehow redeemed.
However, this time, we’re not exactly sold on the idea that the show will redeem Matt if that’s the route they plan to go.
Y&R is clearly stuck in a never-ending loop of revisiting Griffith’s fascination with bringing baddies onto the canvas whenever he runs out of ideas.
In our opinion, the show should have created a fresh new character for Howarth. Mitch Bacall, the loveable but flawed Hollywood club owner married to Sienna, would have worked just fine.
However, Howarth did play Todd Manning on the now-defunct soap opera One Life to Live. He was able to redeem Todd, who started on the show as (yes), a rapist. He gave a tour de force performance and won fans over with his charisma and charm.
‘The Young and the Restless’ Spoilers: Despite Our Misgivings, Howarth Will Perform Brilliantly
Howarth also brilliantly played Franco Baldwin on General Hospital. He turned what could have been a one-dimensional villain into a complex and fascinating character, complete with a sense of humor and heart.
Yet Matt Clark has such a dark, tainted history on Y&R, and if the show plans to pick up where he left off, he’s going to be either challenging or impossible to root for, unless it plans to copy OLTL’s blueprint for redeeming a rapist.
Plus, we all know Y&R isn’t nearly as well-written or compelling as GH and OLTL. GH has won five consecutive Daytime Emmys to prove it.
Y&R fans will probably attack me for saying that, but in terms of writing alone, Y&R has had some huge issues recently.
The whole Aristotle Dumas/Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) mess is one example. Again, Flynn is an incredible actor, but not even he can overcome the sloppy writing in that story.
Matt not only previously raped Sharon, but he also framed Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) for attempted murder. He may have orchestrated a near-fatal car accident that almost killed Noah Newman (Lucas Adams).
Plus, Nick and Sharon are Y&R characters whom fans tend to root for. Fans are already wondering if Matt will be a short-term character.
That said, we don’t have a single doubt in our minds that Howarth will deliver his trademark exceptional performance. Howarth is already excited to work on Y&R. We feel like he deserves a better character.
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