In the September 10 episode of The Young and the Restless, Phyllis thought she had found the perfect way to prove to Sharon that Matt deserved another chance. But Sharon quietly exposed the flaw in Phyllis’s entire plan: Matt can change, apologize, and make amends without the people he hurt ever forgiving him.
Key Takeaways
- Phyllis and Matt plan to stage a rescue so Sharon will see Matt as a good man who deserves another chance.
- Sharon tells Phyllis that Matt can apologize, but the people he hurt don’t have to accept his apology.
- Phyllis ignores Sharon’s point and continues with a plan designed specifically to change her mind about Matt.
Sharon Gives Phyllis the Answer She Doesn’t Want
Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) has become convinced that Matt (Roger Howarth) needs the people of Genoa City to see the man she sees. That’s why she wants him to rescue her in front of Sharon (Sharon Case). If Sharon witnesses Matt doing something heroic, Phyllis believes she’ll finally accept that he’s a good man now.
Sharon doesn’t need a demonstration. When Phyllis argues that Matt wants to make amends, Sharon makes an important distinction: Matt is free to apologize, but the person receiving that apology doesn’t have to accept it. If Matt has truly changed, he also has to accept that answer.
Phyllis Is Trying to Change Sharon Instead of Matt
That’s the part Phyllis doesn’t seem to understand. Matt’s redemption can’t depend upon Sharon changing how she feels about the man who caused her enormous pain. It has to depend upon what Matt chooses to do, regardless of whether Sharon ever sees him differently.
Yet Phyllis’s plan is built around changing Sharon. She’s rebuilding their friendship while secretly preparing to manipulate Sharon into witnessing a fake crisis and Matt’s equally fake heroics. Instead of respecting Sharon’s decision about Matt, Phyllis is trying to manufacture the circumstances that will make her reconsider it.
Matt Doesn’t Need Sharon’s Forgiveness to Change
The irony is that Matt may understand redemption better than Phyllis does. When Patty (Stacy Haiduk) offers him something much easier, complete acceptance of who he used to be without any expectation that he change, Matt rejects her. He insists that he can change and, more importantly, that he has to.
Matt doesn’t need Sharon to forgive him for that choice to matter. He doesn’t need Nick or anyone else in Genoa City to declare him redeemed, either. If his transformation is genuine, he has to keep making different choices even if nobody he hurt ever rewards him for them.
Phyllis wants to give Matt the second chance she believes he deserves, but she’s confusing redemption with forgiveness. Sharon has already told her those aren’t the same thing. If Phyllis really wants to help Matt change, she may eventually have to accept the possibility that Sharon never changes her mind about him.
