Matthew "Matt" Anderson was the third team leader for the Anomaly Research Centre; following its revival and Danny Quinn's disappearance. Though loyal to the ARC, he was also an agent; secretly sent from the future to stop an apocalypse with the Anomalies from destroying all life on Earth.
Biography
Background
Matt originally lived in a post-apocalyptic future era where the Earth was ravaged and dying in the aftermath of a cataclysm with the Anomalies in the present (the nature, events and circumstances of which were largely unknown to the future humans). In Matt's world, the surface of the Earth was a sterile, inhospitable wasteland, and he and the remaining humans were nomads, constantly moving between underground shelters and regularly fighting for their lives against toxic winds and Mutated Future Predators. (Episode 4.7, Episode 5.1, Episode 5.6) Among the other creatures in Matt's time period were Giant Burrowing Insects and Future Beetles, and he possessed very detailed knowledge of their anatomy and behaviour patterns and how to neutralise them. (Episode 5.1, Episode 5.4)
Matt and his father Gideon were among the agents of the future who spent their entire lives preparing (Episode 4.3, 4.6) before being sent back in time to approximately 2001 (Webisode 2) to discover how the Anomaly catastrophe which sterilised the Earth happened, and to try and stop the disaster. Matt reminisced that due to the dead, hostile environment which he'd grown up in and known all his life up until then, upon travelling to the present, he "thought it was the Garden of Eden." (Episode 5.6) Matt and Gideon subsequently spent the next ten years (Webisode 2) creating a fake identity for Matt, so that he could infiltrate the Anomaly Research Centre and find out how it would cause the future disaster with the Anomalies. (Episode 4.3, 4.6, 4.7, Series 5) At some point during this time, Matt joined the Royal Marines, but noted he would have preferred to enrol in the Navy. (Episode 5.2)
Webisode 1
When the ARC was revived in 2010 - 2011, Matt applies for the ARC and was made the new team leader. He was interviewed and shown footage of the appearance of a Stegosaurus in the members bar at the House of Commons; he identified it and didn't show much surprise at it.
Webisode 2
Matt phoned Gideon to inform him of his infiltration of the ARC, and Gideon warned him that their mission could not fail.
Webisode 3
Matt watched a Prospero Industries commercial and asked Jess Parker about Philip Burton. Hilary Becker also welcomed Matt into the ARC team and showed him around the ARC. Matt later phoned Gideon to tell him of the former's progress on discovering which member of the ARC it would be that would cause the Future catastrophe.
Webisode 4
Matt and Becker argued over Matt's decision to use non-lethal weapons against the creature incursions, with Becker insisting that use of non-lethal force was what got people hurt. However, Matt got Becker to give the new weapons a chance.
Matt also made a speech to the ARC staff; explaining that their safety was his top priority, that their jobs were dangerous, and that there would be a new policy in which all field members of the ARC had to be of military background. Matt also told the ARC that Danny Quinn, Connor Temple and Abby Maitland could still be alive, and that he would not give up on the missing three.
Webisode 5
Jess showed Matt and Becker the new communications systems for field members of the ARC, and while Becker was insistent that they were necessary, Matt questioned how important the new comms were.
After the ARC team dealt with an Iguanodon incursion at a Beauty School, Matt contacted Gideon; informing him of the fun he had with the team, and of how brilliant he found them. Gideon was worried that Matt would become too attached to the team and stray from the mission, but Matt assured his father that he wouldn't take any chances, and that their mission would succeed.
Matt shooting Becker after being dared to. (Episode 4.1)
Episode 4.1
- Becker: "You're not really a funny man, Matt."
- Matt: "Depends on your point of view."
- ―Matt's expresses his humour
When Jess accidentally released the ARC's captive Dracorex from the Menagerie, Matt drew its attention with a bucket of water and lured it into Lester's office. Matt then covered for Jess' mistake. When the ARC team's new weapons, the EMDs, arrived, Becker was reluctant to use them and doubted their efficiency. After Becker insisted that Matt test the EMDs on him, Matt used an EMD on Becker. Becker then decided to use the EMDs, and Matt assured Becker he trusted him. When Philip Burton arrived, he told Matt that he knew he'd covered up for Jess, and implied that Matt would be fired if he messed up again.
Matt meets Connor Temple for the first time. (Episode 4.1)
When an Anomaly was detected, Matt, Becker and the Special Forces arrived at the scene to find Connor Temple and Abby Maitland had returned through the Anomaly. After an Anomaly Locking Mechanism was used to lock the Anomaly, Connor accidentally unlocked the Anomaly when he tried to close it with a damaged Anomaly Opening Device to show off to Matt. A Spinosaurus then came through the Anomaly, and rampaged through London. Matt and Becker first tried to use a dumpster truck and Becker's car to trap the creature, but this failed.
The ARC team were able to corner the Spinosaurus in an arena, where Matt saved Connor from being eaten by the creature by lifting him up to the arena ceiling with a harness. After the Spinosaurus incursion was dealt with when Connor's Anomaly Opening Device opened an Anomaly inside the Spinosaurus, Matt visited Gideon and informed him of Connor and Abby's return.
Episode 4.2
Matt debriefs Abby. (Episode 4.2)
After Connor and Abby were fired from their original ARC positions as field members due to the new ARC policy, Matt convinced Philip to give Abby a job caring for the creatures in the Menagerie. Matt later followed Abby to a dock area, where she, Connor and Duncan were attacked by a Kaprosuchus. Matt helped the team search for the Kaprosuchus on land, while Abby searched the dock waters. Matt was cornered aboard a cargo ship by the Kaprosuchus, but Becker arrived and saved him by knocking the creature out with an EMD.
When the Kaprosuchus recovered and escaped into a maze of cargo containers, Matt coordinated a plan to drive the creature out with flares. Ultimately, the Kaprosuchus tried to ambush Becker, but Matt, Connor and Abby shot and killed it with their EMDs. Afterwards, Matt won Connor's original position on the team back for him.
Matt searching for Emily in the Cretaceous. (Episode 4.3)
Episode 4.3
- « "You remind me of myself when I was that age. Stubborn, headstrong, not quite so good looking." »
- — Gideon and Matt share more than a few things in common.
When an Anomaly opened in a theatre, Matt and the team (except for Connor) travelled to the theatre, where Matt met Emily Merchant. Emily escaped through the Anomaly into the Cretaceous, and Matt followed her through. Emily initially knocked Matt out, but when Matt recovered, a Tree Creeper ambushed and injured Emily. Matt returned with Emily to the Anomaly, but found the ARC had already locked it.
A Tree Creeper stalked Matt and Emily, but Matt fended it off with Emily's knife until the Anomaly was unlocked. Matt then returned through to the Present with Emily, and had her sent to hospital. Emily escaped from hospital, and Matt, upon discovering that her immune system was protected against smallpox, theorised to Becker and Abby that Emily wasn't from the Present. When the team discovered that two Tree Creepers were loose in the Present, Emily agreed to help Matt stop them on the condition that he let her return through the Anomaly afterwards.
Matt talks with Emily at hospital. (Episode 4.3)
Matt and Abby searched from the Tree Creeper that wasn't still in the theatre, and cornered and captured it on a rooftop. Matt was almost killed by the Tree Creeper, until Emily saved his life and the creature was killed. In the aftermath of the incursion, Matt realised that he couldn't take Emily back to the ARC, and so he enlisted a reluctant Abby's help and promised to help Emily return once the next Anomaly opened. Matt also decided to let Emily stay at his flat in the meantime, and Emily warned him that Ethan Dobrowski, her former companion, was extremely dangerous.
Episode 4.4
One morning, Emily tried to sneak out of Matt's flat but failed. A new Anomaly then opened and Matt went to deal with the new incursion with the rest of the team (though not before asking Emily to draw Ethan so that Matt would know what he looked like). Arriving at McKinnon School, Matt discovered that there was a creature incursion when he discovered a dead schoolteacher who had been poisoned by a venomous bite. The school's door security locks then activated, cutting Matt and Becker off from Connor.
When Jess warned Matt and Becker that three kids in the school were being stalked by a Therocephalian, Matt and Becker tried to reach and save them; but they couldn't find the two boys, and were too late to stop the Therocephalian killing the girl in the gym.
Matt and Becker find Beth’s body. (Episode 4.4)
Matt confronted the Therocephalian in the equipment room, and beat it before Becker dispatched it with an EMD. When Jess then warned the team of more Therocephalians coming through the Anomaly, Becker went to lock it while Matt and Connor searched for the remaining two kids.
Matt managed to save the boys and Connor from a Therocephalian, and then went to help Becker. Matt found Becker fending off several Therocephalians in the canteen, and Becker himself injured and infected by the creatures' venom. Matt quickly used salt to halt the venom's effects, and he and Becker then tried to take the Therocephalians out, until Connor and the boys arrived and took the creatures out with chlorine gas bombs.
When Matt returned to his flat after the incursion, he found Emily missing but her drawing of Ethan left behind.
Episode 4.5
- « "Harden your heart. Do your job. Nothing else matters." »
- — Matt refuses to let anything get in the way of his mission.
Matt and Abby went to Lester about Emily's disappearance, and Lester was unhappy with Matt for keeping Emily a secret. A new, fluctuating Anomaly signal was then picked up at Witchfield Cove, and Matt and the team went to the village of Witchfield Cove near the Anomaly site.
Matt confronts Ethan about Emily's location. (Episode 4.5)
At the village, Matt found Human body parts in a river, and then saved a nearby fisherman from an attacking Labyrinthodont. Matt then decided to try and find Emily while Connor and Abby dealt with the creature incursion. When Matt discovered from Lester that a Black Box belonging to him was active, he realised it was Emily and followed the black box's signal to Tower Hill Cemetery. There, Matt spotted Ethan fleeing and briefly fought with him before Ethan escaped.
Matt then followed the black box's signal down into a mausoleum, where he found Emily alive in a coffin and freed her. After the incursion was dealt with, Matt went to see Gideon and, believing that Ethan would be involved with the catastrophe with the Anomalies, focused on finding him and completing his mission.
Episode 4.6
- « "It's all up to you now." »
- — Gideon passes responsibility onto Matt
Matt visited an ill and dying Gideon, and reluctantly agreed to use Emily as bait to find Ethan. At the ARC, Matt and Emily talked with Lester over the situation with Ethan. Lester suggested that Emily return home, but Matt insisted that she stay.
Matt talks with Gideon and suspects that Ethan is the one they've been looking for. (Episode 4.5)
When a new Anomaly was detected, Matt took Emily with him to the Anomaly site at a Stately Home. When the ARC team then met Jenny Lewis at the site, Matt tried to introduce himself, but Jenny was too distracted and worried with how the Anomaly incursion could ruin her wedding the following day. Jenny decided to let the ARC team stay for the night, and Matt kept Emily from revealing the Anomalies to Jenny's fiance when Emily walked in on them. Matt wanted Emily to stay with him, but she decided to stay with Abby and Jenny. That night, Matt and Emily went for a walk together, and Matt admitted that he had known of the Anomalies long before he joined the ARC.
At the wedding the next day, Matt noticed Emily's ring and realised from it that she was married, but Emily refused to speak about it. When a pack of Hyaenodons attacked the wedding guests, Matt helped fend them off with the mansion's medieval armour. After the incursion was dealt with, Emily told Matt that her marriage meant nothing, and Matt decided to take her to Gideon.
At Gideon's home, Matt convinced Gideon that he did not care about Emily, and was only using her to capture Ethan. Gideon tried to tell Matt something, but died before he could. Matt wept over his father's death and admitted to Emily that Gideon was his father.
Eye Strain
Matt, along with Abby and Connor, coaxed a pterosaur back through an Anomaly on London's south bank.
Episode 4.7
Matt visited Emily at the ARC, bringing her a plant and offering for her to stay in the Present if she wished once Ethan was captured. He also convinced Lester to give him more time to go through the evidence on Ethan. When a new Anomaly was detected at a prison and the ARC team went to deal with it, Matt was wary when Connor's new Anomaly Dating Calculator calculated that the Anomaly linked to Emily's time. While going through evidence on Ethan, Matt discovered that he could track Anomalies with a self-powered radio, and so he headed to the prison in case Ethan showed up; leaving Emily behind at the ARC so that he didn't get distracted by concern for her.
When Matt arrived, he discovered that the Anomaly wouldn't lock and was producing satellite Anomalies, and so he suspected that Ethan was manipulating the Anomaly. After a brief encounter with a Terror Bird, Matt shot Danny Quinn when he came through the Anomaly (mistaking Danny for a creature), and apologised once Danny recovered. When Connor gave away Ethan's location by interfering with the Anomaly, Matt pursued and eventually cornered Ethan while the rest of the team dealt with the Terror Bird. Matt demanded to know what Ethan had done to the Anomaly, and Ethan claimed he wasn't responsible. Before Matt could further interrogate him, the Terror Bird distracted him and allowed Ethan to escape.
Matt interrogates Patrick.
After Danny discovered that Ethan was actually his missing brother Patrick, Matt took Patrick into custody and took him back to the ARC. There, Matt questioned Patrick about his supposed plans with the Anomalies, but discovered to his frustration and disappointment that Patrick wasn't the one behind the Future catastrophe.
Matt became angry with himself for focusing on the wrong suspect, and took some of his frustration out on Emily. When Patrick escaped the ARC and returned to the prison with a hostage Emily, Matt and Danny returned to the prison but found he had already escaped through one of the two Anomalies to the Pliocene. Before returning to the Pliocene after Patrick, Danny warned Matt that Philip Burton knew Helen Cutter, and Philip was not to be trusted.
The second Anomaly, which led to 1867, was unlocked and Emily decided to return through to her time. Emily confronted Matt, having worked out he was from the Future, and Matt told her about how ravaged and sterile the Earth was in his time period. He encouraged Emily to return to her time, and watched as she returned through the Anomaly to 1867. Matt then returned to the ARC.
Episode 5.1
Matt tells Emily about the Future he came from. (Episode 4.7)
After the prison Anomaly incursion, Philip approached Matt on the Patrick Quinn situation. Philip asked Matt about Danny's behaviour before the latter left after Patrick, but Matt pretended to know nothing about Philip's alliance with Helen. Matt later noticed Connor leave the ARC with Philip, and so infiltrated Connor's lab to find out what Philip's New Dawn project was, and if it was indeed the cause of the Future disaster.
Matt tried to hack Connor's computer, when Abby caught him in the act. Abby threatened to tell Connor unless Matt explained himself, and the two then went with Becker to the site of a creature incursion. When Matt discovered that the creature was a Giant Burrowing Insect, he decided that deadly firepower would be needed against the creature, and had Connor create a 3D map of the Burrowing Insect's underground tunnel network to find its nest with.
After the Burrowing Insect attacked a backyard barbeque, the team went there and Matt used vibrations from a lawnmower to lure it back to the surface. Due to Connor's untimely arrival, the creature managed to drag him underground. When Matt saw that Connor had located the Burrowing Insect's nest at a Shopping Centre, the team went there to rescue him. Connor communicated with the team, and explained that the creature that abducted him was dead, but there was an entire colony of more Burrowing Insects in the shopping centre.
Matt tells Abby about his mission and his true identity. (Episode 5.1)
The team made a plan to blow the Burrowing Insects up by igniting gas Connor released into the building, but Connor fell unconscious from the gas. Matt then went into the shopping centre to rescue Connor, and the two fled into the building's basement from the waking creatures. Matt ordered Becker to detonate the explosives, and he and Connor sheltered from the explosion in a dumpster. Abby thanked Matt for saving Connor, then later back at the ARC confronted Matt about how he knew so much about the Burrowing Insects.
Matt then explained his mission and his true identity to her, and showed her images and videos of what would happen in the near Future if he failed in his mission. He then asked Abby for her help and recruited her in his mission against New Dawn.
Episode 5.2
Abby wanted to talk to Connor about what Matt had told her, but Matt felt that she was letting her emotions cloud her judgment. Abby accused Matt of also allowing this to happen with Emily, then apologised for what she had just said. Abby also tried to tell Matt what happened to Emily after she returned to 1867, but Matt claimed to not want to know, as an Anomaly alert went off.
As the new Anomaly was located in the North Sea, the team decided to travel to it in a Navy submarine. While on board Matt reveals to Captain Marcus Yates and the viewers that his military service was in the Royal Marines and he had served some time underwater when perfectly naming the submarine type. Aboard the submarine, while Matt and Connor were working on a torpedo containing an Anomaly Locking Mechanism with which to lock the Anomaly, Matt tried to convince Connor that the latter could talk to Abby about his work. When the submarine lost its power after it was damaged, it was dragged through the Anomaly into a sea in the Jurassic.
Matt learns of Emily's fate. (Episode 5.2)
Matt and Abby went out into the sea inside a Bathyscaphe to free the submarine's propellers, and to their shock they noticed a pod of three Pliosaurs in the sea around them. The Pliosaurs' presence forced Matt and Abby to work quietly to avoid being noticed by the creatures, but they were able to free the submarine propellers and then returned aboard. Matt, Connor and Abby split up to deal with a Swimming Theropod that was loose aboard the sub, and after they captured it, Matt ejected it into the waters to distract the Pliosaurs while the submarine returned through the Anomaly.
After the Anomaly was locked and the submarine avoided a nuclear torpedo aimed at the Anomaly, once the submarine returned to land Matt reassured Abby about Connor's affiliation with Philip. Later, back at the ARC, Abby confronted Matt about the latter's partial desire to find out what happened to Emily after she returned to her time, and gave him a printout of an old newspaper. Matt reluctantly decided to look at the newspaper, and learned to his sadness and upset that Henry Merchant had had Emily committed to Bedlam Asylum for the rest of her life.
Episode 5.3
Matt attempted to convince Abby to break into Connor's lab. At an art gallery where an Anomaly was detected, Matt and the others found a Raptor and forced it through the Anomaly. However, they then discovered the Anomaly lead to 1868, and Matt decided to travel through and bring the Raptor back to the Present. Before he left, Matt once again tried to appeal to Abby about breaking into Connor's lab.
Matt threatens Henry and warns Emily of her fate. (Episode 5.3)
After arriving in 1868, Matt began searching for the Raptor nearby and located its nest. He then prepared to bring it down with his EMD, only for Emily to arrive and unintentionally allow the Raptor to escape. When Matt saw Emily's outfit resembled what Spring-Heeled Jack wore in the newspaper articles, he feared she would be hung, and asked her to return with him to the Present, but she refused. Matt tried to warn Emily of what Lord Merchant would do to her, but she didn't want to listen. When Henry Merchant arrived and tried to take Emily away, Matt threatened Henry with his EMD and let slip that Henry was going to have Emily institutionalised for the rest of her life. Henry's associate then knocked Matt down.
Matt pursued Henry's carriage until the Raptor attacked it and inadvertently freed Emily by crashing it. Matt and Emily followed the Raptor back to its nest, pursued by an angry mob who had mistaken Emily for Spring-Heeled Jack. At the nest, Matt distracted the Raptor with a bullwhip while Emily knocked it out with Matt's discarded EMD. While Matt and Emily were dragging the unconscious Raptor back to the Present through the Anomaly, Matt again begged Emily to return with him; telling her that she didn't belong in 1867 anymore, and that he regretted letting her return to her time in the first place. But Emily insisted on staying and Matt went back through the Anomaly.
Matt is held at gunpoint by Henry. (Episode 5.3)
Moments later, Emily fled through the Anomaly from Henry, and Henry followed her through and took Matt hostage; holding him at gunpoint. However, the Raptor recovered and killed Henry. Afterwards, back at the ARC, Abby gave a grateful Matt a copy of Connor's hard drive.
Episode 5.4
After getting into the copied hard drive, Matt, Abby and Emily discovered that it comprised on Anomaly readings. When the Anomaly Detection Device then detected an Anomaly signal in Connor's lab, Matt and the others rushed there to find that Connor had created a man-made Anomaly there. Matt ordered Connor to lock the Anomaly, but Philip set this order aside and ordered Matt and the team away; which Matt pretended to be alright with.
When the security camera in Connor's lab detected a strange insect coming through the Anomaly, a horrified Matt recognised it as a Future Beetle and rushed with the others to there. The team found thousands of more Future Beetles swarming through the Anomaly and burrowing into the ARC's ventilation system. Matt was furious with Connor and his excuses, and went to lock the Anomaly himself; blasting Connor's laptop with his EMD afterwards to ensure Connor couldn't re-create his data.
Matt sees what Connor has done. (Episode 5.4)
Matt formed a plan to trap the beetle queen and kill the other Beetles with pesticide, but it failed when Becker killed the Queen, causing the other Beetles to scatter throughout the ARC. Connor then came up with a new plan to recalibrate his Anomaly to releasing a gamma ray into the ARC to kill the Beetles. Though unhappy with the plan, Matt decided to help. When Connor found Matt had destroyed his computer, the latter and Abby were forced to admit to Connor that they copied his hard drive, and they used the copy to unlock and recalibrate the Anomaly.
Matt and the rest of the ARC team waited safely inside the ARC's protected panic room while the Anomaly's gamma ray killed all the Future Beetles in the ARC. Later, after the incursion, Connor warned Matt and Abby that Philip already had a much larger version of the device Connor used to create his man-made Anomaly.
Episode 5.5
Matt shoots at the Tyrannosaurus. (Episode 5.5)
Matt told the rest of the ARC team about his mission to stop New Dawn and Philip. He told everyone his plan to sabotage the machine as an Anomaly alert went off, so he decided to go off on his own to New Dawn. However, traffic forced him to go to the Anomaly site, where he tried to convince a panicked Jenna to abandon the body of her dead friend as a Tyrannosaurus attacked. Matt managed to bring the T. Rex down after knocking it down with the car and then using several blasts from his EMD, before Jess informed the team that dozens of Anomalies were opening up all around the world. Matt explained that this was Convergence, and realised that New Dawn would cause the Future catastrophe by stopping Convergence for the first time in history.
Matt and Emily travelled to the New Dawn facility, where a swarm of Anurognathus attacked them and forced them to shelter inside the building. April Leonard and two Prospero guards then captured Matt and Emily and unintentionally allowed the Anurognathus swarm into the facility; allowing Matt and Emily to escape. Matt travelled to the facility's control room and confronted Philip, admitting that he would kill Philip if it was necessary. Two Prospero guards managed to restrain Matt, and the latter pleaded with Philip not to activate New Dawn and tried to warn Philip of the Future that Philip would create if he brought New Dawn online. However, Philip did not listen and a distraught Matt was forced to watch as Philip's machine created the New Dawn Anomaly.
Episode 5.6
Matt watches in horror as New Dawn comes online.
Matt attempted to persuade Philip to let him go through the Anomaly to go rescue Connor (who had fallen through), but Philip told him that it would be the latter's fault if Connor was dead. Philip ordered Matt to be removed, and Matt knocked the guards escorting him out unconscious. Matt then met up with Abby and Emily by the Anomaly and ordered them to stay in the Present while he went through the Anomaly after Connor. Matt then went through the New Dawn Anomaly, and to his horror found himself in his home time period in the Future created by New Dawn.
Matt found and rescued an injured Connor, and the two were attacked by Mutated Future Predators until Abby arrived through the Anomaly and fended the Predators off with an EMD. When a toxic storm then hit, Matt, Connor and Abby took shelter in a nearby bunker. After Matt and Abby used the bunker's water supplies to rehydrate Connor, Matt explained to Abby the nomadic and horrible lives that the remaining Humans in the Future lived because of what New Dawn did to the Earth.
After Connor recovered and the poisonous winds died down, the trio returned to the surface and made a run for the Anomaly, pursued by several Future Predators which they kept at bay with their EMDs. Matt, Connor and Abby escaped back through the New Dawn Anomaly to the Present, to find that the Anomaly was quickly expanding and already beginning to alter Earth's weather patterns.
Matt returns to his hostile home in the future. (Episode 5.6)
Outside the facility, Matt, Connor and Abby found Philip, whom had realised Helen had tricked him, and Connor convinced him to help them stop New Dawn. Matt and Philip returned to the facility's control room, where Philip decided to stay behind to self-destruct the New Dawn facility while Matt and the team left. Matt accepted Philip's apology for what he had done, and then fled the facility with Connor, Abby and Emily. Though the facility successfully self-destructed, the Anomaly had grown powerful enough to self-sustain now.
Becker then arrived and the team received a message from Jess that Mutated Future Predators were attacking the ARC. Matt quickly realised that it was because Connor's man-made Anomaly had reopened, and Matt and Connor theorised that merging the two man-made Anomalies could close them and stop New Dawn. Matt and the team then returned to the ARC; and after Matt and Becker placed an injured Lester in a protected room from the Future Predators, Connor and Matt contained Connor's Anomaly in a Magnetic Case so as to be able to move it.
Matt and the team then returned to the New Dawn Anomaly with Connor's Anomaly. Emily feared that Matt could disappear from time if they did indeed change the Future, but Matt comforted her and then drove Becker's SUV into the New Dawn Anomaly with Connor's Anomaly in tow; merging and de-stabilising the two Anomalies, and causing the New Dawn Anomaly to close.
Matt kisses Emily goodbye. (Episode 5.6)
Shortly after, Matt emerged from the dust and rejoiced with the rest of the team. They then returned to the ARC, where Matt initially suspected that New Dawn's effects had closed the Anomalies forever, until the team received a report of an Anomaly incursion at King's Cross Station. As the team began to leave to deal with the incursion, Matt went back for his phone. While Matt was alone, a mysterious double of him appeared and told him he "had to go back." Emily then arrived and the second Matt vanished. Matt assured Emily that he was alright, but was visibly distressed at his double's appearance and message.
Personality
Matt was a confident and brave risk taker, who would willingly put himself in danger but never others, and was reckless but not irresponsible. Matt was also indifferent towards authority, and would not hesitate to break and question rules and authority to help and save others, and he strongly cared about others and his job in the Anomaly Research Centre.
Matt was known for often hiding his feelings and emotions well beneath a calm, expressionless face, and was initially largely detached from relationships due to his mission to save the future, although he gradually opened up more to the team over time, becoming more quippy and funny. Due to his ability to keep his emotions in check and keep himself under control, Matt was able to keep a cool and rational head in the face of extremely dangerous and intimidating creatures, and to calculate how to best contain the situation with minimal damage. It took something extremely serious and personal for Matt to break his composure, but when that did happen, he was capable of incredibly fierce emotion.
Matt had an appreciation for nature and beauty, particularly in the form of plants, vegetation and the creatures. Due to the sterile and dying state of the future world he'd grown up in, Matt understood the value of Earth's natural life and beauty in the present better than practically anyone, and was deeply determined to do everything in his power to ensure that the present world didn't suffer the fate of the one he had come from.
Relationships
Abby Maitland
After first meeting Abby following her return from the Cretaceous, Matt was kind, sympathetic and warm towards her, in part due to their shared appreciation for nature and the creatures. However, Matt still held his secrecy towards Abby as he did towards everyone else. After Abby caught Matt hacking Connor's work and became suspicious, Matt asked her to trust him, and ultimately decided to bring her in on his secret mission to save the future. Abby tried, successfully, to get Matt to stop repressing his feelings for Emily and to deal with them in a more healthy way.
Connor Temple
Connor was one of Matt's fellow team members whom he worked alongside in the field and was responsible for, and also one of Matt's suspects in his investigation into who within the ARC would cause the future apocalypse. Matt noted in regards to his suspicions that Connor had the intelligence to be responsible for creating the catastrophe, and his suspicions were raised by the secrecy of Connor's "important" work with New Dawn. Matt and Abby were forced to hack and copy Connor's information behind his back when he wouldn't listen, although after he learned the truth about Philip, Helen and New Dawn, Connor became a close and trusted team member again. Matt cared about Connor as part of the team and wouldn't let anything happen to him under his watch.
Emily Merchant
When Matt and Emily first met after Emily had come through to the present, Matt was interested to learn who Emily was, and was against locking her up when the team pieced together that she wasn't from the present. After taking Emily in, Matt tried to build trust with her despite her attempts to sneak away, and he was very protective of her life against Patrick. Over time, Matt developed feelings for Emily and was able to slowly open up to her on who he really was, and they eventually fell in love. However, Matt still put his mission before his feelings for Emily, and so told her to go back to her home time when the chance came. Afterwards, Matt initially insisted to himself that Emily was home again and that was what mattered, but he came to regret telling her to go back to her time when he learned of her fate to be incarcerated for life by her husband. When Matt reunited with Emily in her time, he fought to save her from her fate and to get her to come back to the present to stay with him and the ARC, successfully. By the time when Matt was about to complete his mission, he reassured a tearful Emily when he was about to commit self-sacrifice and the two kissed, showing that they had accepted and embraced their feelings for each-other.
Gideon
Matt and Gideon had a mentor-student relationship in their mission to save the future. They generally had very strict, monotone and professional interactions, with Gideon telling Matt to harden his feelings and ensure they completed their mission even if it meant Matt being manipulative and ruthless. However, despite Gideon's refusal to allow himself or Matt to have anything but cold, calculating precision in their mission, Matt still loved his father very much, losing his expressionless exterior and breaking down when Gideon died.
Hilary Becker
Matt and Becker's relationship after Matt had joined the ARC was initially turbulent, due to Matt's policy for non-lethal force and his reckless side conflicting with Becker's fears that non-strict protocol or keeping the creatures alive put people's lives at risk, although Matt wanted their relationship to lighten up, trying to assure Becker that he wasn't irresponsible and wouldn't let anything happen to anyone else; after Connor and Abby's return from the Cretaceous, Becker and Matt's relationship gradually stabilized and put them on more friendly terms. Matt and Becker could also be brotherly and childish with each-other, making jokes and quips at each-other's humour or expense.
James Lester
Matt and Lester didn't interact much, although Lester berated Matt for his secrecy and lack of peer bonding with the team after a year at the ARC when it led to Patrick managing to kidnap Emily. When Matt's true identity and his mission was revealed, Lester was initially skeptical but accepted it as the truth. During and following the ARC's effort to stop New Dawn from dooming the world, Lester showed that he actually had a great respect for and faith in Matt, being confident and faithful that Matt would do whatever he had to and stop New Dawn.
Patrick Quinn
Matt regarded Patrick as an enemy and a threat, intending to protect Emily from his murderous rampage in the present, and aiming to stop Patrick at all costs after mistaking Patrick's rants about his secret knowledge about the Anomalies as hints that he would be involved with the future Anomaly apocalypse. When Matt finally brought Patrick in and pressed him about what he'd said, Matt was infuriated to discover that he'd been going after the wrong person the entire time with Patrick.
Philip Burton
Philip had a strong cold dislike for and suspicion of Matt and about what he could be hiding or up to, while Matt seemed to be cool-headed, professional and detached towards him, knowing not to do anything that could unnecessarily put him and Philip in conflict. Philip was also among Matt's suspects in his investigation to find who would cause the future apocalypse, noting that Philip had the right ambitious drive. When the team learned that Philip was indeed the prime suspect, Matt was very fierce about stopping Philip from unintentionally destroying the world by activating New Dawn, declaring that he'd go as far as killing Philip if he had to, and desperately pleading with Philip to listen to him. However, when Philip lost control of New Dawn and realised what he'd done, he and Matt parted on good terms, with Philip giving Matt a respectful handshake before sacrificing himself.
Appearances
- Webisode 1 (first appearance)
- Webisode 2
- Webisode 3
- Webisode 4
- Webisode 5
- Episode 4.1 (first appearance on television)
- Episode 4.2
- Episode 4.3
- Episode 4.4
- Episode 4.5
- Episode 4.6
- Eye Strain
- Episode 4.7
- Episode 5.1
- Episode 5.2
- Episode 5.3
- Episode 5.4
- Episode 5.5
- Episode 5.6 (latest appearance)
Gallery
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Trivia
- Matt's backstory is mildly similar to that of Kyle Reese from The Terminator. Both are agents from a post-apocalyptic future, who are sent back in time to the present to save the future.
- As Matt negated the future he came from by stopping New Dawn, he is presumably a time paradox. Emily noted this when Matt was about to complete his mission to save the future.
- The three Anomaly Research Centre's team leaders all originated from three different countries of the British Isles; England, Ireland and Scotland. Matt either descended from someone Irish or grew up in Ireland in the 21st century.
Fan speculation
- Before Matt's true identity and backstory was revealed in Episode 4.7, it was speculated by some fans that Matt was actually Danny Quinn's younger brother Patrick Quinn, one of the kids who disappeared in Episode 3.2. Sources have said that Matt "carefully guards the secrets of his past - and the real reason he has joined the ARC team". This could refer to Patrick disappearing through an Anomaly, then returning, taking a false name and joining the ARC to try and find Danny.
- Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines were asked about this in a fan interview, and they said that it was a good guess, and was close, but wasn't quite correct as revealed in Episode 4.7.
- Some fans believe that the second Matt in Episode 5.6 was Matt's twin brother or a clone, while most believed that he was Matt's future self in the new future.
Matt Anderson • Hilary Becker • Jess Parker • James Lester
Gideon • The Interviewer • Philip Burton
Matt Anderson • Connor Temple • Abby Maitland • James Lester • Hilary Becker • Jess Parker • Emily Merchant • Ethan Dobrowski • Philip Burton • Gideon
Matt Anderson • Connor Temple • Abby Maitland • Hilary Becker • Jess Parker • James Lester •
Philip Burton • Emily Merchant • April Leonard