Flux

[Mark Arbour]

As far as what I was talking about? Not really. Edit: I'm not attempting to judge Brad for having that bias. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would as well, in his shoes. I was mostly trying to establish that he had such a bias, and that his innermost thoughts, although unvoiced, are acceptable fodder when discussing the existence of a bias. Does that make more sense?

 

Bluntly, that's less autonomy than I had, my siblings had, or any of my friends, up to an including which high school we went to and moving in with a relative if that was necessary to pull it off. So yeah, that's pretty weird to me, and looks like micromanagement from my perspective, although I can certainly accept that it would just look like parenting from yours.

 

Also, let's not exaggerate. They, Wally and Clara, might not have known exactly what Zach was doing at any given moment, but someone responsible for him did. I would guess that he had more supervision, and fewer freedoms as far as things like curfew and spending, than he might have enjoyed simply living with his parents. It's not like he was given an apartment and allowed to run wild, like Will threatened. Further, did Zach make that decision? From what I recall, his parents made that call, in order to get him away from bad influences. I doubt Zach objected or minded, but I did not recall him having that much of an input. I'll have to delve through 9.11 to see, I suppose.

 

Edit: I will count the tattoo as a point towards your position. THAT would be crossing a line. Also, found the appropriate section, from chapter 51 of 9.11

Assuming he isn't slanting the truth, and I don't see why he would have real reason to do so, I stand corrected.

 

I think this comment from Zach, in Chapter 63 of 9.11, reveals the real reason he went to New Jersey: 

 

“It’s time for some truth, since your cum is leaking out of my ass,” he said.  “I didn’t move here to get away from my scumball friends, because most of them really weren’t that bad.  And I didn’t move here to get away from drugs, because doing ’roids was fucking stupid, and I’d already figured that out.”

        “So why did you move here?”

        “To get away from them,” he said, referring to Wally and Clara.  “They don’t have a clue what it takes to get to the show.”  I’d heard him talk about ‘the show’ before; when he said that, he was referring to the NFL.  “I can do it, I have the skill and the ability, but they’d fucking derail me.  So I had to get away from them, and from Claremont.”

 

[PrivateTim]

Wow Private Tim...You must really hate Will.

 

As much as I don't want to get into this...I do not find your arguments rational...fun, but not rational. Bottom line is that you are blaming Will for Zach breaking a promise...A HUGE PROMISE...to his boyfriend and his boyfriend's most respected (by Will) family member. Furthermore you are taking Will to task for getting angry about it. I don't know you at all but judging by your posts you are no stranger to anger...and I say that Will reacted the way a good amount of us would...royally pissed off!! All these other arguments reek of hatred for a character to the point of convenient blindness   and are nothing more than a smokescreen. Whether this falls on deaf ears or not is of no concern to me...I just had to join the fun ...It's been a blast...Gary

 

Here is the HUGE PROMISE Zach broke:

 

  “I’m really sorry about Hawaii,” he said as we were getting dressed. 

  “You’ll still make it, just a little later than me,” I said with a smile.  “Just don’t fuck up Europe.  That’s a big deal, especially since Grand rearranged his schedule for us.”

  “I explained that to Barry, so he knows the drill,” Zach said.

 

So the huge promise was, "I explained that to Barry, he knows the drill." Barry has only been Zach's advisor 19 days. The camp would not have popped up at the last minute, but it might have been full. The elite camps limited participation to 100 players, more of a marketing ploy than an actual practical reason, but the point is, if an opening happened, it would be a coup for Zach to get into one of the Top 100 camps.

 

And then here is the conversation with Zach in Hawaii:

 

“You have a chance to do an internship with one of the top historians in the country,” I said through clenched teeth.  “Those fucking idiots think one exhibition is worth more than that?  Colleges look at more than just how well you run.  They look at your brain too.”

 

I understand the great drama of this scene, but Mark certainly knows better. No, DI football programs DON'T give a rip about your brains. Some schools like Stanfurd and Northwestern might have standards where no one below a 3.0 could ever get in, but a 3.5 student with okay SATs would get in and the hinging balance of is he in or out would not be, 'oh he went on a summer internship', it is how badly does the head football coach want him.

 

That is the real world.

 

If people think I am too tough on Will, how about the St. William of Menlo crowd where he can do no wrong because he is wise and mature beyond his years.

Edited June 9, 2014 by PrivateTim

[mmike1969]

I am trying to figure out if Tim dated someone like Tony or someone like Will. Probably both. That's why he's so bitter.

[methodwriter85]

I am trying to figure out if Tim dated someone like Tony or someone like Will. Probably both. That's why he's so bitter.

 

    I think Tim dated someone like Tony. Not so sure about Will. I think Tim probably had friends like Will, though. I do think Tim doesn't understand Will because Tim is a rule-follower and conventional, while Will marches to the beat of his own drum.

 

     Tim reminds me of that college club president who took things WAAAAYYYYY too seriously.

 

 

I understand the great drama of this scene, but Mark certainly knows better. No, DI football programs DON'T give a rip about your brains. Some schools like Stanfurd and Northwestern might have standards where no one below a 3.0 could ever get in, but a 3.5 student with okay SATs would get in and the hinging balance of is he in or out would not be, 'oh he went on a summer internship', it is how badly does the head football coach want him.

 

      I went to a crappy, small liberal arts school for a year with a D3 Program, and even a good-for-D3 program was pretty crazy, though with scaled down perks. I was a tutor for a program that was ostensibly for all freshmen, but really for dumb jocks. If you went to the library and attended this study hall, you would avoid academic suspension for the next semester. So of course you would see jocks check out their Facebook in the computer lounge for an hour, sign the paper, and then go.

[impunity]

I don't really get the point of hating a fictional character. Don't y'all have better things to hate with your time, like baby-seal murderers, Twilight novels, and people who talk in movie theaters?

[PrivateTim]

I don't really get the point of hating a fictional character.

 

Hate for Simon Legree led to the Civil War, hate for Phil Connor and Durham led to the FDA, and hate for Bob Ewell led to the passage of the civil rights acts.

 

Never sell literature short.

 

Mr. Arbour is several notches better than Harper Lee.

[B1ue]

I think this comment from Zach, in Chapter 63 of 9.11, reveals the real reason he went to New Jersey: 

 

Okey dokey. Either way, I was wrong, Tim was right.

 

 

Of course it IS Will's fault because of Will's reaction and Zach's reaction to Will's reaction. When you have 1,000 dominoes lined up and domino 999 knocks down domino 1,000, you don't blame domino 999 it is the fault of domino 1 that knocked down domino 2. Everything that has happened since Will and Zach had their shouting match is a direct result of that shouting match. It was the precipitating event in everything else that has happened.

As Timothy put it, I would have placed Will's reaction a bit later in the domino chain, since, as you said, it is a reaction to a reaction too. I am curious, if Wally, Clara, and Zach's reactions to Will's outburst are off the table for criticism, what makes Will's reaction different?

 

At the risk of repeating myself, Will contributed to this mess, certainly, but for once I wouldn't say he initiated it. I don't even think he reacted out of line in response to the stimulus; it's hard for me to imagine anyone in a similar situation *not* blowing up at their significant other for blowing them off like that. Although Will's reaction was on the extreme end of acceptable, in my opinion.

 

Edit: forgot to add that you make excellent points regarding Will not acting as supportive towards Zach as he possibly could. I suspect that, to Barry, the REAL promise to Will was, "Don't try to distract Zach, and I won't try to remove you." Not that this was what he was trying to do, but I imagine if Zach had gone to the exhibition Barry would have had another chat with Zach about not letting ultimately temporary things, like a first love, not ruin the rest of his life.

 

I don't really get the point of hating a fictional character. Don't y'all have better things to hate with your time, like baby-seal murderers, Twilight novels, and people who talk in movie theaters?

I don't want you to think I'm laughing at you, but this is hilarious to me. I literally have a degree in exactly this kind of analysis and character bashing. I about cried myself laughing when I came across this one post that said the only difference between an internet fandom war and the upper tiers of literature study is citations. Because, really, that's basically it.

Edited June 10, 2014 by B1ue

[B1ue]

I do think Tim doesn't understand Will because Tim is a rule-follower and conventional, while Will marches to the beat of his own drum.

I won't speak for Tim, but my problem with Will's character as written is that he demands no one else object to his drummer. Which while some people grow out of that, a lot of people don't, too.

[impunity]

I don't want you to think I'm laughing at you, but this is hilarious to me. I literally have a degree in exactly this kind of analysis and character bashing. I about cried myself laughing when I came across this one post that said the only difference between an internet fandom war and the upper tiers of literature study is citations. Because, really, that's basically it.

 

Believe me, you're not the only one laughing here. 

[Henson]

Will, in this situation, is an adolescent boy, with an adolescent boy temper, taking a direct blow to his adolescent boy ego from the source of all his current adolescent boy angst. That blow was a result of intentional actions by the arch-enemy of all adolescent boys - adults who refuse to take his adolescent boy love life seriously.

 

And you're surprised that his immediate reaction was volcanic? Did you exit the womb as a thirty year old? C'mon.

 

And the fact that a reaction was disproportionate most certainly does not make it, in all cases, unwarranted. These adults were fucking with him intentionally. That the camp was a pretext to a larger goal of asserting control over Zach is so glaringly obvious it's tough not to see arguments to the contrary as lawyerly and disingenuous, but I repeat myself.

 

Some people, many whom argue for a living, remind me of the classic John Cleese argument sketch, "In order to have an argument, I must take up a contrary position, see?"

[Mark Arbour]

Will, in this situation, is an adolescent boy, with an adolescent boy temper, taking a direct blow to his adolescent boy ego from the source of all his current adolescent boy angst. That blow was a result of intentional actions by the arch-enemy of all adolescent boys - adults who refuse to take his adolescent boy love life seriously.

 

And you're surprised that his immediate reaction was volcanic? Did you exit the womb as a thirty year old? C'mon.

 

And the fact that a reaction was disproportionate most certainly does not make it, in all cases, unwarranted. These adults were fucking with him intentionally. That the camp was a pretext to a larger goal of asserting control over Zach is so glaringly obvious it's tough not to see arguments to the contrary as lawyerly and disingenuous, but I repeat myself.

 

Some people, many whom argue for a living, remind me of the classic John Cleese argument sketch, "In order to have an argument, I must take up a contrary position, see?"

 

You make a really good point, and bring some clarification of Will's initial mindset.  That being said, with a little bit of coaching, Will ended up being supportive of Zach, and I think that gets him some kudos for moving beyond that adolescent boy mode.

[Mark Arbour]

Okey dokey. Either way, I was wrong, Tim was right.

 

 

I hope you didn't think I was piling on, so happy to find that you were wrong, which is a rarity.  My real motive in posting that quote was actually just to add that follow up information.  I'd just finished scanning those latter chapters of 9.11, and I recalled that scene. 

[mmike1969]

Okey dokey. Either way, I was wrong, Tim was right.

 

Hush. Let's not give him a bigger head then he's already carrying in his own mind.

[Timothy M.]

You make a really good point, and bring some clarification of Will's initial mindset.  That being said, with a little bit of coaching, Will ended up being supportive of Zach, and I think that gets him some kudos for moving beyond that adolescent boy mode.

 

Is this a hint of future chapters ? Because to me it looked as if Will understood how he should have reacted to solve the situation and be supportive of Zach. We haven't yet seen him act with his new more mature attitude. Of course I'm confident he'll manage, but even I am not Will fan enough to declare him improved before I see it happen.

[Timothy M.]

The elite camps limited participation to 100 players, more of a marketing ploy than an actual practical reason, but the point is, if an opening happened, it would be a coup for Zach to get into one of the Top 100 camps.

 

I went back over all the things Zach said to Will and Matt about the camp. I'm unable to conclude from what's said whether the exhibition would really be an elite camp and important. Are you basing your argument on speculation about Barry telling the truth about the importance of this exhibition ?   There are a few contradictions to indicate it wasn't complete logical, but nothing to prove it was a plot.

 

However, I'll concede Will had a fit before he even asked about why Zach would give in to Barry. If he hadn't and they'd discussed it rationally and looked up information to determine the relative importance of the exhibition etc etc, Zach could have made a decision without the pressure of Will's anger.

 

But he'd still have had a conflict with his parents, if he'd chosen Europe. Or are you assuming the choice would have been football no matter what ? Or just saying Zach should always choose anything with football over Will ?

Edited June 10, 2014 by Timothy M.

[Headstall]

Hey All,

Just to try and add some levity....

 

In the first Star Trek movie starring Chris Pine (sigh) as Captain Kirk...there is a scene where,after a lot of drama and excitement, Scotty, the engineer, exclaims loudly and enthusiastically " I LIKE this ship ".That's the way I feel about this forum...

[PrivateTim]

I went back over all the things Zach said to Will and Matt about the camp. I'm unable to conclude from what's said whether the exhibition would really be an elite camp and important. Are you basing your argument on speculation about Barry telling the truth about the importance of this exhibition ?   There are a few contradictions to indicate it wasn't complete logical, but nothing to prove it was a plot.

 

However, I'll concede Will had a fit before he even asked about why Zach would give in to Barry. If he hadn't and they'd discussed it rationally and looked up information to determine the relative importance of the exhibition etc etc, Zach could have made a decision without the pressure of Will's anger.

 

But he'd still have had a conflict with his parents, if he'd chosen Europe. Or are you assuming the choice would have been football no matter what ? Or just saying Zach should always choose anything with football over Will ?

 

Several thoughts.....   last things first, Zach has said pretty consistently  that nothing is more important to him than football and his future in football and that includes Will and Will knows that. We can go back a few pages in the discussion where I brought up the point that that Will chafe against those priorities and it was going to cause problems (or I can go back and find the relevant texts).

 

Next, Mark is taking some poetic/dramatic license with the camp/exhibition. The combines for high school hadn't really started by 2002. The gold standard is the National Underclassman Combine and their "Elite 100" has become crucial to athletes getting recruited and the final combine is broadcast on ESPN. There were camps of course before the NUC 100 and there were ones that were more important than others, but nothing on the scale of the NUC 100.

 

If you can provide textual evidence of the "few contradictions" that make it clear that the camp (exhibition) wasn't important, but was just a "plot" I am willing to listen, but in reference to the scene of the blow up where Will talks about "vows" and "promises", I cited the extent of the vows and promises in post #327 and it didn't sound like a vow or promise to me, just a general understanding about the Europe trip.

 

Again, people have to remember that Barry has been Zach's advisor less than three weeks. No one knows why or how this exhibition became important, did Barry receive a phone call from a college coach(es) where he was told to have his best prospects there? Did Barry send out information about Zach to camps and college coaches, as he would have done when he became Zach's advisor, and now invites are coming in from more camps for him? That speculation seems as valid as the speculation over the "conspiracy" between Barry and Wally & Clara. In fact, if Barry is as sharp as he has been portrayed, he would have figured out that Zach's backers, Brad Schluter et al were far more important than Zach's parents in the scheme of things.

[mmike1969]

In fact, if Barry is as sharp as he has been portrayed, he would have figured out that Zach's backers, Brad Schluter et al were far more important than Zach's parents in the scheme of things.

Yeah, it's already been established that Wally and Clara were the ones who found Barry for Zach so we can already conclude that no, Barry is not all that bright either.

Edited June 11, 2014 by mmike1969

[Timothy M.]

If you can provide textual evidence of the "few contradictions" that make it clear that the camp (exhibition) wasn't important, but was just a "plot" I am willing to listen

 

As a matter of fact I was saying the exact opposite: that there was NO definite evidence of this being a plot, nor ANY way of telling whether the camp was important or not.

 

The contradictions I was thinking of are these:

 

Excerpts from the conversation with Will:

That was Barry. There’s an exhibition that he wants me to go to. It runs from July 20^th to the 25^th.”

“Tell him you can’t go,” I said, throwing down the gauntlet.

“I tried to tell him that, but this one is pretty important,” he said nervously.

-o-

“Those fucking idiots think one exhibition is worth more than that? Colleges look at more than just how well you run. They look at your brain too.”

“Barry knows that,” he said. “He thinks this one is that important.”

-o-

“This is a really important exhibition.”

“Right,” I said sarcastically. “You telling me that Barry didn’t know about this deal before now? He’s supposed to know about all these important events, and this one, that is so fucking vital, totally slipped off his radar?”

“He knew about this thing, but he didn’t know it was going to be as big of a deal as it’s turning out to be.”

 

Zach switches from saying the exhibition is important (fact) to Barry thinks it’s important (opinion), back to ‘really important’ (fact) and ending up with it wasn’t important at first but now it is (shift in evaluation by Barry).

My interpretation: Barry seems to have started out saying this was an important exhibition. Apparently Zach asked the same question as Will (why Barry hadn’t mentioned it before). The answer wasn’t that Zach suddenly got a chance to attend a top event, but that the exhibition turned out to be a bigger deal than expected. How likely is this? Barry sounds like he’s making up arguments as he goes along. Not necessarily because it's a plot, maybe just because he's made a mistake by forgetting this camp and wants to cover it up.

 

In the conversation with Matt in the next chapter I noticed Zach doesn’t seem convinced the exhibition is as important as he tried to tell Will. Is this because Barry wasn’t actually convincing during their talk and Zach can see so in retrospect, or because Zach now wants to consider the exhibition of low importance ?

 

To me the point is nothing in the text supports the exhibition as 'definitely important', since Barry says it wasn't at first, but nor can we conclude it isn't important at all (and thus a possible plot or Barry trying to gain power). Hope this makes sense

[Timothy M.]

Yeah, it's already been established that Wally and Clara were the ones who found Barry for Zach so we can already conclude that no, Barry is not all that bright either.

 

Sorry to contradict you, but Cody found Barry:

quote from ch 11:

Cody had done some research and helped Zach find a guy who specialized in high school athletes. His name was Barry Friedman, and he had all kinds of good references. He’d latched onto Zach in a heartbeat, which spoke volumes about how talented Zach was.

 

Wally just hired him - or so he thinks, but later we learn that Barry works for and is paid by Zach.

[mmike1969]

So we can blame Cody. . Either way Barry is like Wally.

[PrivateTim]

Zach switches from saying the exhibition is important (fact) to Barry thinks it’s important (opinion), back to ‘really important’ (fact) and ending up with it wasn’t important at first but now it is (shift in evaluation by Barry).

 

My interpretation: Barry seems to have started out saying this was an important exhibition. Apparently Zach asked the same question as Will (why Barry hadn’t mentioned it before). The answer wasn’t that Zach suddenly got a chance to attend a top event, but that the exhibition turned out to be a bigger deal than expected. How likely is this? Barry sounds like he’s making up arguments as he goes along. Not necessarily because it's a plot, maybe just because he's made a mistake by forgetting this camp and wants to cover it up.

 

In the conversation with Matt in the next chapter I noticed Zach doesn’t seem convinced the exhibition is as important as he tried to tell Will. Is this because Barry wasn’t actually convincing during their talk and Zach can see so in retrospect, or because Zach now wants to consider the exhibition of low importance ?

 

To me the point is nothing in the text supports the exhibition as 'definitely important', since Barry says it wasn't at first, but nor can we conclude it isn't important at all (and thus a possible plot or Barry trying to gain power). Hope this makes sense

 

My interpretation is that Zach saw Will getting angry so he tried to shift the focus to Barry. A not uncommon defense mechanism, not a contradiction.

 

Zach, the spineless wonder, seems to move in any direction he gets a blowing wind from. While Matt didn't tell Zach what do decide, he picked on what Matt was saying as to what was more important. It was clear that Matt thought Europe was more important so it was natural that Zach would bend the direction of that pressure.

 

I will repeat what I said earlier, Pete Carroll couldn't give a rip about an internship with a Stanfurd professor.

 

It is more logical that if it was a bigger than Barry realized thaten it was because Barry got that feedback after he started to promote Zach, not because he is trying to break up Zach and Will.

[Headstall]

My interpretation is that Zach saw Will getting angry so he tried to shift the focus to Barry. A not uncommon defense mechanism, not a contradiction.

 

Zach, the spineless wonder, seems to move in any direction he gets a blowing wind from. While Matt didn't tell Zach what do decide, he picked on what Matt was saying as to what was more important. It was clear that Matt thought Europe was more important so it was natural that Zach would bend the direction of that pressure.

 

I will repeat what I said earlier, Pete Carroll couldn't give a rip about an internship with a Stanfurd professor.

 

It is more logical that if it was a bigger than Barry realized thaten it was because Barry got that feedback after he started to promote Zach, not because he is trying to break up Zach and Will.

Seriously ? This is like a dog with a bone...I don't mean to be disrespectful but I again don't see that these arguments or points are rational...you are now blaming Will for what comes out of Zach's mouth...and Matt just acted as a sounding board while Zach worked it out on his own...there was NO pressure from Matt for Zach to bend to...it may take him  a little while but Zach is bright enough to figure things out for himself. You are making him sound mindless! And who cares what Pete Carroll thinks....seriously. And how is it more logical that Barry would get such important feedback about such an incredibly big exhibition AFTER he started to promote Zach...that sounds illogical given the short time he was Zach's advisor...maybe if it was months prior I might buy it. As calling Zach a spineless wonder i would say you are totally off the mark...he has stood up to his parents, Will and Barry as we all know...his issue is that he is not yet as savvy as he needs to be to balance his life in a way that it all works. This, I believe, is a huge step towards that end and I would give Will some credit here rather than denigrate him. These are both young guys who are learning as they go...It's just that at this point, Will is ahead of Zach in that he sees things clearer and quicker than Zach...and he would be a terrible partner if he didn't share what he has learned in his experiences, with Zach. A partnership is exactly that and Will has his rights in this too. Enough said on my part...cheers...Gary

[PrivateTim]

Seriously ? This is like a dog with a bone...I don't mean to be disrespectful but I again don't see that these arguments or points are rational...you are now blaming Will for what comes out of Zach's mouth...and Matt just acted as a sounding board while Zach worked it out on his own...there was NO pressure from Matt for Zach to bend to...it may take him  a little while but Zach is bright enough to figure things out for himself. You are making him sound mindless! And who cares what Pete Carroll thinks....seriously. And how is it more logical that Barry would get such important feedback about such an incredibly big exhibition AFTER he started to promote Zach...that sounds illogical given the short time he was Zach's advisor...maybe if it was months prior I might buy it. As calling Zach a spineless wonder i would say you are totally off the mark...he has stood up to his parents, Will and Barry as we all know...his issue is that he is not yet as savvy as he needs to be to balance his life in a way that it all works. This, I believe, is a huge step towards that end and I would give Will some credit here rather than denigrate him. These are both young guys who are learning as they go...It's just that at this point, Will is ahead of Zach in that he sees things clearer and quicker than Zach...and he would be a terrible partner if he didn't share what he has learned in his experiences, with Zach. A partnership is exactly that and Will has his rights in this too. Enough said on my part...cheers...Gary

 

It is always amusing in a discussion when because you won't switch your belief to the other person's view, you are the one being unreasonable.

 

Here are the examples of "Matt the sounding board, but not influencing Zach":

 

  “He really values his relationships with his father, with JP, with Stef, with Wade, and with you.  You just shit on two of those.”

 

Dude, there are guys at Stanford that would give their left nut to do something like that with JP, and you just tossed it away like it’s no big deal.”

 

Then you’ve got your advisor, who wants you to do this deal in Nebraska.  He doesn’t care about you growing as a person; he just cares about maximizing how much exposure you get.  (which is his job by the way)

 

How is that not Matt telling Zach what he should do? It is very passive-aggressive. Despite his later, "I'm not telling you what to do", he already has.

 

Who cares what Pete Carroll thinks? Why Zach does, because that is where Zach wants to play football, so Zach cares very much what Pete Carroll thinks.

 

It isn't a case of not knowing about the camp, obviously he would know know about the camp. What he would not know until he started to promote Zach was that Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Joe Paterno el al want to see Zach Hayes at it. I am starting to get the idea you don't really understand how D1 college football works and what the recruiting process is.

 

And of course Zach is spineless. He has dumped Will once already in Claremont, and dumped him again in a manner for the Nebraska camp. Now because Zach is with Will and his family he stands up to his parents who aren't there. How will he react the next time he falls in their sphere?

 

Will didn't "share" with Zach, he screamed at Zach and bullied and cowed him into submission. A mature person who sees things clearly, would have sat down calmly with Zach and talked things through. Which is exactly what Will did not do. He through down a gauntlet, stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

 

I can point to all these behaviors in the text of chapter 26. Where is this clear thinking Will who shared things with Zach?

Edited June 12, 2014 by PrivateTim

[methodwriter85]

This is kind of morbid...but I kind of want Zach to end up at Penn State, now that you mention Joe Pa. Although I sure as hell couldn't see Will going there.

 

 I always think it's interesting whenever Matt interacts with his biological cousins...it's like he's someone who SHOULD have grown up in the typical working class Hayes way, but instead Matt grew up as a blue blood in a small, affluent and well-respected family. (Like seriously though, were Matt's parents the end of the line for the Carrswolds? I don't think we've ever met Matt's extended family.)