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Mat Tan is a recurring character in the second, third, fourth, and fifth season of the The Fosters. Mat is one of Brandon's band mates, and the cousin of Lou Chan. He made his first appearance in Take Me Out.

Mat is portrayed by Jordan Rodrigues.

Biography[]

Mat is first introduced in season 2A. He is in a band named Someone's Little Sister and serves as a love interest of Mariana. He connects with Mariana after finding out they both had a parent who abandoned them. He soon enters into a relationship with her and, despite encountering a few obstacles, are happy together.

In season 3, Mat is to leave to go on a three week band tour. Mariana wants to have sex with him before he leaves, as a way to "remember" her, but he turns down her offer due to wanting their first time to be special. After he leaves, unknown to him, she gets drunk with Callie's ex-boyfriend Wyatt and loses her virginity to him. Mat visits Mariana after the tour, unaware of her burdening guilt and shame of the event. Mat tells her how the band has extended the tour and, upset, she breaks up with him without telling him the real excuse for why she's ending things.

Later in Idyllwild, they get back together after he returns from tour and tells her how much she means to him. When alone together, he admits how the real reason he turned down her offer to have sex was because he is also a virgin and wanted them to lose their virginity together. Once again feeling guilty, Mariana confesses to having lost her virginity already to someone else. Betrayed, he breaks up with her.

In the following episode, Lucky, Mariana tries making up with him, but he is still hurt over her betrayal. By the end of the episode, Mariana finally manages to get him to talk to her when she finally confronts him, saying she has learned to forgive herself for her mistake. Despite saying he is happy to know she isn't beating herself up for it, he is not willing to get back together with her and leaves the room. 

Personality[]

Mat is loyal, headstrong, caring, and down to earth. He also is very patient & passionate.

Physical Appearance[]

Mat has shoulder length dark hair and broad shoulders. He usually wears his hair in a ponytail. Mat has olive-colored skin.

Series[]

Appearances (38/101)[]

Season 2 (14/21)

Season 3 (11/20)

Season 4 (8/20)

Season 5 (5/22

Relationships[]

Mariana Adams Foster[]

Matiana
  • First Relationship:
    • Start Up: Girls Reunited (2x08)
    • Broken Up: More Than Words (3x04)
      • Reason: Mat would be spending too much time away from Mariana. Also, Mariana couldn't deal with the guilt of cheating on Mat with Wyatt.
  • Second Relationship
    • Start Up: Idyllwild (3x09)
    • Broken Up: Idyllwild (3x09)
      • Reason: They reunited briefly only for Mariana to tell him the truth about losing her virginity to someone else while they were still dating.
  • Third Relationship
    • Start Up: Trust (4x03)
    • Broken Up: Cruel and Unusual (4x13)
      • Reason: After something of a pregnancy scare, Mat realized that he couldn't trust her anymore after all the lying she did about Nick and the Adderall.
  • Fourth Relationship
    • Start Up: Many Roads (5x19)
      • Mat told Mariana at his, Brandon's, and Callie's graduation ceremony that, if Mariana got into MIT, that Berkelee School of Music was so close that they should have a cup of coffee. Although Mariana would date Wyatt for one year, by the time her youngest brother, Jude, graduated, Mat and Mariana had gotten back together (in 2021).

Main article: Matiana

Matt is a member of Brandon's band. This is how Mariana originally got to know him. The two initially bantered often, and as the two grew close. Matt, after asking for Brandon's permission, asked her out, to which she accepted. The two connected over having biological parents abandoning them and the uncomfortableness of letting someone know. Things are going good with them until Mat informs Mariana that his band, Someone's Little Sister, is going on tour for three weeks in the beginning of the summer. Upset that he'll be gone for so long, she initially pushes him away, before they talk it out, and Mat and Mariana then say "I love you" for the first time in Light of Day. Mariana plans on having sex with Mat in Wreckage before he goes on his tour, so he has something to remember her by. Mat rejects her, however, wanting their first time to be somewhere special. After he leaves her, Mariana, believing he rejected her so he can have sex with other girls on tour, drinks and has sex with Wyatt. She immediately regrets the decision.

They break up in More Than Words after Mat drives back down to visit Mariana. He apologizes for leaving her like he did, and says that he'd like to have sex with her while he's back, if she still wants to. Mariana, unable to handle the guilt of cheating on him with Wyatt, which Mat was unaware of, and knowing Mat would be spending a large amount of time away on tour, breaks up with Mat. They briefly re-unite in Idyllwild following Brandon's music performance, with Mat claiming that he'll give up the tour to spend the summer with her if it wasn't too late. However, when Mat admits the reason he rejected her the first time was because he was a virgin too and wished for them to lose their virginity together somewhere special, Mariana admits in shame that she had sex with another guy. Mat, heartbroken, refuses to talk to her for some time. In Lucky, in an effort to win him back, Mariana sings a love song to him, but Mat walks away mid performance. Mariana finally confronts him after the performance by saying she knows she made a huge mistake, but has forgiven herself. When Mat says he is glad to hear that, Mariana hopes this means they can date again. However, Mat tells her that while he is glad she has forgiven herself, he is not willing to get back together, and leaves the room, leaving behind a dejected and hurt Mariana. 

Mat and Mariana are both later cast as Romeo and Juliet in Mat and Brandon's senior project, R+J. Throughout rehearsing for the show, the two date other people, but are still shown to have feelings for one another. Come opening night, their feelings come to a head and they finally tell each other they still love one another in The Show. Mat had initially left Mariana a letter about it, and how he has forgiven her for the Wyatt incident, but she never got it because her boyfriend, Nick, had intercepted it and destroyed it. They decided to not pursue a relationship initially, because they both didn't want to hurt their significant others. However, after Nick comes to school and then her house with a gun, Mariana's relationship with him effectively ends, and she and Mat get back together in Trust.  

Their relationship gets rocky once Mat finds out that Mariana had still been seeing Nick and allowing Nick to believe they were still together, even after she got back together with Mat, and also when he found out about her taking her brother's Adderall medication. She soothes his doubts and questions when he confronts her in Dream a Little Dream, and the two end up having sex. But after some questioning from Brandon to Mat on the possibility of Mariana being pregnant, after witnessing Emma buy a pregnancy test and hand the bag off to Mariana, Mat realized that he couldn't trust Mariana again after all the lying she's done to him, and they break up in Cruel and Unusual.  

Zoe[]

First Relationship:

  • Start Up: Under Water (3x14)
  • Broken Up: Potential Energy (4x01)
    • Reason: While never mentioned, it's assumed that Mat and Zoe broke it off after his expressions of love and extreme concern for Mariana's well being while the shooting incident occurred.

Mat and Zoe seemingly met through their casting in Mat and Brandon's production of R+J. While rehearsing, Zoe hits on Mat and the two end up dating. They date throughout the course of play's production. However, their relationship has issues, as Mat still has feelings for Mariana. Despite this, Mat loses his virginity to Zoe, and Zoe does what she can to dispel Mariana from thinking she has any chance left with Mat. The two seemingly breaks up after Mat leaves Zoe repeatedly when Mariana's safety is threatened, and after he shared an emotional, big hug with Mariana after the shooting incident at the school.  

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In addition to being a member of a rock band, he participates in school concert band.
  • In Idyllwild, it's revealed that he is a virgin. He admits how his first time having sex is important to him and he wants it to be with the right girl.
  • In The Show and Kingdom Come, it's revealed that Mat lost his virginity to Zoe. He lost it to her because he believed Mariana didn't love him anymore after she didn't say anything about his letter.
  • He is shown to be somewhat old fashioned in terms of romance. Before asking Mariana out, he asks Brandon (Mariana's brother and his friend/bandmate) if it's ok to date her. This action leaves a good impression of Mat on Mariana's moms.
  • Mat gets accepted into Berklee College of Music, which is located in Boston. It hasn't been confirmed if he will attend or not.
  • Zoe, Mariana, and Mat have all agreed that Mat is not the type of guy who would have sex with a girl and then break up with her. Ironically, despite his intentions, he has ended up doing this twice, first with his relationship with Zoe, and then with his relationship with Mariana.
  • It is possible that he might have siblings because when he told Mariana about his dad he said "my mom told us that it was not our fault he left", not "my mom told me that it was not my fault he left".
  • He is the most frequently appearing recurring character in Season 2 ; and the second in Season 3, appearing in the same number of episodes than Jesus.

Quotes[]

Navigational[]

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Characters (The Fosters)
Main Stef Adams FosterLena Adams FosterBrandon FosterCallie Adams FosterMariana Adams FosterJude Adams FosterJesus Adams FosterMike Foster
Recurring AJ HensdaleEmma KurtzmanAna Gutierrez FosterConnor StevensDaphne KeeneAidenBeckaCarmenColeCortney StrathmoreDeclan RiversGabriel DuncroftGraceHayley HeinzJack DowneyJill QuinnKelseyKiaraLexi RiveraLogan BayfieldLou ChanMat TanMonte PorterMr. TimothyNick StratosNoah WalkerPoppy SinfuegoRafaelRita HendricksRobert QuinnSophia QuinnTalya BanksTaylorTess BayfieldVico CerarWyatt CaseyXimena SinfuegoZac Rogers
Minor Amanda RogersCaptain RobertsChase DillonDana AdamsDariaDevoneeDonald JacobEliza FosterErnesto RiveraEvanFrank CooperGabiJoe GrayKarina SánchezKatKyle SnowLiam OlmsteadNathan AdamsOliviaSarahSharon ElkinSonya Rivera
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