At the start of a new school year, Matt saw that Elena was strongly drawn to the handsome, mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore. He was jealous as he believed that he and Elena still had a chance to be together later. When his sister Vicki was attacked, he saw Stefan at the hospital but he mysteriously disappeared. Matt remained suspicious of him. Matt started to warm up to Stefan a little more when he joined the football team at school.

Matt was also grateful when Stefan found Vicki and she disappeared (when it was Damon Salvatore who took her. Matt still showed he had feelings for Elena and Bonnie tried to help him move on. Not long afterwards, Vicki went missing again. Along with search-parties, Matt tried to find her and was relieved when Jeremy Gilbert called him over to his house where Vicki was, where she was transitioning into a vampire. When she became a vampire, Stefan tried to help her, but when Vicki said he was bothering her, Matt told him to leave her alone.

When she disappeared again, Matt was questioned by Sheriff Forbes of her supposed whereabouts, but like everyone else, he had no clue where she had gone. He found a note at his house "written" by Vicki that said she left town. At Caroline's party, Stefan explained to Matt that he was just trying to help his sister, but Matt told him Vicki was unreliable like her mother. Later, Caroline turned up drunk because she was heart-broken by something Damon had told her. Matt tried to cheer her up and eventually had to take her home. She did not want to be alone, so he had to spend the night with her, in her bedroom cuddling together.

Matt started working at the Mystic Grill. Caroline talked about a washed-out football player, Ben, and how he is working as a bartender. Matt was offended by this and Caroline left, saying that they didn't give each other a chance. Matt caught up to her when she was crossing the road, and Matt got out of his Ute and kissed Caroline in the middle of the crossing in the spot light of his lights from the Ute.

They started going out afterwards. They were caught in a heated moment by Matt's mother, who had returned home after her boyfriend left her. Kelly didn't like Caroline very much and called her "Matt's rebound girl". Caroline decided they go on a double-date with Elena and Stefan but the date went wrong for her when Matt and Elena went on about childhood memories. Stefan let Matt drive his car with Caroline but when they came back to the Salvatore Boarding House, Matt found his mom making out with Stefan's brother Damon. He was extremely upset with her, telling her that she was the adult and she should behave like one.

Kelly and Matt were in for devastating news when Caroline and her mother Sheriff Forbes came with news that Vicki's body had been found in a terrible storm. Even though Caroline wanted to comfort him, Matt wanted to be left alone, but ended up crying in Elena's arms.

His relationship with her mother took the final straw when he caught her making out with Tyler Lockwood. He and Tyler got into a fight which was stopped by Tyler's father Mayor Lockwood. When they got home, Matt told his mother to get out of his house because he was better of without her in his life. He did not accept her apologies.

Matt was supposed to be Caroline's escort in the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, but he could not make it due to his work schedule. He was with her for the Founder's Day Parade. He left the Mystic Grill with Tyler and Caroline when Mayor Lockwood asked them to leave because he was worried for his son's safety. When Tyler heard an unpleasant and painful noise, he sent the car off the road. All three passengers survived but Caroline had to be taken to the hospital for surgery. Her injuries were severe, and Matt, Tyler and her mother wait for any news of her.

Matt stayed at the hospital to await Caroline's results from the accident. After a visit from Damon, Caroline started to get better quickly, much to Matt and Bonnie's great relief. Unknowingly to him, Damon had given Caroline blood to help her heal, but when Katherine killed her, Caroline became a vampire after drinking blood she found in the hospital. Matt visited her in the hospital, where he found her unhappy. He pulled back the curtains to bring light into the room, put Caroline ran to the shadows. He didn't understand what was happening and left.

At the carnival, Caroline told Matt she had been discharged early. He was happy about that when he gave her a hug, she began to act strange again, and he started to believed she was losing interest. He sneaked into her room to talk to her about how she was acting and he admitted that he was in love with her, and was afraid she didn't love him anymore but she proved him wrong by kissing him. They hugged and Caroline was able to resist the urge to bite him.

Caroline's inability to go out in the sun put a strain on her relationship with Matt. Stefan convinced Bonnie to help her by creating another Lapis Lazuli jewelry piece. Aimee Bradley started flirting with Matt, annoying Caroline and she compelled her to go away and Matt thought she was being rude. Later on, Caroline asked Matt if he was mad at her and he admitted that he thought they were past her insecurities. He told her how he felt about her and asked what more she needed.

Caroline promised that she didn't need anything else and apologized, promising that there will be no more drama. They kissed and headed off into the woods together. They started making out but when Matt cut himself, Caroline lost control and attacked him. Stefan stopped her as a wolf attacked them, but at Tyler's arrival, it left. Caroline then compelled Matt to forget what she did and that an animal attacked him. At the Mystic Grill, Aimee started talking to Matt again. Caroline decided to break up with Matt and made a big deal out of it, forcing him to break up with her.

Matt helped out at the Lockwood Mansion for the Masquerade Ball, and discussed with Caroline's strange behavior with Tyler. Later on, Katherine is shown compelling Matt to have Tyler kill him at any cost because she needed a werewolf now that Damon had killed Mason. Matt almost breaks a fight with Tyler at the masquerade

ball, but Caroline knocks him unconscious before he has the chance to make Tyler kill him. Though he was stopped, another girl, Sara, who was also compelled, attacked Tyler after his failure and died in the process, thus activating his transformation. Afterwards, he is guilt stricken by what happened, with no memory of being compelled to do so, and apologizes to Tyler. He later drops by Caroline's house to visit her.

In The House Guest, Caroline sings to Matt and he kisses her into front of everyone in the Grill. They start making out in the bathroom, but are interrupted by the chaos caused by Jonas Martin. Caroline tries to fight him, but Jonas used his powers on her, Matt tried to save her, and Jonas stabbed him in the neck. As he was lying on the floor dying, Caroline gives him her blood to save him. After he wakes up, Caroline confesses to him that she is a vampire. Matt then remembers Vicki saying something about vampires when she had her accident and thinks that Caroline had something to do with it.

In Know Thy Enemy, Matt stays away from Caroline, he meets Sheriff Forbes and demands on how she covered up Vicki's death by the hands of a vampire.Now he came to Caroline house.He demands that she tell him what happened to Vicki and everything about her. After Caroline has told him everything, he tells her that he doesn't want to remember any of it because he doesn't want to look at her and see what she really is.

After she compels him it was later revealed to be a setup by Sheriff Forbes to find out the information that Caroline knew of everything on vampires in town. Matt takes Caroline to the 60s Decade Dance under Sheriff Forbes orders,he is still having a hard time being around Caroline due to the fact that he still knows that she is a vampire as well as Tyler being a werewolf.

In The Last Day, Matt once again is talking with Sheriff Forbes. He later seems to have a change of heart and calls Caroline supposedly to tell her everything and then follows Damon. He finds Damon at the Tomb and sees him fight with the warlock Maddox. As Damon is losing, Matt kills Maddox using a rifle and wooden bullets afterwards Damon knocks him out. After he wakes up he witness Tyler werewolf transformation and runs with Caroline down in the Lockwood cellar.

In The Sun Also Rises, while protecting themselves from Tyler, he and Caroline had an honest talk about what happened. Matt tells her he can't handle the pressure of her supernatural life and just wants to be normal, Caroline is sad but agrees and they officially end their relationship.

Matt is still working at the Mystic Grill, only this time with Jeremy. He was having a hard time seeing Caroline and Tyler together. He even asks Jeremy to switch waiting tables with him yelling out: "I don't feel like waiting on my ex-girlfriend". He later attends Elena's 18th birthday party and is seen smoking along with Jeremy. Later, he gets a ride with Jeremy to his house where Jeremy suddenly tells him that he can see Vicki.

In The Hybrid, he is asking Jeremy more questions about Vicki and admits that he can't remember much when she was a vampire, and that he never got a chance to say goodbye. At first, Matt finds it to hard going through Vicki's things in his garage to try to contact with Jeremy. He gets overwhelmed and tells Jeremy that he can't do it, after seeing a picture of him and Vicki as kids. After Jeremy leaves, the picture flips from face-down to face-up. He believed Jeremy after that, thinking it was a sign, so he goes back to Jeremy's and tries to help.

In The Reckoning, Matt is seen working out at the gym when he goes into a classroom where the gang is planing what to do for Senior's Prank Night, which he forgot was in motion. Later, he is helping Bonnie in the school pool room by putting toilet paper all over. And they later go to the gym where they see Klaus, witnessing him killing Tyler. Matt goes with Bonnie to help find away for Klaus to create his hybrids and to save Tyler. They discover ghost can help them, but can't get a hold of Jeremy, so Matt's decides to take one for the team by drowning himself and hopefully communicate with his dead sister, Vicki, who has been haunting him recently. He drowns himself, and Bonnie successfully performs CPR on Matt, thus granting him the ability to see his sister.

In Smells Like Teen Spirit, Matt is able to see Vicki now due to his near death experience. Matt talks with her and she tells him that she can come back. Later Matt performed some blood magic that allowed his sister to physically touch and hug things. Vicki used Matt because they're joined by blood. Matt loved his sister with all his heart and tried to protect her. The tender moment between brother and sister was interrupted when she bludgeoned him with a tool. When he woke, he realized the mistake he made and sought Bonnie's help Bonnie informed Matt that he's the only one keeping Vicki around, so Matt had to say goodbye. Vicki apologized, swore that she wouldn't hurt anyone if he let her stay, and cried as Matt let her go. Matt told Vicki that she shouldn't be here anymore, that he needs to let her go no matter how painful it is.

In Ghost World, Matt is seen helping the town get ready for The Illumination Night.

In Homecoming, Matt shows up at the Salvatore mansion to pick up Rebekah, his date, and his greeted by Elena, who nervously suggests that they go together as a couple as his back up date. Matt agrees. Later at the party he see Caroline on the floor and Tyler telling him to take her away from this place.

In Our Town, he helps Elena and Bonnie to surprise Caroline but after seeing she is not in the mood for a celebration, they decide to go to a graveyard to give her a funeral instead. During the party Matt talks with Elena and he discover she feels stuck and doesn't want to lose anyone else she loves. Later Matt and Elena go look for Caroline in the woods and Matt gets knocked out by Stefan. Matt later brings Caroline home after she has been bitten but Tyler. Klaus then comes by and Matt states that this is his fault, as Tyler would have never done such a thing to Caroline. He then meets Elena at Wickery Bridge.

In Bringing Out The Dead, Matt is seen comforting Caroline about her father dying, later he walks Elena home where they both find Alaric half dead and Elena explains to Matt why she needs to kill him. After Matt stays with Elena until Alaric comes back to life.

He is seen with Elena and then he drives home. At the Grill, he was approached by Rebekah, wanting him to be her dancing partner which he accepted. During the ball he danced with Rebekah and Caroline, asking her why she is here with Klaus. As Rebekah and him are taking an timeout they went outside where he got a blanket for her. As she originally intended to kill him with the assistance of Kol to make Elena suffer, she now backs out and they go inside. Matt meets Kol inside who introduces himself and crushes his hand. At the Grill Rebekah apologies for her brother's actions but Matt leaves.

In 1912, Matt is seen running with Elena and filling her in with the situation of Bonnie's mother: Abby had decided to complete the transition and Caroline was going to help her through it. Elena then receives the news that Alaric was arrested as a suspect in the murders of Brian Walters and Bill Forbes and the attempted murder on himself. Matt later helps Elena break into Meredith Fell's apartment to find proof that she, not Alaric, was the murderer. They find her cache, where she had been hiding a box in which she has the files of each victim and an old Gilbert family journal. They also find a corner's report saying that the time of death was actually earlier than the police knew which meant that Alaric had an alibi. Meredith then arrives home and they hide in the closet but she tricks them into coming out.

A furious Sheriff Forbes tells them that Meredith had already given her the corner's report and that it was being checked out and that she wanted them to go home and stay out of trouble. As Elena and Matt are going home, they stumble across Damon with Stefan feeding on a young woman. Matt takes Elena away and questions her on her feelings for both the Salvatores. She reveals that she fell for Stefan because, after her parents' death, she felt like he would never leave, like he would never die. As for Damon, she says that he snuck up on her and she just can't shake him. Matt says that that is what happens when you fall in love with someone.

In Heart of Darkness, Matt is busy keeping Rebekah involved in the 20's Decade Dance preparations so that Caroline gets a day off to meet Tyler. He gives Rebekah a ride back to Klaus' Mansion.

In Do Not Go Gentle, Jeremy and Matt go to rescue Elena from Alaric and Esther.

In The Departed, Jeremy and him want to protect Elena, so Matt drives Elena out of town. Later, when they are driving back to Mystic Falls, Matt's drives off of Wickery Bridge in order to avoid Rebekah standing in the middle of the road. He almost dies until Stefan comes to their rescue. Stefan tries to save Elena first, but Elena insists Stefan save Matt first, resulting in her drowning.

In Growing Pains, Matt feels terrible guilt for his role in Elena's death and eventual transition as a vampire, and expresses this numerous times to people like Caroline and Jeremy. He is physically attacked by Damon, who blames Matt for Elena's death, and asks him why he gets to live and Elena doesn't. Matt tells Damon that there is no one in the world who feels more guilty about what happened than he does. He later leads Damon to Pastor Young's farm house out in the country, and is used as bait to lure the pastor out of his home. When Damon bites him, Matt is able to get away and into the barn where the pastor had been holding Stefan, Elena and Rebekah hostage in order to lure their respective families into a trap meant to kill them. When Stefan heals Matt of his bite wounds, he angrily tells Stefan to stop healing him, that he doesn't deserve it. Stefan then tells him that it wasn't his choice to save him first, but that it had been Elena's choice, and that he had to prove that he was worthy of that sacrifice by getting out of bed every day and making his life mean something.

In Memorial, Matt once again expresses his guilt to Jeremy, and is stunned when he and Jeremy see April Young, a girl that they used to know and go to school with. She is back in town for her father, Pastor Young's memorial service. Later at the memorial when vampire hunter, Connor Jordan comes to town and injures and holds April hostage in the Church during the service, the vampires there can smell the blood and know its a trap to kill them all. Elena, being the newest vampire, has a nearly impossible time controlling herself until Matt, feeling a sense of obligation to protect her, offers her his neck to feed on in order to satiate her thirst; she feeds and pulls back just before draining him of too much blood.

In The Rager, Matt meets Elena at their old make-out spot. Elena feeds on Matt (carefully, so she doesn't kill him) but she pulls away, feeling the bloodlust taking over. Matt is later seen at his locker, with Rebekah approaching him, inviting him to her party. Matt doesn't say anything and Rebekah tries to apologize to him for killing Elena and nearly him. Matt just walks away, but Connor stops him. The vampire hunter rips the bandage off from his wrist and sees bite marks. Then Connor forces Matt to tell him which one of his friends is a vampire, with Matt saying, "Its Rebekah. Rebekah Mikaelson." Later, Matt arrives at the Gilbert household. Matt lets Elena feed from him, but she starts drinking more. Matt tries to get Elena to stop, but she begins to feed even harder from him. Luckily, Damon intervenes and pushes Elena away from Matt. Damon then compels Matt to forget what happened and that he came over, Elena fed a little bit, and left.

In The Five, Matt receives a new truck from Rebekah, as an apology. Matt says if that's her idea of an apology, she should be apologizing to Elena. Matt is later shown to be talking to April, and is surprised that she is friends with Rebekah. He says it is hard to believe Rebekah would have a friend, and says that he's keeping the truck.

In The Killer, Matt, along with Jeremy and April, are held hostage at the Mystic Grill by Connor. When Matt and April are in the backroom, Matt tries to use the old wine cellar to escape from the Grill, but its bricked over. He starts to hammer at it, and Stefan, being underground, hears the noise and investigates. Matt and April hear an explosion and is startled by it. Stefan appears and tells the two to follow the map. Just before leaving, Matt warns Stefan that Connor is armed and he'll kill Jeremy.

Later, Matt and April walk over to Jeremy. April, who was compelled earlier to forget about the hostage crisis, says that went over to the Lockwood's house and talked to Caroline for a bit, but now she was thinking they could all go for some coffee. They see the Mystic Grill closed and April remarks that the Grill being closed is weird. Jeremy gives April his vervain bracelet, with Matt saying it looks good on her and she should wear it.

In We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes, Matt is with Jeremy at the Mystic Falls High School. Jeremy asks Matt if he can see anything on his hand (the Hunters' Mark), and he replies no. Later on in the episode, Matt shares some vital information with Damon - that April's father Pastor Young's phone records show he made a call a day to the same address for everything month, but on the day of the explosion at his farm, he called it ten times. To the office of Professor Atticus Shane.

In My Brother's Keeper, Matt seems to help with the preparations for the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. There are few barrels that he and Jeremy had to grab, but Matt couldn't take them. He's amazed because Jeremy got a lot of strength after becoming a hunter. Later, Jeremy tells Matt that he has been having dreams of killing Elena. While the pageant takes place, Jeremy disappears and April is left alone, as Jeremy was planned to escort her, but Matt goes and takes Jeremy's place. At the end of the episode, Matt moves into the Gilbert house, to keep an eye on Jeremy.

In O Come, All Ye Faithful, Matt is at the Mystic Grill working. Earlier, Caroline compelled April Young to forget what she saw and heard in the girls bathroom and April runs out. Matt then tells Caroline that April can't be compelled since she's wearing the vervain bracelet Jeremy gave her.

In After School Special, Matt is helping Jeremy train at the Gilbert Family Lake House Jeremy and Matt kept on ordering pizzas, and Damon pays off the pizza girl to stop taking their orders, and then threatens them that they aren't allowed to eat if they don't stop training. Later, that night the pizza girl comes by the house and says that her car broke down. She asks Matt if she could use his phone to call a tow truck, and he goes to find his phone. The pizza girl tries to step into the house, but she can not get in since Klaus turned her into a vampire. Jeremy walks by and invites her in not knowing she is a vampire, she comes into the house and attacks Matt. Jeremy then stakes her, and his hunter's mark grows. Eventually, Damon, Jeremy, and Matt go to a bar where Klaus told them to meet up with them. They find out that Klaus turned a bunch of innocent humans into vampires for Jeremy to kill.

In Catch Me If You Can, the episode starts from the last episode in the bar where Klaus turned a bunch of humans into vampires. Klaus tells Damon, Jeremy, and Matt that Jeremy has to kill all of the vampires, but Jeremy refuses too. Klaus then reminds them that the vampires are all in transition and that they're all hungry. Klaus tells Jeremy and Matt that he will give them a two minute head start, then he would compel the vampires to kill Matt, so Jeremy would have to kill them. Matt and Jeremy then start running back to the lake house. One of the vampires bites Matt, but Jeremy manages to kill it, and they start running again. Another vampire attacks Matt, but Elena arrives in time to save Matt. They eventually ditch the vampires and Elena takes Matt back to Mystic Falls. Matt, eventually, returns to work at the Mystic Grill.

In A View To A Kill, Matt is shown playing video games with Jeremy. He was later told by Elena to help Stefan find the dagger in order to neutralize Rebekah before killing Kol. After arriving at the school, he hears the conversation between Rebekah and Stefan about how Rebekah wants the cure to be human so she can have kids with someone that she loves.

In Stand By Me, Matt was called by Caroline. When he saw Jeremy, he was heartbroken and almost broke down but Elena consoled him. Later, he was seen with Elena in the Dining Room and asked her to come with him for a change and that Stefan will take care of Jeremy. In the Stoner Pit, he showed Elena the writings on the wall about Jeremy and Vicki. He told Elena that hope is the thing that keeps him going when he knew about Vicki's death. Later he dropped Bonnie near her home and told her to rest. After driving back, he stopped the car and grieved over Jeremy's death.

In Bring It On, Matt is first seen at school approaching Caroline and asking if she has seen Bonnie who responds is 'still a little drained from everything'. Later, he sends a text message to Caroline to meet her at Tyler's house. When she arrives and is unable to enter the house, Matt appears and it is revealed Tyler sent him the deeds to the house, along with a letter addressed to Caroline. Matt hands her the letter, and comforts her when she tells him that Tyler is gone for good.

In Pictures of You, Matt attended the prom with Bonnie and Caroline. He was first seen with Bonnie, joking that he felt like he was at a practice for Caroline's wedding. They later run into an emotionless Elena and Matt tells her that hew would love to help her, but she tells him to spare her. Later Matt was alone when Rebekah comes to talk to him. She asks him what he would think if she was human, and he tells her that he doesn't as she wasn't a good person, hurting her.

Rebekah was later sitting alone and Matt asks her if she had seen Bonnie, and she tells him that she didn't know. She begs him to dance with her as it was a girl's worse nightmare to be left alone on a prom, and Matt finally takes her hand and escorts her onto the dance floor. She tells him that she kept thinking about what he said, and he asks her why his opinion is so important to her as he's just a bus boy, and she tells him that because he's beautifully human.

It was later announced that Matt and Bonnie were prom king and queen. They were later taking photos together when Matt left and Rebekah quickly went to talk to him to tell him that Elena was planning to do something to Bonnie. There a gust of wind and a loud, piercing microphone feedback and electrical sparks and Matt quickly runs to were Bonnie was. Bonnie told him that something was happening to her after Elena attacked her and she started doing magic, and he told her to quickly leave. April then enters the room were they were and Elena slams April's head onto the table and takes a bite out of her neck and falls in Matt's arms. Elena leaves. Matt was later seen with April on the floor trying to her to wake up. Rebekah comes to talk to him and is shocked to find April almost dead on the floor. Matt begs Rebekah to give her her blood, but at first she said that if she did Elijah wouldn't give her the cure, but he keeps begging her. It was later seen that she agreed to help him. Matt puts his jacket on April and goes to talk to Rebekah. He thanks her for helping April and for making the right choice, and he then says that maybe she wouldn't make a bad human. He promises her not to tell anyone, and then leaves to take April home.

In She's Come Undone,

In The Walking Dead,

In Graduation,