I love your description of why you like Mac, and that you like him because he is flawed and screwed up.He is. Not in the same way, or as much as Danny is,but he is flawed/screwed up, and I love that because it makes him human and likeable. I love how they've darkened the character over the last two seasons, with storylines like the Dobson one, and the story from The Thing About Heroes. I think we did get to see hints of his darker side back in s1 - his interaction with Sonny Sassone during the interrogation showed a harder,darker side to him when he talked about putting men in the ground as a soldier. That is obviously something that still haunts him, having to kill men in war. But they've really worked well on adding shades of gray to Mac, and that makes him a much more interesting character. I liked your comment on his relationship with Danny and with Stella. Both are complex and difficult at times. I think that if Mac does recognize he's screwed up/flawed, and I think he does to some extent,this is what drove him to hire Danny. Danny obviously has the reputation of being a f**k-up among the NYPD brass - Gerrard plainly disliked him (Raising Shane) and we found out in On The Job that Mac had been warned by some people not to hire Danny. In s1, Mac appears quite straight-laced and by the book, and I wondered why the heck he'd hired Danny.But seeing his flaws and weaknesses be exposed these last two seasons makes me understand his motivation. I wonder whether Mac sees a younger version of himself in Danny - that would explain not just why he hired him, but why he is so hard on him at times, yet so protective of him at others, defending Danny when he has no professional reason to. I think hiring Danny may well have scuppered any chances Mac may have had at advancing any further in the NYPD hierarchy, though I don't think he's interested in that. The story in The Thing About Heroes makes Mac's decision to hire Danny, a guy whose family has shady connections, interesting too. His disgust for what I'll call 'punk mobsters' like Sonny Sassone, is interesting too. In his interrogation of Sonny, Mac talked about how in the old days,mobsters killed people only when it was about business. While I think Mac doesn't condone that as such, I think he does understand and to some extent respect it. In some ways, the work of an old-school mob guy is similar to being a soldier - you're only supposed to kill people as a matter of business (for the mob to advance/protect their business or eliminate an enemy, for a soldier to eliminate an enemy/protect other soldiers or your territory). His disgust with Sonny's killing for sport matches his disgust for the ex-Army guy in Officer Blue, who killed a cop for no real reason. Mac asked the guy if the cop he killed was the one who put his family member away, and seemed disgusted by the man's response that he just wanted to 'kill any pig cop'.Mac's response that the man should be 'put to death' showed a darker side to him.
BTW, I am MacsLady. I have posted here before. I just can't remember my password and am too lazy right now to do the email thing.
I was watching Corporate Warriors again yesterday, and noticed that Mac scene you mention, the look on his face is hilarious, and I just love how Stella slams the woman with 'Don't go pulling that sisterhood card now'! In that scene, I also love when Mac calls the woman's name and she kicks out at him, her foot stopping inches from his face, going, IMO, for a 'I'm such a tough, hard woman' and aiming to make him flinch (Stella actually does flinch) but Mac doesn't move, just holds his badge up to her foot with this look on his face that says he's not impressed in the slightest,(much like Stella when the woman tries to pull the sisterhood card). I too can imagine Stella ranting about the use/abuse of the feminism thing.
I think we did get to see hints of his darker side back in s1 - his interaction with Sonny Sassone during the interrogation showed a harder,darker side to him when he talked about putting men in the ground as a soldier. That is obviously something that still haunts him, having to kill men in war. But they've really worked well on adding shades of gray to Mac, and that makes him a much more interesting character. I liked your comment on his relationship with Danny and with Stella. Both are complex and difficult at times. I think that if Mac does recognize he's screwed up/flawed, and I think he does to some extent,this is what drove him to hire Danny. Danny obviously has the reputation of being a f**k-up among the NYPD brass - Gerrard plainly disliked him (Raising Shane) and we found out in On The Job that Mac had been warned by some people not to hire Danny. In s1, Mac appears quite straight-laced and by the book, and I wondered why the heck he'd hired Danny.But seeing his flaws and weaknesses be exposed these last two seasons makes me understand his motivation. I wonder whether Mac sees a younger version of himself in Danny - that would explain not just why he hired him, but why he is so hard on him at times, yet so protective of him at others, defending Danny when he has no professional reason to. I think hiring Danny may well have scuppered any chances Mac may have had at advancing any further in the NYPD hierarchy, though I don't think he's interested in that. The story in The Thing About Heroes makes Mac's decision to hire Danny, a guy whose family has shady connections, interesting too. His disgust for what I'll call 'punk mobsters' like Sonny Sassone, is interesting too. In his interrogation of Sonny, Mac talked about how in the old days,mobsters killed people only when it was about business. While I think Mac doesn't condone that as such, I think he does understand and to some extent respect it. In some ways, the work of an old-school mob guy is similar to being a soldier - you're only supposed to kill people as a matter of business (for the mob to advance/protect their business or eliminate an enemy, for a soldier to eliminate an enemy/protect other soldiers or your territory). His disgust with Sonny's killing for sport matches his disgust for the ex-Army guy in Officer Blue, who killed a cop for no real reason. Mac asked the guy if the cop he killed was the one who put his family member away, and seemed disgusted by the man's response that he just wanted to 'kill any pig cop'.Mac's response that the man should be 'put to death' showed a darker side to him.
BTW, I am MacsLady. I have posted here before. I just can't remember my password and am too lazy right now to do the email thing.
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In that scene, I also love when Mac calls the woman's name and she kicks out at him, her foot stopping inches from his face, going, IMO, for a 'I'm such a tough, hard woman' and aiming to make him flinch (Stella actually does flinch) but Mac doesn't move, just holds his badge up to her foot with this look on his face that says he's not impressed in the slightest,(much like Stella when the woman tries to pull the sisterhood card). I too can imagine Stella ranting about the use/abuse of the feminism thing.
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