He has A LOT of family who served. The dog tags he wore as Lt. Dan were the actual ones on the rosary that his brother-in-law wore as a combat medic in Vietnam. He named his son, McCanna after another brother-in-law (Boyd McCanna Harris, who as you might recall is also the inspiration for Mac's father - McCanna Boyd Taylor) who was an officer in the Army and also served in Vietnam. His uncle was a B-52 bomber in WWII, and he has been involved in troop support going all the way back to the early '80s in Steppenwolf when they put on the show 'Tracers'. Yes it was a bit of a PSA moment, the problem is extremely real, and there are a shocking number of vets young and old that fall through cracks post-deployment. I think we tend to cliche the image of homeless vets to those old guys, but the amount of relative youngsters facing severe PTSD is quite incredible. Just watch the documentary 'Restrepo' about a company from the 125th Infantry in Afghanistan, and they're just one company. And the thing is, in that conversation when Jo mentioned the horrors the young people are being sent to deal with and be expected to cope with, I could almost see Mac realize that it could have happened to him. In fact throughout that whole conversation that is what came through to me. He was a Recon Marine. The special forces of the Marines. He has talked about "putting men in the ground on foreign soil" - not the typical battle-field language. god knows what he saw and experienced when he was in his twenties, and I'm sure it was running through his head. So no, I didn't have a problem with it all, and I don't have a problem with the amount of energy Gary puts into troop support. He actually means every single word. Which is extremely rare. And yes I'm a bit lopsided being an Army combat medic myself and my brother a fighter pilot in the Air Force, but like I said, he truly means it all. It isn't lip service and a 'convenient' charity as a celebrity like most others. And tying the whole thing back to Mac, I think was quite in character for him given his past which clearly still haunts him as much as it gives him pride.
As for the ep itself, it was really quite sad. Tragic in nearly every respect. I so felt for Ryan and his wife, and I think Mac wished he had a say in what charges the DA decided to press as well. Which was part of the tragedy. And I thought actually a really good touch. So often the CSI department of the NYPD is portrayed as being the ones who totally investigate and close cases, but in reality, they just present science and it's up to a multitude of other people in the justice system to make what use of it they can. Science can only go so far.
I liked the twists the case took. It was rather refreshing not to know the outcome right from the start. Although them not instantly realizing why Ryan faked his death was rather :shifty:
That was rather obvious.
I LOATHED the reporter, and was
exceedingly glad in that last scene (oh god, don't get me started on that last scene...!
), when Mac pretty clearly stated he wasn't taking her up on any of her 'other' offers. But seriously, that last scene about killed me! And not because I ship Mac and Jo (I don't). It was brilliant in so many ways, and Mac's expression and the way he said, "Flack is dead. He's.
dead."...... :guffaw::guffaw: I think Flack is definitely going to hear about that one :lol:
Not enough Adam, but his bit where he skids up to Mac and tells him he's a genius had me laughing as well :lol:
And as an absolute shock, I actually didn't mind Lindsey this ep, and kinda *gasp* liked her scene with Mac. For some reason it reminded me almost a bit of s2.
So overall, a pretty good ep. I don't know that it's one I'll rewatch in its entirety a lot just because all the story lines in it really are so sad, but I am going to admit I've re-watched that end scene *cough*quite a few*cough* times :lol:
A-
