NM42, welcome to the thread. So you're going to be a Marine? That's cool!
No Good Deed was on here last night, and I thought it was a great Mac episode. He was definitely smiling a lot in this episode, it was so nice to see. I enjoyed the whole Ella storyline in this ep too. Yes, one part of me was yelling 'No, Mac, stay away!' but at the same time I couldn't help being touched by his words to Stella about what he sees in Ella, and his desire to reach out to and help her. It's been a while since we've seen Mac reach out to a victim, and because he doesn't do it all the time like Horatio does, it's always interesting to see. I also think it's interesting that Mac understood that Ella was lonely even before her parents died. The implication was obviously that they didn't have enough time for her, and Mac really seemed to feel for her on that one. Made me wonder if he ever felt neglected by one or both of his parents - he's referred several times over the years to there being 'bad' parents out there, or to children being neglected/disappointed by their parents.
I loved his talk to Stella, and I liked his talk to Ella at the end too, when he said she'd be 'okay'. The story about his childhood friend was interesting too, especially that he didn't really know how to comfort his friend. I think it's the same with Ella - he's aware, I think, that reaching out to her could be risky, I think he recognizes she's unstable, but at the same time he wants to help her and doesn't quite know how, or if he should.
I liked seeing that Mac is every bit as capable of making questionable judgement calls/being driven by his emotions as anyone else on the team. It's a shame we probably won't see any more of Ella.
I also thought it was interesting how in his talk with Stella,Mac seemed to be questioning whether what they did (putting killers away) really brought people closure. It's the first time we've ever really seen him express any doubts about his job, and what it means. I wonder whether he was thinking of Claire when he said that - I don't think he's ever had any real closure on her death.
Mac reaching out to Ella was described by the RT reviewer as being similar to Horatio always reaching out to kids of victims, but I thought that while it was a little unexpected for Mac, the storyline was still pretty in character for him - he has always had a compassion for victims and he's reached out to them several times before. We just don't see it all that often.
I liked how this storyline showed both Mac's flaws (letting his emotions cloud his judgement) and his good attributes (compassion). I defininitely think they're showing us a more human, more vulnerable Mac this season, a Mac who is vulnerable not only to the actions of others (Joe/Ethan, Ella) but to his own emotions.
What does anyone else think, about s5 Mac, and/or about the whole Ella thing? Like I said before, it's a shame this seems to be her last episode, because while she is a 'stalker' she's very different to Drew last season and any storyline with her and Mac would have been very different to the 333 one.
