I just saw the s6 premiere for the first time, and I absolutely loved Mac. Not only did he look so freakin' hot throughout, but it was nice to see his vulnerable, flawed human side - I liked when Stella told him off for going alone with Danny to see the informant - that really wasn't very good judgement on Mac's part and showed he was acting more as a man desperate to catch the people who hurt/almost killed his friends than a boss. It showed he's as capable of letting his emotions override his judgement as anyone else, something we have seen before, and IMO, that's interesting and real. I also liked that Stella reminded him the case wasn't all about him, and he wasn't in it alone. Mac does have the tendency to take things and sort of make them all about him, but I personally don't think it's because he has a massive ego/is a self-absorbed ass. I've always seen it as being more something that comes with who Mac is and how he thinks. He tends to feel responsible for protecting everyone, and as leader I think he believes that he has to do that alone, and he forgets that it's usually better to get help from others. I guess maybe his being so focused on how the shooting affected him was a little bit selfish, but hell, that's human. When something like that happens, most people will think first about how it affected them, and I think Danny and Flack did the same thing. It's just a human trait, IMO. But I also noticed that Mac seemed concerned for both Danny and Flack and to some extent blamed himself for not being sure how to help them (because he's Mac and not very good at emotional stuff) and that lead to frustration. So I think the whole 'you're not alone in this, Mac' bit was partly his tendency to make things about him, and partly his tendency to try to deal with problems on his own and not ask for help when he really should. I certainly don't agree with those people who think Mac always makes everything about him and that he does it because he thinks he's a superhero or God or he has a massive ego. I don't think he always makes everything about him, I prefer to see it as he just takes things a bit too personally sometimes, and as I've said, tries to handle everything alone (which fits I think with the strong sense of responsibility and duty that he has, and with his role as leader of the team, and as an officer in the Marines) and I know this tendency drives other people up the wall, but I just see it as a flaw of his that makes him more real, and though he does need pulling up on it sometimes, I don't think it's a bad thing. It's a lot like Danny's tendency to act on impulse/his emotions which then gets him into trouble - it's part of who he is, part of what makes him human. I'd rather Mac take cases too personally than he react to something like the shooting with clinical detachment and just work it like any other case. And, most important, Mac acknowledged Stella was right, so I think he knows he takes things a bit too personally sometimes and that he shouldn't be trying to handle it all alone. I really liked the scene where he had the team gathered all around the conference table and they were working together to solve the case.
Seeing Mac get personally involved in a case, and get emotionally involved too, has always been a good thing for me, and it was nice to see that in this ep.
Ok, rant over. *phew* Sorry, had to vent there!
I loved the scene with Mac and Flack, another scene where Gary managed to say a lot without actually saying anything, when Flack was saying he needed to come back to work, Mac was clearly struggling between understanding that completely and wanting to let Flack work the case, and thinking that it might not be a good idea to have him come back so soon. He totally knew that no matter what Flack said, he wasn't fine at all, and being Mac he's not going to sit Don down and have a long talk about feelings, so his final reaction, of going over to Don and discussing the case with him, was very Mac, IMO.
I really liked the scene at the end with Mac and Stella clearing up his office, too.
Poor Mac, he looked so stressed and tired and angsty and sort of lost at times. Methinks Hawkes isn't the only one not sleeping. I just wanted to hug him and make it all better.Well, I wanted to do more than hug him.:devil:
God, he was HOT though.:drool: All angsty and pissy and vulnerable at the same time and in casual clothes, just, HOT.:drool:
that bit on the making of special feature when hill talks about that always makes me giggle
