Oh, how I
love Fitz and Mack in season 2 – I mean, they’re still friends, but season 2 is
when they first became friends, and I think it’s the best showcase for their
relationship. Even before you consider
all the plot stuff going on with Fitz at the time, it helps with a much-needed
shakeup in the group dynamics, and I like how we get to know Mack through his
friendship with Fitz (season 2 spoilers.)
Fitz
begins season 2 in a seriously rough spot.
His near-fatal encounter with Ward at the end of season 1 leaves him
with cognitive, speech, and motor difficulties, Simmons has left for reasons he
doesn’t understand, and rather than leaning on his other friends and colleagues
for help, he’s retreated into working through his confused thoughts by talking
to an imaginary Simmons. He’s frustrated
that nothing comes easily for him anymore and afraid that he’ll be let go from
the team because he’s not quick or consistent enough in performing the work
they need. When he interacts with the
likes of Skye, May, Coulson, and Trip, he feels like a) they think he’s useless
now and b) they pity him because all they can see is who he used to be and who
he is now.
Enter
Mack, savvy mechanic and all-around decent guy.
He didn’t know Fitz before the traumatic injury, so he has no
preconceived notions about who Fitz ought to be. Instead, Mack meets him as he is now –
struggling but far from incapable – and he treats him as such. He starts reaching out to Fitz is small, easy
ways, offering a pair of fresh eyes on tech stuff and treating Fitz’s agitated
idiosyncracies as no big deal.
It could
be argued that Mack is brought in as a “Fitz whisperer” and functions mainly to
facilitate his storyline, but I think this relationship is so important for
what it says about Mack as well. True,
this storyline is Fitz’s, and Mack doesn’t get much of his own plot until the
second half of the season. However,
through their friendship, we learn a lot about what sort of person Mack is.
I love
Mack’s interactions with Fitz so much.
He doesn’t walk on eggshells around Fitz at all, talking to him straight
and not skirting around mentions of Fitz’s disability. While the others sort of hold their breath
and hope Fitz will be able to sort out whatever techy business they need him to
do, Mack fully expects that Fitz has a handle on it, even if it takes him some
time to get there. But at the same time,
Mack also gets that Fitz does need
certain accommodations to get things done and he facilitates those
accommodations in a nonchalant manner.
Helping Fitz fill in the words he’s missing due to his aphasia is of
course the big one here, but I also like how he’s tuned into other stuff as
well, like when there are too many people in the lab and Fitz needs solitude to
concentrate.
Truly,
these guys become friends, plain and simple.
When Simmons comes back and “thanks” Mack for being so kind to Fitz, you
can feel how genuine he is when he’s all, “Um, no thanks required.” She’s looking at Fitz from a medical model of
disability, as someone to help and assist, while Mack sees him from a social
model, whereby he’s just a regular guy, albeit one with some unique
circumstances. For Mack, it’s weird to
be thanked for befriending Fitz, because he doesn’t view it as some great thing
he did. It’s just friendship. Fitz starts opening up to Mack about personal
struggles, just as Mack talks to Fitz about his doubts/worries with regard to
some of Coulson’s orders. They shoot the
breeze and play video games together, and after Mack’s horrific experience in
the Temple, being temporarily taken over by some Kree force, it’s Fitz’s turn to
reach out, and he tries to get Mack to talk about what happened to him. Both are able to be there for the other, and
both are able to pull each other up.
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