Alphonso Mackenzie didn't start his Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. journey in the pilot, but that doesn't mean he's any less important. The S.H.I.E.L.D. skeptic has worked his way up from mechanic in his second season debut to director in the show's seventh (and final) season.
Mack has a true commitment to doing the most good for the largest number of people. He takes issue with some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrecy and violence, but he also understands the need for it. He's been a voice of dissent when Phil Coulson needs another point of view, and he's been a steadying force when Daisy Johnson's emotions make her more impulsive. As a result, Mack has some hilarious one-liners as well as some great inspirational moments.
10 "You Know How Some Guys Can Play A Tune By Ear? Well, I Need Sheet Music."
Mack's introduction included him working alongside Leo Fitz, who faces some serious challenges in his engineering feats. Fitz has difficulty communicating as a result of his drowning at the end of the first season, but he and Mack manage to find common ground in work.
When Fitz presents Mack with old schematics for his work, Mack doesn't immediately understand what they're going to be working on. The more the two work together, however, the easier it becomes for Mack and Fitz to communicate as Mack explains to Fitz that he needs detailed plans for their next project.
9 "I'm The Guy Who Kills Gordon."
This line gets a lot of laughs from fans at the end of the second season, but it definitely speaks to Mack's state of mind at the time — and how it changes.
The Inhumans become a larger part of the story in season 2. With Gordon on Jiaying's side, and bent on destruction, Mack and Fitz have to find a way to stop him. While Mack introduces himself to Gordon with this line and it's played for laughs, it's really not who Mack is. He doesn't want to use violence and death first. The fact that he's ready to kill the teleporting Gordon speaks to Mack's anger at the situation.
8 "We're Always Held Together By Hope, So We Cling To It..."
Every season has seen the team face more difficult threats to the world. When Elena Rodriguez nearly reaches her breaking point in season 5, feeling like no one is listening to her and that the team isn't together anymore, Mack reminds her that the team is still united.
Mack's belief that they're all held together by their hope is a lovely sentiment and not far from the truth. Even when circumstances are dire, they try to find whatever way they can to save the day, hoping they'll come out on top.
7 "I Need A Bigger Gun, I Guess. Or My Ax. Or Maybe A Shotgun-Ax Combination Of Some Sort."
Many of the characters in the series have found themselves with a signature weapon. Melinda May uses her fists, Daisy and Elena use their Inhuman abilities, Jemma Simmons prefers using a fire extinguisher, and Mack has a shotgun-ax.
The creation of the shotgun-ax comes in season 3, but before it happens, Mack theorizes about it while on a mission with Daisy. Mack understands the value of combining an old school weapon with more firepower.
After the series wrapped, Henry Simmons was even sent a prop shotgun-ax by those working on the show.
6 "The Guy You Wish He Would Be? I Never Knew Him. I Only Know This Guy. He's A Little Weird, But I Like Him."
When Fitz's brain suffers as a result of his drowning, Jemma Simmons has a hard time connecting with him again. She leaves to go undercover between the first and second seasons, believing it will help him. That's when he and Mack become friends.
As Mack points out to her upon her return, she keeps trying to act as though Fitz is exactly the same as he was before Grant Ward threw them into the ocean, but he's not. Until Jemma is able to acknowledge that, she's only frustrating everyone around her.
5 "When Does Killing Become The Only Way? We're S.H.I.E.L.D.. We're Supposed To Be Better Than That."
In the fifth season, Elena makes a drastic decision to end the life of antagonist Ruby Hale. She sees no other way to stop Ruby from her path of destruction, but Elena's choice isn't approved by everyone.
Mack is one who believes that there should always be another way to end a conflict. He wants desperately for S.H.I.E.L.D. to not be an organization built on violence. Luckily, his team wants to find nonlethal means to end a threat as well.
4 "I Like My Bosses Unjumbled At All Times."
Part of the reason Mack doesn't initially trust Coulson to lead is because he knows Coulson keeps secrets, much like Nick Fury did. When Mack finds out more about Coulson and his automatic writing in the Kree language, he's even more concerned.
Mack eventually reveals himself as a member of the "real S.H.I.E.L.D.," and part of a panel of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who collectively make decisions together instead of subscribing to one particular director. While Mack believes that's the best method, he finds even that group isn't always "unjumbled."
3 "I Always Worried That Robots Would Try And Kill Me One Day... Even Got A Special Provision In My Life Insurance For Death By Robot."
Everyone has their own worst fear. For Mack, that fear is robots, and he's come face to face with it plenty of times. Thanks to Fitz helping create Life Model Decoys and the Chronicoms wanting to take over the planet, there's been no shortage of robotic entities in Mack's life.
Luckily for Mack, he has plans for the possibility of "death by robot," which Elena finds ridiculous when he tells her in the fourth season. Three seasons later, she probably doesn't.
2 "I Didn't Quit Hard Enough. I'm Not Comfortable With The Pace At Which We Deal With New Trials And Tribulations."
Mack finds himself sick of dealing with the danger and pure strangeness that is S.H.I.E.L.D. an awful lot. In the second season, he even decides he's going to quit once the mission is over. It doesn't take, as Coulson reminds him when Mack decides to quit again in the fifth season.
Traveling through a large rock to the future is where Mack draws the line, but doing the right thing sucks him back in.
1 "...With Or Without Your Powers. They Don't Define You."
When Mack first learns of Inhumans in the second season, he doesn't trust them, and considers them dangerous. His tune has gradually changed since then, and he understands that people aren't solely defined by their Inhuman heritage or the powers they might receive.
It's Mack, then, who has to remind Elena of that in the seventh season when she worries about losing her place among her friends when she can no longer use her speed.
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