Mackenzie in Emmerdale is not exactly winning any popularity contests at the moment. In fact, Charity hit the nail on the head when she called him a “lying man child” in the latest episode. You couldn’t have said it better, Ms. Dingle. While there may be a bunch of disappointing men roaming around Emmerdale – Charles, Cain, Caleb – we believe Mack takes the prize as the worst of the lot. Even in a soap world full of badly behaved men, Mack is giving them all a run for their money. So what makes him so toxic? Let’s delve into the details.
Liar, liar, pants on fire! Mackenzie is spinning so many lies these days that we’re not even sure if he knows what’s true anymore. He spent months feeding Charity a pack of lies about Chloe and baby Reuben. And the moment he was caught, he switched gears and started lying to Chloe instead. He continues to do so, assuring Chloe that he has no feelings for Charity, even though they slept together just a few weeks ago. We’re left questioning whether he truly loves Chloe, wants to be with Charity, or if he doesn’t really love either of them. His constant lying is definitely not cool, Mack.
Once a cheater, always a cheater? Chloe hit the nail on the head when she said this to Charity in the recent hospital scene. Mackenzie’s penchant for lying goes hand-in-hand with his complete disregard for faithfulness. At the slightest hint of trouble with Charity, he hopped into bed with Chloe. And the moment things got intense with Chloe, he was back to eyeing Charity. The fact that these women are civil and understanding towards each other only highlights Mack’s toxicity even more. We didn’t think that was possible!
Gaslighting and manipulating. It’s a trendy term these days, but it perfectly describes what Mackenzie is doing to poor Chloe. And yes, we mean poor Chloe. She’s a young mother who has had a difficult childhood, lost her sister, and recently discovered that Kerry Wyatt is her mom – talk about trauma! She’s desperately seeking a stable family environment, and here comes Mack, who may have been younger than Charity, but is still much older than her. The fact that he’s manipulating her into doing what he wants, which includes moving hundreds of miles away from her only family, is just not right.
Work ethic, or lack thereof. Let’s not make this all about money, but Mack is hardly a responsible provider, is he? Yes, he did a bit of work for Cain this week, but overall, he barely bothers to get off his lazy bum. Unless it’s to splurge on alcohol or buy yet another engagement ring. And let’s not forget that the only jobs he’s had since coming to Emmerdale were handed to him by his sister and her husband. He’s hardly husband material, is he?
The whole A-Team obsession. Okay, this may seem trivial compared to the other reasons we despise Mack, but his obsession with The A-Team is just a bit too much for a man his age. It’s not cute or funny, it’s just plain weird. Can we please leave the ’80s in the past?
With Mackenzie set to take center stage in Super Soap Week, can we dare to hope that he might see the error of his ways? Stranger things have happened! Nevertheless, it’s clear that Mack is the epitome of a toxic man in Emmerdale. He’s a lying, cheating, manipulative slacker who needs a serious wake-up call. Let’s hope the other characters in Emmerdale start seeing through his facade and give him the comeuppance he deserves.
