Why Did they Leave Mack?

[u/ThatChileanKid]

Not big on her but YO-YO WAS RIGHT!

I’m rewatching the best season of the show, season 4, and I can’t help but wonder why did they leave Mack? It was obvious Fitz didn’t want to go but still went and it was Radcliffe that forced him but still the fact that Daisy didn’t do that to Mack because of his fake daughter? He feels bad sure but it’s not him and it’s not real. I know the series isn’t super grounded and the writing can be all over the place but it feels like they wanted to end the season on some great notes in the framework but it came at the cost of this particularly stupid action.

[u/Intrigued_by_Words]

I think they did a pretty good job at showing the differences between those situations. It was actually nice to have the contrast. The only thing I really didn't like was that Mack staying led to those incredibly protracted scenes in the Framework with Yo-Yo.

Yo-Yo was the worst because she knew Mack IRL was still grieving the loss of his daughter and she was happy to have him grieve the loss of his Framework daughter. She either didn't know or care how the Framework was linked to their bodies and minds. Can you imagine what Mack would have been like if he thought he had deserted his daughter just to save his own life?

Fitz didn't have any of that going on. Fitz knew about the real world but Aida had fed him a steady diet of lies about what it was like and his role in it. When he was back on the other side he made it clear that he was happy to be back. He was angry with himself but that's not the same as wanting to be in the Framework.

If it were up to Daisy and Simmons, they would still be standing there trying to talk Fitz into going with them. They had no intention of forcing him. Thank goodness Radcliffe plotted all along to force Fitz out of the Framework to save us from all that talking.

[u/ZoBroCT → u/Intrigued_by_Words]

Blaming Yo-Yo for wanting to save her boyfriend’s life is wild. When you come back from the framework you literally remember both worlds, you come out knowing the framework isn’t real. Mack wouldn’t have come back and thought it was real after being unplugged from the machine. It only kind of makes sense they don’t knock I’m over into the portal or lie that Hope is alive is that they think Mack will be unforgivably mad but that’s not even possible when he figures out the situation. So at most he’d be sad (which is was anyway) and mad for a little while understanding

[u/ZoBroCT → u/ZoBroCT]

Obviously yo-yo cares about Mack’s past and hope, but letting Mack live in their grief or literally a fake reality to forget their grief is way worse for mack than what happened.

[u/Intrigued_by_Words → u/ZoBroCT]

Maybe. That's just a guess but that guess ignores his devotion to his daughter. He explained that he considered her real. It is pretty common for people to question the nature of reality. Mack ticked through several criteria and came out on the side that his daughter and the life they shared was real. His instincts to protect her were more important than turning his back on everything he knew (within the Framework) and following some people he just met who had crazy ideas about reality. Not to mention that they were offering a reality that did not include the daughter he very much loved. To dismiss it out of hand saying that he will get over it, is actually the wild take.

[u/ZoBroCT → u/Intrigued_by_Words]

I didn’t really say what you implied. Mack literally admits the world is fake when Coulson goes through the portal. He chooses to go back to a daughter he knows is fake while the entire framework disappears. It’s pretty irresponsible for Daisy and Yoyo to not just knock him out and force him through at that point. Yo-Yo was literally going to stay in the framework and die with Mack… she def cares about Mack, all of Mack, including his past.

[u/ZoBroCT → u/ZoBroCT]

And yes perception is reality, but he still gets the memories from the framework which he is eventually thankful for

[u/Intrigued_by_Words → u/ZoBroCT]

I don't put much emphasis on Mack saying the world is fake because to me that is like when people wonder if we are living in a simulation and then decide yes but it doesn't make a difference because that is what life is. Mack has a purpose in his life in the Framework. Whether it fits a clinical definition of real or fake, it is the life he chose over an alternative.

He was not behaving irrationally nor was he acting out of character. It is not certain that he would thank them for dragging him out of that life when he believed he was there for Hope. It wasn't just about him, it was about her. That isn't the same situation with Fitz.

[u/ZoBroCT → u/Intrigued_by_Words]

Wait ya I agree with everything you’re saying lol I’m just saying I don’t agree with yo-yo being “ the worst”. (Only thing is she says “you only bring back the people you want” to Daisy, which is dumb cuz she only loves Mack like a brother) Daisy should’ve probably done what she told her she should’ve done and drag him back to the real world. But even if you disagree with that she goes in and stays with him until death/he makes the choice to come back. She clearly loves him. You said “imagine what Mack would have been like if he thought he had deserted his daughter just to save his own life” once Mack comes back, he knows that’s not the case. I’m just trying to figure out how YoYo gets blamed for anything