Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie

Cindy Mackenzie
Screenshot of "Mac" Mackenzie from Veronica Mars
First appearance	"Like a Virgin"
Last appearance	"The Bitch Is Back"
Created by	Rob Thomas
Portrayed by	Tina Majorino
Information
Nickname(s)	Mac
Gender	Female
Occupation	Student
Family	Natalie Mackenzie (adoptive mother) Sam Mackenzie (adoptive father) Ryan Mackenzie (adoptive brother) Mrs. Sinclair (biological mother) Mr. Sinclair (biological father) Lauren Sinclair (biological sister)
Significant other(s)	Max Bronson Pope Cassidy Casablancas (deceased)

Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie is a fictional character on UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, portrayed by Tina Majorino. She was a recurring character during the first two seasons, and was promoted to series regular status for the third season.

Mac uses her computer hacking and cracking skills to help Veronica with her cases; the two joke that she is a kind of Q to Veronica's James Bond. Whether coincidentally or not, Mac (a common nickname for "Mackenzie") has also shown a decided preference for Apple Macintosh computers, which share her nickname.

Background

Mac is 19, a Sagittarius and her hometown is Neptune, California.^[1] True to the show's spirit of moral grey areas, in the episode where Mac is introduced, she helps Veronica find out who has stolen her password and has created a false score under her name on a purity test that had become a brief fad at Neptune High. The moral ambiguity of the show is best shown in the fact that Mac, although a friend of Veronica's, is the person who created the test in the first place, thus making it possible for the "sex crazed 09ers" to access other people's purity tests - and thus is also responsible for the chaos which is the focus of this episode. Veronica however harbors no resentment towards Mac for this, only caring about those that took tests for others.

Like Veronica, Mac uses an Apple PowerBook and in season three, a MacBook Pro. Mac vehemently defends the Mac OS X operating system (in the episode "Weapons of Class Destruction") in an argument with an Ubuntu fan.

Mac has always felt like an outsider in her family, having completely different tastes and views to them. While digging for dirt on Mac's parents, Veronica discovers that Mac was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair. Since the mistake was uncovered four years after the births, the parents decided to keep the children. Each family received a handsome cash settlement from the hospital. While Madison's family invested and flourished, Mac's started a business and went bankrupt. Interestingly, Mac's biological mother shows some longing to know Mac, while Madison's biological family have no interest in her whatsoever.

She formerly dated Cassidy Casablancas, but the relationship ends when Cassidy balks at becoming sexually intimate with Mac. They are back together in time for graduation in "Not Pictured"; in the same episode, however, Veronica discovers that Cassidy had been responsible for (among other things) the bus crash that occurred in "Normal Is the Watchword". Cassidy, intercepting Veronica's message, robs and abandons Mac while she is in the shower, leaving her without clothes. He then attempts to kill Veronica, and, later that night, commits suicide.

Mac attends Hearst College along with Veronica and she initially is uncomfortable with male attention. A series of rapes on campus bring up bad memories. However, she is eventually able to move on and have successful relationships. Though she at first feels uncomfortable with her new roommate, Parker Lee, Parker's rape helps Mac to see her as vulnerable. When Parker's parents come to take her home, Mac tells her that she should stay, ensuring Parker's presence for the rest of the series. It is thanks to Mac that Parker and Logan get together on the treasure hunt.

At Hearst, Mac falls for and dates an animal-rights activist named Bronson Pope. They date for a few episodes until Mac meets Max, a student who sells copies of exams. After the two connect, Mac breaks up with Bronson and begins dating Max, who she is with at the end of the series.

Trivia

• It is indicated on her Myspace page that one of Mac's favourite movies is Napoleon Dynamite, which features Tina Majorino as Deb.

• The song listed on Mac's MySpace page is by The AM Project, who feature Tina Majorino on lead vocals.

• Each season, Mac features a different highlights in her hair: season 1, blue; season 2, red; and season 3, yellow-blonde.

Interests

Mac enjoys Sudoku, MySpace, Gadgetry, Robot Club, Fro-yo, Road trips, Ron Weasley, Converse, Snoopy, The Sims, geography, hot chocolate, going to the movies and tchotchkes. Her favorite musicians are Fiona Apple, Coldplay, Beck, Dandy Warhols, Elliott Smith, The Mars Volta and Jet. Her favorite films are American Beauty, Lost In Translation, Ghost World, Shakespeare in Love, and Donnie Darko. She enjoys watching Freaks and Geeks, 24 and Saturday Night Live. Her favorite book is J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and her heroes are Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein and Tina Fey.^[1]

Appearances

Season 1

• 1x08 Like a Virgin
• 1x11 Silence of the Lamb
• 1x18 Weapons of Class Destruction
• 1x20 M.A.D.

Season 2

• 2x04 Green-Eyed Monster
• 2x08 Ahoy, Mateys!
• 2x09 My Mother, the Fiend
• 2x13 Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough
• 2x14 Versatile Toppings
• 2x17 Plan B
• 2x19 Nevermind the Buttocks
• 2x20 Look Who’s Stalking
• 2x21 Happy Go Lucky
• 2x22 Not Pictured

Season 3

• 3x01 Welcome Wagon
• 3x02 My Big Fat Greek Rush Week
• 3x09 Spit & Eggs
• 3x10 Show Me the Monkey
• 3x14 Mars, Bars
• 3x16 Un-American Graffiti
• 3x17 Debasement Tapes
• 3x18 I Know What You'll Do Next Summer
• 3x19 Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down
• 3x20 The Bitch Is Back

Majorino filmed scenes for 3x04 Charlie Don't Surf, but they were deleted.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} MySpace.com - MAC - 20 - Fille - Neptune, Alabama - www.myspace.com/vmarsmac

• Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season, Warner Home Video, 2005, UPC 01256972774.