Directed by Rob Bailey
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & Pam Veasey
"My Name Is Mac Taylor" is the 8th episode of Season 5 and the 100th overall. It originally aired November 19, 2008.
Someone is targeting victims named "Mac Taylor."
Tropes for the episode:
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Had David Oka gone to the police with the car of the Mac Taylor who killed his girlfriend when he discovered it, they would have arrested MacQuinn Taylor and the other two Mac Taylors Oka killed would still be alive.
- Man on Fire: Grieving the loss of his girlfriend, Oka tries self-immolation in a suicide attempt and is rushed to the hospital.
- Planet of Steves: Adam locates 23 individuals who go by the name "Mac Taylor".
- Revenge Before Reason: Oka found information that would have definitively led to the identification and arrest of the hit-and-run driver who killed his girlfriend had he turned it over the police. Instead, he wants her killer dead. This leads to two innocent men getting killed (one a straight up murder, another by accident while Oka is struggling with him to see his keys to determine the make of his car).
- Self-Immolation: Distraught over the loss of his girlfriend, Oka sets himself on fire near the end of the episode. His fate is left hanging.
- Shirtless Scene: Mac is shown diving into a pool and swimming while dressed only in his swim trunks.
- Significant Name Overlap: To avoid major confusion, each "Mac" Taylor is revealed to have a different actual given name (MacDonald, Machiavelli, Mackendra, etc).
- Title Drop: The potential victims introduce themselves by saying, "My name is Mac Taylor." Surprisingly averted by Det. Taylor in *this* episode, as he introduces himself in this manner quite often throughout the series.
- Vigilante Justice: Deconstructed. Oka sets about to kill the person responsible for his girlfriend's death rather than report what he knows to the police and let them handle it. Because he only knows the culprit's name, he ends up killing two innocent people and injuring another before he himself is stopped.
- Villain Has a Point: MacQuinn Taylor, the Mac Taylor responsible for the hit-and-run that killed David Oka's girlfriend, rightfully points out to Mac that he didn't make Oka kill anyone. In the end, Oka chose to take the law into his own hands rather than report the car model and the owner's name to the police, which could have easily allowed them to find and arrest MacQuinn. While his actions set the episode's events into motion, MacQuinn is not legally responsible for Oka's crimes.
- Workout Fanservice: Mac is seen swimming laps at the local rec center.
