Mackenzie Johnson

**Mackenzie "Trip" Johnson III** is a main character in *Home Before Dark*. She is portrayed by Aziza Scott.

## Biography

Mackenzie was born to Mackenzie Johnson Jr. and raised by him. When her Grandfather died, she and Junior moved back Erie Harbor so he could work and live on the family farm. Trip was in high school at the time of the movie, and stayed in town after her graduation. She became a deputy at the Holmes County Sheriff's Department.

## Series

### Season 2

In "*Not Giving Up*", eight months have passed since Trip's election, though she's still settling into the office and new ranking. Hilde visits the station and notices the way the deputies and officers stare at her as she walks by. Frank gives her a stern look as she pours a mug of coffee. Trip intercepts and refuses to let her have coffee. Hilde needs help and asks why everyone is staring. Trip explains there’s a new guy in the office so everyone is on edge. Plus, Hilde took down Sheriff Briggs which makes her a big deal. A man wearing a suit walks over and greets Sheriff Johnson. Hilde introduces herself as a reporter. She wants to know if there were any loud noises or flashes of light around 2:00 that morning. The man hopes Trip isn’t leaking information to the small person, and Hilde defends her right to freedom of the press. Trip interrupts that she isn’t leaking anything and was about to call her parents. The man’s name is Rutherford and he carries a badge but he refuses to give his first name to Hilde.

Trip takes Hilde into her office and reminds her that she can’t keep coming in. Trip is the Sheriff now which comes with a lot more responsibility. The man outside was sent by the state attorney general after everything that happened with Sam’s case. He decides who gets to keep their job so, in a way, he’s her boss. Hilde doesn’t think Trip needs a boss. Hilde asks for answers on the noise and lights but Trip can’t give her anything. She’s proud of everything that Hilde is doing but can’t be her source anymore.

Hilde angrily leaves the station while Trip tries to stop her. She tries to explain that she and Hilde are held to a different standard in this town, but Hilde thinks that’s why they have to keep fighting. If she stopped reporting every time someone scared her she would never get a story. Trip has to be careful with Rutherford watching her every move. Hilde just got people to take her seriously and now no one will talk to her. Trip understands and explains the explosion was a transformer at her dad’s farm. He doesn’t think it was an accident but Trip presses that there are more important things going on than their relationship. If she gets caught leaking information to Hilde she could get fired. Everything will go back to the way it was before Briggs was fired if that happens. Hilde offers to protect her but Trip needs to focus on doing her job right and keeping it.

The next day, Bridget greets Trip and her father at her law office as Hilde gave her background on the case. He knows all about girls who come into the world beyond their years. They sit in Bridget’s office as Trip explains her family owned a dairy farm outside of town for fifty-three years. He doesn’t farm out there anymore but uses it for animal rescue. Trip hands Bridget a file on the company, Wott Management, who tried to buy the farm. Bridget is impressed by the amount of money they’re offering. Junior doesn’t want to ever sell as isn’t about the money. When his father bought the place it was something for a black man to own the land. He died when Trip was in high school so they moved to Erie Harbor to live and work on the farm. The Johnson’s have already sent a letter rejecting their offer, but now Wott Management is threatening eminent domain. Bridget asks if they are a government agency and if they know anything about the company. Junior doesn’t know much as he couldn’t find anything online. Bridget confirms that it is possible for Wott to pay them pinnace and throw them off the land, but she won’t let that happen.

In "*I Believe You*", Bridget goes to her office while talking to Trip about Wott Management. The door to her office is open even though she knows she locked it. Trip tells her to just come to the station, so Bridget takes Ginny and leaves.

In "*Fighting His Ghost*", Junior reads the Magic Hour Chronicle as Trip enters the kitchen. He tells her about the newest Magic Hour post calling out the locals to take care of the environment. He advises Trip to throw her weight around a little as she could do some real good. She wants to but has to be careful as they’re set in their ways. She wants to believe the world is getting better. He’s reluctant to believe that but she tells him to not give up on the world just yet.

At work, Trip learns that her lieutenants are out sick again. She decides to ask Frank what his dad is up to these days as she’s been trying to reach him. She feels like she’s fighting his ghost every day. Some people still talk about how Briggs wants things done, and it’s frustrating. Frank admits he hasn’t spoken to his father in months and isn’t planning on starting. She reminds him that Briggs is still his father and he can’t avoid him forever in a town this small. He plans to at least try to avoid him.

That afternoon, Trip enters a diner where she takes a seat across from Briggs. He remarks that it isn’t easy being the boss. She retorts that it would be easier if he wasn’t still giving orders to her deputies. She knows about his meetings at the Dry Dock. She’s trying to clean up his mess but he’s still in her way. He blames the Lisko’s for everything that’s happened. It might not be them exactly but it’s a good example. He advises her not to let the kids treat the station like a funhouse as it lowers morale and makes her look soft. He reminds her to always be on the side of the town. When she lets Hilde walk all over people it makes her look like she cares more about the hell-raising family than her own deputies. She’s trying to listen to everyone as they deserve it, even little kids. He doesn’t think he’s standing her way as he knows how hard the job is. She goes to leave when Briggs asks if she’ll tell Frank they talked. She doesn’t think it would matter much to Frank. He asks her to put in a good word with him if she does tell Frank. Trip knows he thinks the Lisko’s are the problem, but in their backward way, they’re part of the solution.

She goes back to work, where she talks to a deputy who is annoyed as his numbers have gone up but she’s still on him. She explains that they’re under investigation for closing 35 cases they shouldn’t have closed. He barks that he’ll close fewer cases. Before she can respond, Hilde and her friends enter, earning a “no comment” from the desk officer Bob. She asks who put up the fence at Pinewood Park, to which Trip gives them the press speech. Spoon interrupts that they aren’t there as reporters but private citizens. Trip doesn’t know anything about a fence so Hilde wants her to find out. Bob gives Trip a look so she tells Hilde this is a sheriff’s station and not her clubhouse. She can’t drop everything to look into a mysterious fence. Hilde asks if she cares that the animals are dying. Trip gives her a form that she can fill out just like everyone else does. She tells Bob to take care of it.

Meanwhile, someone throws a brick through the Johnson's home while Junior, Bridget, and Izzy were there. Trip and Frank investigate the brick and are glad everyone is okay. Matt is there comforting Izzy and Bridget. Bridget plans to file the injunction against Wott Management right away. The Lisko women leave while Matt stays behind. Matt, Frank, and Trip think it might be Wott Management but the guy drove away before Junior could get a good look at him. Frank offers to add the Johnson Farm to his daily patrol to give Junior added protection, but Trip refuses as this is still a standard vandalism case. She doesn’t want Rutherford to blame her for directing resources to her father. Junior knows it might be Wott but it could be some racist punks too, as he’s had run-ins with them in the past. Frank decides to check the perimeter for the car and Matt joins him. Trip assures her father it will be okay.

The next day, Briggs enters the station and stuns everyone as he walks to Trip's office, where they talk in private. He ran into some of the deputies the night before and they were bragging about sending a message with a brick. Trip thought it was Wott Management trying to intimidate her father. She asks what message they were trying to send. Briggs tells her it was a message to her. The deputies might be loyal to him but he isn’t loyal to them and their cowardly behavior. He gives her the names of the deputies responsible and tells her to take them down, calling her Sheriff for the first time.

In "*Dark Rooms*", Trip asks Frank into her office as she needs to expand his patrol territory. His response makes her believe he has an attitude, but he didn’t mean it that way only as him following orders. She apologizes for the misunderstanding. She’s stressed with Rutherford on her, always tracking her movements. He jokes about her coffee intake but then asks how he can help. She appreciates even the offer but just wants him to take the extra patrols and run interference with Hilde and her cohorts.

In "*The Black Box*", Trip and Rutherford talk in her office in the station. He’s almost done with his report. He doesn’t think she will like some of the conclusions he’s drawn. She thinks they’ve made progress even if it is slow. He thinks she did the right thing firing the deputies, as there’s no place for racist behavior even in small towns. But the fact it happened at all shows a lack of respect for her leadership, so the town might not be ready for her. She’s offended and tells him she won’t quit, then shows him the door.

That afternoon, Hilde and Matt go to Trip in the hope she’ll investigate the plane, but she’s more interested in why Hilde was in the basement in the first place. Matt argues that it was a party and there’s no law prohibiting a journalist from investigating a public event. He asks her to help them out. Rutherford observes and states he loves the first name basis thing the town has going on. Matt reveals that it might be Hank Gillis’s plane. Rutherford interjects that a wild-goose chase totally isn’t a waste of time. Trip asks Hilde if she’s sure she saw that so Trip and Rutherford head to the manor.

But this time, the plane parts are completely gone and a pool table is in its place. The man that’s been following her enters and she points him out to her father. He’s Karl Kurz, head of security. Hilde begins to confront him but Matt stops her. Trip apologizes for bothering him and Rutherford states he wants a word with her outside. Hilde tries to stop Trip but she isn’t interested. Everyone told her to stay away from the Lisko’s as they’re trouble. She was just dumb enough not to listen. Matt runs after her as he assures Hilde he’ll figure it out.

## Personality

Trip is a dedicated deputy of Holmes County, something she prides herself on and is passionate about. She has a sharp mind for solving cases, has a persistence to solving cases, and is a very capable woman. She doesn't appreciate being asked to break rank or protocol, or being put in positions where she doesn't have control over the outcomes. Trip is also exceptional at reading people and understanding them, as she knew that Frank was finding Sam out of a sense of selfishness, but also out of a sense of duty. She takes her job seriously and is forced to make a difficult decision when it comes to choosing between the respect of her deputies and her loyalty to Hilde. Despite her gratefulness to Hilde for her help in getting Trip elected and their amazing repour, Trip chooses to be a dedicated sheriff by turning Hilde away instead of dropping everything to help her young friend. She tells Hilde she can't treat the station like a clubhouse, telling her that things are harder for people like them in this town. While she isn't scared to find the truth, she has to tow the line, something Hilde can't understand because of her young age and penchant for truth-telling.

## Physical Appearance

Trip is an adult woman in her thirties. She initially has shoulder-length brown hair that she wears in a bun. However, she cuts her hair to her chin after she becomes Sheriff. She has an oval-shaped face, prominent facial features, and almond-shaped brown eyes. She has a kindness to her that is apparent when she's around those she cares about or is protective over. She has a certain level of sass and grandeur when she's off-duty, something that is reflected in her choices of attire and stances.