Zack Powers

"Bad attitude, late, incompetent...but I look forward to working for him someday."

- George's sarcastic description of Zack. "I think it'll be over...when Carmen gets outta bed to make me a sandwich."

- Zack confessing his true intentions to George.

Zack Powers is the delinquent, womanizing teenage son of George's boss Mel in the show George Lopez.

He was played by Trevor Wright.

Personality
Zack is a conniving, lawless, loathsome delinquent and takes great pride in being one. He was a womanizer, often praying on girls looking for true love and have low self-esteem. Hence, George's daughter Carmen was easy prey for him.

He had already gotten a girl pregnant beforehand, not even respecting her enough to be safe. He joyfully engaged in vandalism, delinquency and ticking people off. He was well aware of George's disdain towards him and only got involved with Carmen simply to infuriate him. Zack had absolutely no respect for his father or any form of authority. He was confident his father's wealth would ensure he'd have an easy lifestyle.

Judging from Zack's personality traits, he may be an outright sociopath (albeit a low-functioning one). His lack of empathy is apparent with how he plans to ditch Carmen after having sex with her, just like he did to the principal's daughter (the aforementioned pregnant girl). His smug cowardice is apparent as well, constantly taunting George about his crush on Carmen but then hiding or running away as soon as stuff hits the fan. He's able to woo Carmen (until she finally breaks up with him at least), but apart from that everyone (even Mel to an extent) either distrusts or flat-out hates him. And judging from some of his crimes (i.e. stealing a car and punching out a teacher on top of trashing the factory), he is also very aggressive. He does have a Freudian Excuse (having an absent father and a bitter alcoholic mother), but George silently calls out how weak it is, since he had a similar childhood and turned out to be a stern yet gold-hearted man.

History
Zack had been kicked out of school and banned from any other educational institute. His father Mel had no choice but to bring him to work at the airplane factory. George took an instant disliking to Zack. While at the factory he was a poor worker and joyfully vandalized the place just to infuriate his father. Throughout this time, he was secretly seeing Carmen behind George's back. Carmen was genuinely falling in love with him, while Zack saw her as nothing as a tool for sex and a way to tick off George. When George figured out what was going on, he confronted Zack on the matter and despicable Zack joyfully said they'll be done as soon as they wake up. George made a go for him, but Ernie held him back to prevent George from getting fired and Zack made his getaway.

Zack soon whisked Carmen away from home. But then she got wise and ditched him in a club in San Francisco. Zack went home to steal more money for the road. But his father caught and forced him back to the factory to tell a detained George where Carmen was. If Carmen was harmed, George would beat Zack into a coma. Zack made a run for it, but not before getting knocked out by Benny with a wrench. Mel apparently then disowned him, as Benny never faced any punishment for hitting his son. His fate is unknown but he has paid the price for his callousness and delinquency.

What Makes Him Pathetic?

 * He was expelled from high school for stealing a car, punching out a teacher, and getting the principal's daughter pregnant because he apparently didn't care enough to use a condom.
 * He only dates Carmen in hopes of having sex with her, planning to dump her right afterwards. Fortunately, after they run away from home, she refuses his advances and breaks up with him first.
 * He vandalizes his father's factory out of sheer spite, nearly getting Benny fired.
 * He displays cowardice thrice:
 * Hiding in Carmen's closet when George talks about Noah (her fake cover boyfriend) being gay.
 * Although this is Zack's sole comedic moment, it does not serve to make him more likeable.
 * Running away from George after smugly admitting that he'll ditch Carmen after screwing her, while Ernie restrains the former from attacking him.
 * After returning from San Francisco without Carmen, Zack gets easily startled by a locked-up George threatening to beat him into a coma and then runs away yet again.
 * Having a rough childhood doesn't excuse anything he did. Even if he had a neglecting father and an alcoholic mother, his actions surpassed the excuse because:
 * George directly calls out how his father abandoned him when he was two years old and his mother is a bitter old drunk, and yet he still didn't turn out to be a scumbag like Zack.
 * Since Zack got a girl pregnant and then dumped her, he's not any better than Mel as he left her future child to grow up fatherless (unless she got an abortion but that's never stated).
 * Zack mostly hurts people that have nothing to do with his parental absence at all.
 * Simply put, Zack is rotten to the core and Carmen seriously has no right telling George that he doesn't know what having a bad upbringing is like.
 * Overall, he's the only character in the entire show that lacks any redeeming qualities.

What Makes Him a Pinhead?

 * He makes no real attempt to hide his misogyny. If it weren't for Ernie, George would have beat up Zack for sadistically gloating about using Carmen. He even calls Angie hot to George's face at one point.
 * He's not particularly clever. He'd be in jail for all those stunts he pulled off at school if his dad didn't make him work at the factory, and the only reason Carmen falls for him is because she's insecure.
 * He foolishly mistakes a headband for a tube top and a shoelace for a thong, telling Carmen to put them on.