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Dr. Zito One of the truly memorable villains of "MacGyver." He was a
psychopathic serial killer before Lt. Kate Murphy stopped him and testified against him
during his trial. |
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| MacGyver Online Forums > Characters > Dr Zito |
| Posted by: MacGyverOnline 1 December 2007 - 01:29 PM | ||
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| Posted by: jackwabbit 1 December 2007 - 05:20 PM |
| I gave Zito an excellent. Yes, he was cliche, too, (more so than Deborah in many ways) but I have very fond memories of his first episode from when I was a kid, and it still ranks up there as one of my favorites, so he gets an excellent from me. |
| Posted by: MacGyver 1 December 2007 - 08:17 PM | ||
Dr. Zito was definitely, positively chilling. That guy could put frost on a sunny day, as MacGyver said.  (in "Deadly Dreams")I think he was just as much a sick pyschopath as Murdoc, but definitely had his own style. I thought the riddles and clues he would give to MacGyver were pretty interesting. But he had some seriously messed up philosopy like in "Lesson in Evil". Definitely an interesting opponent for MacGyver to take on- and take down. And MacGyver always will- because good will always win over evil ultimately! 
Well, everything is cliche. There's nothing new under the sun. Even that line I just wrote is a cliche because it's so commonly usesd in the English vernacular- but it's actually originally a Bible verse- Ecclesiastes 1:9 (which has a lot to say about the clicheness of life- and how it doesn't have to be like that.) |
| Posted by: MacsChick 1 December 2007 - 10:03 PM |
Ah yes, a character I thought they should have done even more with, considering we see him contemplating another escape at the end of Lesson in Evil. In fact, that's where I start my fanfic featuring him--Dark Visions. He escapes and does some major damage to MacGyver's mind. He dies at the end of my fic, because I like closure when it comes to someone like Zito. Then again, I guess it is kind of creepier when the last thing we see of him is preparing to escape. Yikes!  I know he is set up as a Hannibal Lecter type, but he's still a memorable, scary villain. I voted excellent. |
| Posted by: Macs Lab Rat 2 December 2007 - 06:29 AM | ||
| Very creepy and excellent character. The way he got in to the mind of Murphy…must have been a horrible scene to shake her up so much. What makes him worse is that he actually managed to convince his doctor that he was not evil. He is clever and manipulative.
Oh yes, scary stuff! |
| Posted by: trtlsoup 2 December 2007 - 02:22 PM |
| That's what I thought about Zito when first showed up on the screen. Hannibal Lecter... and that was before I saw the movie. (I only saw Manhunter -Red Dragon- where Lecter was not a main character) I was basing my opinion on the book. He was a truly evil character. Yeah, he was a cliché, but a darn good one. At the time, script writers were taking similar ideas from hit movies, and "MacGyver" did that more than a few occassions. I'd rather have had as MacGyver's foil be Dr. Zito than Murdoc, in all honestly. He rated an excellent from me. |
| Posted by: MacGyverGrrl 2 December 2007 - 07:40 PM |
| I gave Zito an excellent rating. The episodes with him still give me chills when I watch them. The first time I saw Zito, he reminded me of Hannibal Lechter. I had just read Silence of the Lambs, and connected Zito's face with Hannibal. I still se him that way. Zito was psychologically creepy. You never really saw him commit violent acts, except for killing his guards, and even that was implied witht the finding of the bodies and his bloody hands dropping the murder weapon in the kid's trick or treat bucket. His violence was that of the mind. He was so unpredictable, you never knew what he was going to do next. I would have liked seeing Zito make a couple more appearances throughout MacGyver's run. |
| Posted by: MacGyverGod 4 December 2007 - 09:41 AM |
Another good character. I liked Zito, especially in Lesson in Evil. Zito is a villain in the highest degree. Not just an ordinary bad guy, not a hitman but a pure psychopath. One that butchers peoples, tortures them physical and psychological and do unspeakable things with them. Boy, do I wanna see his cellar.  I think a guy like this knows what the human body is meant for and what you can do with it in a sick way. |
| Posted by: MacGirl 4 December 2007 - 05:07 PM |
| Zito: EEEK! Now, this guy really scares the crap outta me. Murdoc is creepy, but shows some black humor now and then to lighten his personality a bit. Zito is more along the lines of Piedra... stone cold killer, with high intelligence to boot, and is considerably more manipulative than either of the other two. Any villain that could screw up a tough, street-smart cop like Kate Murphy is seriously scary. He's a classic psychopath, and was very, very well played. I also would have liked to see a bit more of him. |
| Posted by: MacGyverfan717 17 December 2007 - 12:54 PM |
| I give Dr. Zito an exellent! I have two words to sum up why I like him as a villian, THE EYE!!!!! The glass eye that he has is soooo scary! And it just makes him a better looking villian in general! |
| Posted by: SwissArmy 9 April 2008 - 04:15 PM |
| This guy just creeps me out.... in a good way. He is a very intresting character and like another menber said, he has his own style |
| Posted by: MacGyverOnline 10 April 2008 - 03:00 PM |
| I think his voice goes a long way for the creepy factor as well. Zito was an obvious take off of Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs, but is still a top notch bad guy. Pity they couldn't do more with him. |
| Posted by: MacBeth 10 April 2008 - 04:54 PM | ||
Not unless they had a time machine! "Deadly Dreams" aired in 1989 and "Silence of the Lambs" wasn't published until 1991. The character of Hannibal Lector dates back to the publication of "Red Dragon" in 1986, but the first book was not very well known until the sequel became a best-seller. |
| Posted by: MacGyverOnline 10 April 2008 - 05:04 PM |
| hmmm... interesting... maybe it's the other way around. That deadly dreams episode certainly had a number of parallels to Silence of the Lambs. |
| Posted by: MacBeth 10 April 2008 - 05:12 PM |
| "Silence of the Lambs" creeped me out (the book -- I never bothered with the movie). Dr. Zito creeped me out. That wasn't the only parallel, of course, but it certainly dominated both experiences! |
| Posted by: Liz1976 4 June 2008 - 01:56 AM |
| The thing that is so creepy about Zito, as opposed to Murdoc or Piedra is that he did for the thrill ro pleasure, Murdoc and Piedra enjoyed it but they also got paid big bucks. He's a serial killer of the highest order. Hannibal Lecter is a comparison. I read on the American Film Institute's web site that Hannibal Lecter is rated #1 on it's list of 50 Heroes and 50 Villians. #2 was Norman Bates, #3 was Darth Vader, and #4 was the Wicked Witch of the West--just in case you guys wanted to know that. Anyway, while I love movies, I don't like the Silence of the Lambs. It just creeps me out. Zito is watchable because it's MacGyver. I like the way Murphy is affected, because it shows what cops who works to nail serial killers go through emotionally. Think about that job--nooooo thank you. I have the highest respect for police officer and the job that they do. Sorry for the little diatribe. I love this stuff. |
| Posted by: lucky charley 11 August 2008 - 12:41 PM |
Does Dr Zito have a first name or are the script writers to lazy to give him one?  |
| Posted by: MacGyverGod 11 August 2008 - 12:55 PM |
Yes he has one. It's 'Doctor'.  He's just known as Dr. Zito. Maybe it is his first name and he doesn't have a last one. Just like Hakim from Passages is just known as Hakim and Lt. Rhome is just known as Lt. Rhome. Willis is just known as Willis. Not every character needs a first or last because it's unimportant. |
| Posted by: MacGyverOnline 11 August 2008 - 05:15 PM |
| Maybe it was more about being creepy. Giving him a first name would make him more human, and they didn't want that, they wanted him to be a psychotic animal. Compare Dr. Zito with Johnathon Zito. Doesn't quite have the same air of creepiness to it. I think the reality was that they wanted another Murdoc like bad-guy, and in some ways they seem to have used the same formula as they used for Murdoc. |
| Posted by: lucky charley 14 August 2008 - 12:42 PM |
goooood point he does have to be creapy  |
| Posted by: John Litteral 4 December 2008 - 09:48 AM |
| Zito is great! He is almost as dangerous and sick as Murdoc, he just did not have 9 lives like Murdoc. |
| Posted by: Murdoc12 24 March 2009 - 11:50 AM | ||
Yeah Murdoc is better, but Zito was good. A kind of anti-MacGyver in a sense; really competitive, smart. But he also is a killer and is evil, very unlike Mac. |
| Posted by: RamonCota 5 April 2009 - 04:10 PM |
| dr zito and murdoc are awesome characters. zito is way creepier than murdoc but i like murdoc better cos he is very entertaining guy. |
| Posted by: Beachbead 17 February 2010 - 02:32 PM |
| Zito was little bit more creeper then say Murdoc was, he was the person you had to watch out for and never knew what he would do, he could turn on a person like a pit bull. |
| Posted by: MurDaltonfan 20 July 2010 - 01:01 PM |
I liked Zito. He reminded me of Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs" Very creepy. I do prefer Murdoc, though.  |
| Posted by: YopeGyver 16 May 2013 - 09:20 AM |
| I voted excellent. Never has there been a villain that creeps me out more than Dr, Zito! I mean he was pure evil. Murdoc I can feel sorry for and you see glimpses of his human side, but Zito... *shivers* What a pure psychopath! And a genius too. Evil genius, that is. It's been a while since I saw "Deadly Dreams", so I can't remember, but what was Zito's motive for all those murders? I ask because I was discussing among other writers about villains/psychopaths (I mentioned Murdoc and it went from there) and someone else went into telling about what they'd learned about psychopaths (she's a psychology student who's into forsenic psychology). She mentioned how every psychopath and serial killer has a reason (a good reason in the eyes of the killer) for what he does and has usually had some sort of bad experience in their past. |
| Posted by: MacGirl 21 June 2013 - 11:56 AM |
| Well, psychopaths don't need much of a reason for what they do, whatever it is. They literally lack a conscience, so "I want to do thus-and-such" is justification enough for them. They lack impulse control, and are both good at and enjoy manipulating other people. That combination of traits is a recipe for trouble. That said, not every psychopath is a killer. There are plenty who are in business or have other legitimate jobs. The one thing they all have in common is that they leave a trail of emotional destruction in their wake. |
| Posted by: Scwilson 16 August 2013 - 08:27 PM |
 Truly one of Mac's more deadly adversaries next to Murdoch. I liked him as a villain as a kid. |
| Posted by: Mike D 19 May 2014 - 06:55 AM |
| The Lecter comparisons are obvious. It wouldn't shock me one bit if Stephen Downing, who wrote "Deadly Dreams," is a Thomas Harris fan. I don't think the character is a straight rip, though, and W. Morgan Sheppard does a wonderful job with the character. When this episode aired the only Lecter performance committed to screen was Brian Cox in Manhunter. The film version of Silence of the Lambs was almost two years away, thus Sheppard was in no way influenced by Anthony Hopkins. Sheppard is a wonderful actor and the show was lucky to have him. |
| Posted by: Stevethebarian 25 September 2015 - 09:44 AM |
Zito creeped me out. He was an amazing character, but he seemed too... Hannibal Lecter. I would have loved to see an episode where Zito and Murdoc teamed up, Zito turned on Murdoc, and Murdoc killed him.  |
| Posted by: KiwiTek 25 September 2015 - 06:26 PM |
| Yeah a team up of the two would have been pretty cool, although may have been a bit to dark/scary at that time. |
| Posted by: MacGyverOnline 10 February 2017 - 07:28 PM |
| After watching tonight's episode of MacGyver and reading up a bit more on the Zodiac Killer and how he left notes and clues it's occurred it to me that Zito could have been based on this killer. |
| Posted by: MacGyverGod 11 February 2017 - 05:45 AM |
| Yep and Dr. Hannibal Lecter. |
| Posted by: Hannibal_Smith 8 January 2019 - 06:49 PM |
| And the actor passed away. RIP, Dr. Zito: https://deadline.com/2019/01/william-morgan-sheppard-dies-star-trek-actor-1202531214/ |
