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MacGyver Online Forums > Episode Discussions > 1-7 Can Opener

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 3 November 2016 - 01:13 AM

1-6 Can Opener

Airdate: Nov. 4, 2016
Writer: Brian Durkin
Director: Alec Smight
Guest Cast: Thomas Kopache (O’Brian) , Sir Brodie (Deputy Warden) , Raoul Trujillo (Joaquin “El Noche” Sancola)
Jabari Marshall (Tall Guard) , Sam Medina (Raul) , Alan T. Coleman (Shoving Guard) , Cedric Greenway (Lead Guard)
Kent De Mond (Serbian Agent) , Tim Sitarz (Vincent)

MacGyver is tasked to go undercover as an inmate in a maximum security prison to break out a notorious drug kingpin and track him to his cartel’s secret location to dismantle it.

Posted by: Joe SAKic 4 November 2016 - 05:14 PM

Best of the lot, to date. Shawshank blue print, moved well, good script, decent camera work with above average lighting. Too compressed at the end, though, and with Mac macgyvering an SOS morse code call to Jack, the torture, and Jack's/DEA arrival all a bit too whirlwind to swallow seriously.

Posted by: Riddick 4 November 2016 - 07:04 PM

I decided to give the reboot yet another shot, and watch tonight's episode. I actually started to like it because it was mostly just Mac alone without too many scenes of the highly annoying team. The beginning scene with Bozer and Riley was cheesy and pointless.

Most of the episode was pretty good, though... until the ending. It was rushed just so they could have a minute with him talking to Jack and Riley. I actually had to watch the ending again to see that no one was shot because the first time it all went by pretty fast and I may have looked away for a second, so when I saw it, it looked to me like Jack shot everyone. I'm guessing that he only shot people off camera then, after the second watch. However, I still feel the same about it.

I've tried to give this show a try multiple times now, and I just can't watch it again. It's just so annoying with the whole team thing. If they got rid of the team and just had Mac and Patricia Thorton, then I'd be fine with it. They could still keep Jack but make him a recurring character, not the star of the show. Completely get rid of Riley and Bozer.

I've really wanted to like it because it's called MacGyver, but every episode I've watched is just a huge disappointment (and ultimately just pisses me off). I really wish they'd stop the show and start over, or just cancel it all together. I'd rather watch nothing at all than to continue having this piece of trash ruin the legacy of the original series.

Since they ordered a full season, the studio won't do anything at this point.

Posted by: DXS 4 November 2016 - 07:06 PM

Ok, I'm not reading the above two comments yet. But from the opening gambit, I am saying, THEY GOT IT! The opening gambit was just like the original. Complete with how MacGyver (Lucas Till) did the dog description.

THEY GOT IT!

Ok, now gotta watch the rest.

Posted by: DXS 4 November 2016 - 08:08 PM

The MacGyverisms were creative! I hope someone is tracking them, way too high tech for me to figure out.

Ok, question for any chemists on here. The nitrogen thing...... was that the equivalent of giving someone the "bends?" (Nitrogen Narcosis, which is a risk deep sea divers run into.....) All I know is that scene was too creepy for me to watch.

Someone said this was kind of a "Shawshank" thing.

Well, I saw a combination of this:

A previous MONK episode (where Monk went int prison)
Shawshank Redemption
That one original MacGyver episode where Mac broke someone out of an insane asylum

I loved the morse code thing in the car. Trouble is, do they even TEACH Morse code any more? Even to Military?

This prison one, the way the story was written, Lucas Till is more believable than it would have been with RDA. Although RDA did pull off a couple of "sleazy" impressions......

I'm still not used to Jack Dalton being a part of every show and being ex-CIA.

Also, I'm confused. In the current series, are they DXS or Phoenix?

Posted by: InVader 5 November 2016 - 12:23 AM

I really enjoyed this one. I'm not sure what show Riddick was watching, but Jack only took out one guy, Mac took out the rest, and no guns were even fired.. DXS, They used to be DXS but changed the name to Phoenix Foundation in the first episode. The Macgyverisms were pretty good this time. I also agree that they nailed the opening gambit.

Posted by: KiwiTek 5 November 2016 - 03:19 AM

That freezing the bars thing was complete rubbish. If the cold could transfer like that (which it can't) the broom handle would have frozen - along with MacGyver's hands.

That thing at the end with the nitrogen tank was way too far fetched as well.

The episodes still feel really rushed to me. Even this episode which seemed to have a slower pace, still felt like big pieces had been cut out, or everything was being rushed through to get to the finish in time.
It's weird because I don't get that feeling with other shows.

It was nice to have MacGyver's voice-over explaining some of the MacGyverisms instead of those god-awful captions.

Posted by: Riddick 5 November 2016 - 07:18 AM

Yes, you're right they didn't show anyone getting shot on camera this time. I had to watch the ending again and edit my post because of how it looked to me the first time watching it. There was still a lot of gun fire that could be heard, so that's why I was thinking Jack probably shot more bad guys downstairs (off camera) on his way up to rescue Mac (because in this version he has to be rescued A LOT).

Posted by: Miasma 5 November 2016 - 09:10 AM

I liked this episode. I still wish they'd vary the story formula at least a bit (not every episode needs to be "opening gambit -> Bozer/Rily scene -> Phoenix Foundation-> Mission", but even in spite of that, this was a fun episode.

QUOTE

That freezing the bars thing was complete rubbish. If the cold could transfer like that (which it can't) the broom handle would have frozen - along with MacGyver's hands.

I guess. But the MacGyver series has always taken some liberties with its science, so I just went along with it.

QUOTE

That thing at the end with the nitrogen tank was way too far fetched as well.

That actually made me laugh out loud. It was stupid, but in an intentional and fun way, so I didn't mind it.

These latest three episodes were, I think, a bit better than the first few episodes. And we get Murdoc next week, so that should be fun.

Posted by: Frog 5 November 2016 - 12:52 PM

This one was good.
The only thing that was kinda dumb, was in the opening gambit when the bad guy was surrounded by that small ring of fire and he just stood there. He coulda easily ran throught that without getting harmed.

As for the nitrogen tank... that would happen if you were able to knock the valve off. But you would need a sledge hammer to do that. Not a downward blow from ones foot. And it would be unpredictable where the tank could go.
Coulda killed Mac instantly.

Otherwise, I was entertained again.

Posted by: KiwiTek 6 November 2016 - 03:43 AM

This episode placed first in it's time-slot and second place overall for Friday nights ratings. Beaten out by "big sister" show Hawaii Five-0.

user posted image

Posted by: denizen 6 November 2016 - 08:26 PM

I gave this 3 stars. A better one again however he cannot even go to prison without Jack following him there. Sheesh!

I just want a "Mac" episode. No team dammit!

Also, as Kiwi stated above, some of those MacGyverisms were a little far-fetched.

Just waiting for that one episode where i can finally give it my stamp of approval. Somehow i don't think it'll ever happen.

Posted by: MacGyver85 7 November 2016 - 07:59 PM

So, wait, how did they get out of prison? I had other stuff to do, and had to stop watching right as he went on laundry duty.

Posted by: InVader 7 November 2016 - 09:43 PM

Paper, Salt, and a Battery...and water, but they had water. You should be able to finish watching if you have the CBS app or go to CBS' website.

Posted by: MacGyver85 9 November 2016 - 08:27 PM

Ok. Thanks!

Posted by: DashboardOnFire 28 May 2018 - 12:35 PM

Here's the final ratings after the adjustments (via Showbuzz). It lost a bit in audience numbers, but got to keep the rating and won the 8pm time slot.

Will be interesting to see the ratings now that "Last Man Standing" will again be paired against S3 of the Reboot.

Posted by: MacGyverGod 5 October 2018 - 02:40 AM

After the reboot of Countdown, they rebooted The Escape. Now, The Escape is one of my least favorite episodes of the first season and probably in my top ten of least favorites overall. This time around they managed to make it quite interesting. Only when watching, I was thinking they should've hired Danny Trejo to play El Noche. That would've been so cool. And there was a torture scene. Nothing new: Nightmares, Legend of the Holy Rose, The 'Hood. But I'm always in for torture scenes. A good simple episode.

For the record in the startpost it says 1-6 Can Opener instead of 1-7.

Posted by: DashboardOnFire 29 December 2018 - 02:05 PM

Here's the blog post by Rhett Allain - Technical Consultant for the Reboot - about the "MacHacks" used in this episode: https://rhettallain.com/2018/12/29/macgyver-season-1-episode-7-science-notes-can-opener/

He writes about following MacGyverisms:
> Ring of fire
> Fixing an inhaler
> Battery hydrogen bomb
> Morse code with the tail lights
> Final breakout part 1: making liquid nitrogen
> Final breakout part 2: breaking steel

He also posted some videos to go along with it.