Every week I will be posting a new topic titled "Episode Discussion". In this we will discuss an episode, what we liked about it, what we didn't like, etc.


Episode 094 - The Madonna

On Christmas Eve, MacGyver and kids lean the true meaning of Christmas when a mysterious homeless women comes to stay at the challenge center.

Oh, I love The Madonna. I gave it an excellent. The extra characters seemed very believable, especially Mr. Battaglia. It was really neat to see him go from a lonely, crabby old man to someone who was beginning to heal from his wife's death and his estrangement from the church. I also got a kick out of Carol, who seemed to be just a random street lady, but at the end, I had to wonder. Is she an angel? A rich lady in disguise? We also see Cynthia having a terribly hard time with Booker's death, as well as Mac having a rough time with his mom's death. There was actually quite a lot going on in this episode... there seemed to be about five or six different plots and subplots that intersected with each other, and it was very well done.

What I really found interesting about this episode was that it was never revealed WHO took the Madonna, but somehow that didn't seem to matter in the end; what mattered was the healing of several lives that took place during the course of the story. More proof that sometimes the journey of life is more important than the destination.

I LOVE "The Madonna". I've seen it many times. As Christmas-themed episodes of '80s action shows go, this is a particularly good one! (But all MacGyver episodes are particularly great to me! )
It's a significant episode because we learn more about the death of MacGyver's mother and we see MacGyver finally coming to terms with it after talking with the priest about it.
And I love seeing Christmas miracles come together like what we had here. The Challengers Club needed money to stay open and Cynthia Wilson was dealing with her own recent loss of her husband, Booker. And then we have Breeze, who has the potential to be a good leader but needs help getting there.
And in the thick of it all, we have MacGyver and Pete trying to help out with things during Christmas and wind up going a search for a statue of Mary stolen from a Catholic church.
And I definitely think Carol was meant to represent an angel who came to help MacGyver and the Challengers Club. She helped turned Breeze around with a "friendly game of 8 ball". And I love hearing the Christmas carols being sung- "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing"- two of my favorites. (And my brother and I always crack up at the Chinese kid singing- it just seems he opens his mouth really wide and it looks funny.)
And I can't forget the "ice cream" scene with MacGyver and the little girl, Violet. That's just too cool. And then when Lafferty mentions "ice cream" as one of the words Mac's mom said before she died- and MacGyver just stares in numb shock and through the tears realizes that things really will be alright.
But we have a great Christmas miracle pulled off when the Challengers Club ends up with EXACTLY the amount they needed to continue to operate. I love that MacGyver points that out. I think this is a way of God winking at them and letting them know that He knows their needs and will provide for them.
Oh yeah- and let's not forget Vincent Bataglia. Here we have a bitter old man who broke off from the church after his wife died. He says he prayed for her recovery but she died anyway. (Of course, he should have been praying to God and not to Mary, but that's one of the differences with Roman Catholics and Protestant Christians.)
Anyway, the point is that he was praying for a miracle and it didn't happen and it killed his faith. But somehow through the events of the episode, it seems he had a change of heart. Sometimes bad things happen and we don't always know why and it doesn't seem fair. But we can take comfort in knowing that God always has our best in mind and everything is going according to His plan.
And God has shown His love for all of us by sending His Son Jesus at Christmas to die for us and rise again and open the way to Heaven. That's what Christmas is all about! And that's the eternal hope that Christians have in God, even when their loved ones have passed away; we know that if they're in Christ, we'll see them again.
So I think there's a lot you can take from this episode, along with learning that you can roll stages easily on barbells.
It's definitely one of my favorite MacGyver episodes because as I'm sure I've said before, I LOVE Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all, and as Tiny Tim observed, 'God bless us, everyone!'

Whichever TV network lately was showing MacGyver, always used to save this episode for Christmas eve or Christmas day. Well... since Mac is currently not being shown anywhere in the US (I think...), tomorrow, I'm going to throw the Christmas Ham in the oven (it can cook all by itself) and go up to my office, with a big bowl of popcorn and a box of kleenex - and watch The Madonna (Mac on my Mac - my little Christmas gift to myself) and nobody in my family will be the wiser.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Ahhhhh I just watched this episode again today. It is SO good. When Mac gets teary eyed watching Cynthia sing I cry, too! And when he blows her a kiss after he comes back in....all I can say is, wow.
Such an amazing episode all around.

I tend to stay away from this episode due to the emotional impact it has on me. It brings back something and someone I have long tried to let go that passed in a tragic acident years ago. I avoid this episode at all costs because of this and the few times I watched it I never made it the entire way through. Because of this, I consider this my least favorite macgyver episode

i like this episode. i gave it an excellent. i really felt mac's sadness and guilt about the death of his mom. i love angsty mac! and i love the miracle storyline. and the song was very very touching and full of emotion. i got a bit teary eyed. coz its december! and i am working overseas. but i will definitely be home this christmas.

I felt sadness when MacGyver lost his mother and the singing brought him to tears.

If Father Lafferty was MacGyver's family priest, shouldn't he be in Minnesota?

Isn't it a a rather large coincidence that he would end up in the same town as MacGyver?

And here's something else strange.

When MacGyver and Pete first go to see Father Lafferty about the Madonna, the cleaner mentions that it was given to the church by Vincent Battaglia, then when she later suggests that he had taken it, Pete asks why the person who carved it would take it, but there wasn't any mention of him carving it, the only thing said was that he gave it to the church.

Mr Battaglia could have been artistically inclined and could carve the statue. As far as I remember he owned small Furniture Restoration shop. There is a moment when MacGyver and Pete knock the door trying to get inside and talk to mr. Battaglia. Or maybe I am wrong

As far as the Priest is concerned, it is strange I agree but priests are moved from parish to parish every 2 years if I am not wrong. Maybe they moved him to the same city where this episode takes place.

I think you mis-understood my point. Vincent Battaglia did carve the statue, but no-one told Pete or MacGyver that and they didn't go to visit him until after the scene I'm talking about.

So my point is how did Pete know he had carved it, when no-where in the story, up to that scene, had he be told it was carved by Vincent Battaglia.

Ok,

So the bag lady is either an angel or the Blessed Mother as we are lead to believe in the clues : she says shes usually more dressed up at church, remembers the priests sermon and the returned Madonna has a mark on the hand just like her fall (but opposite hand).

I like this episode a lot even though I don't care for the preachy boys and girls club shows.

I love the 2 moments with Violet. She thinks of Mac for christmas and the two times mac talk about his mother. I really love these moments <3

I also noticed that in this eppy, we learn another tidbit about Mac: that he used to take guitar lessons as a kid. More of Rick bringing himself into the character?

From what I understand about Catholicism, people don't pray to saints *instead* of to God, they pray to saints *in addition* to God, to ask the saints to intercede for them, because the saints are believed to be enjoy special favor with God. So Mr. Battaglia no doubt did pray to God, but he's saying that the Madonna was special to him because he prayed to St. Mary, and she, in turn, would have then carried his request to God on his behalf. Sort of like asking a favor of someone in power, and also asking someone close that person to take up the matter with them as well.

Quite possibly. We know he can play guitar but I guess we'll never know if that line was inspired by the writer knowing he'd taken lessons as a kid or just because the bio says he's musical.

Outstanding.

That is all.

I like the Violet/Mac interactions. Actually most of his dialogue with kids is good, since it brings out another side of him, like I know some people have already pointed out in various forums. Plus, I think Cynthia has an incredible voice!

This one was a Christmas episode, no adventure, Macgyverisms, villains just Mac returning to the Challenger Club and meeting a mysterious old homeless woman who helped people see the meaning of Christmas.

And what are your thoughts on it? Like it, hate it, only there for the Christmas pudding?

Mmmm Christmas pudding

This one has become a favorite of mine- which I' started watching annually a few years ago. Very emotional scene where Mac starts tearing up at I'll Be Home For christmas. The ending was a complete hommage to the famous Dragnet Christmas story as well.

I don't know why I love this episode, but I do - can't stop watching it lately. All the points above are answered that it was a bit of little Christmas miracle. Carol WAS the Madonna statuette brought to life to perform some Christmas miracles with the help of 'him upstairs'. She appeared when the statue went missing and disappeared when it reappeared. She had listened to the previous Christmas sermons when she sat in the church as the statuette. Father Lafferty was in the right place at the right time because there was a touch of divine intervention going on. In the area there were a whole load of people that deserved a break and hand on in the world, Mac included. In the spirit of Christmas I think you are meant to think that the Lord had a hand in everything and why not? It's Christmas after-all.

I may not be in a position of being able to believe in God, but I wish I could and I admire those with true faith. However, I do believe in 'specialness' of Christmas (my absolute fave time of year) and I love a bit of mysterious true Christmas spirit in favourite TV shows. The scene with Mac when Cynthia sings is so touching,

Ice-Cream any one?

It's a very good episode. I'm more sensitive to the cinematography, lighting and musical score (rather than the plot/script) and, accordingly, tend to rate the better of these a bit higher up. The lighting in this one is exceptional with very few murky scenes that seem to be so common in this series due to the DVD transfer coupled with the oft used studio cave/mine/dungeon sets.

I'm not a religious person either, but the lighting in churches (especially the older ones w/ stained glass) is often so compelling that I could sit there all day and watch it change. Could have waited for a bit of snow for accent in this one, but hey, it's British Columbia afterall .... and suppose to be LA.

Elcar is at his best in this one and you can tell he's caught up in the spirit a bit. In fact I have a memo in my MacGyver Collection that he had sent out to all cast/crew and informing them of a donation he had made to the "Empty Stocking Fund" on behalf of them all. A very nice gesture!

I don't think I've ever heard about that.

Can you enlighten us a bit about this please Joe?

I don't think I've ever heard about that.

Can you enlighten us a bit about this please Joe?

No, you wouldn't have. It was an inner office memo sent out by Dana to the rest of the cast/crew
in December '89 ... just before the original airing of 'The Madonna'. It basically wishes
them all Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas and mentions that he'd made a donation in the
name of 'MacGyver Company' to the Empty Stocking Fund (Vancouver). That's all. On that date,
they were still in the process of shooting 'Log Jam' and so the memo was (accidentally) printed on the back of
an original call sheet. I just went to look for it and can't find it but that's basically the gist of it and
illustrates the thoughtfulness / kindness of Mr. Elcar.

Now that's a way of looking at the episode, I would've never thought of. And the punks who mugged her could be considered as devils. It is true actually. She indeed says she listened to all the Christmas sermons but Father Lafferty doesn't seem to recognise her.

.MacGyverGod, there are even more clues, the squeaking of a trolley was heard just before the Statuette went missing. Carol pushed a trolley and was returned on a Christmas trolley when her work was complete. The statuette was returned with a damaged hand exactly where Carol was hurt to let Mac and Pete know that something special had occured.

I think the mugging was all part of the miracle, there had to be some way of attracting Mac and Pete's attention it wasn't coincidental that Carol, Mac and Pete all turned up at the same time IMO. There was def. Some divine intervention going on, the right amount of cash from Carol's money bag at the end, the magic 8 ball doing its 'stuff' etc..

It was a well thought through episode designed to make the viewers believe in the spirit of Christmas. I think it works because they remembered to tie up everything and you get a warm feeling when you watch it. Def. What Christmas is all about. It is all about what you give rather than what you receive, the episode is its own gift, it gifts the warm spirit of Christmas. What's not to love in that?

Great explanation. I am Roman Catholic and we have many saints to pray to...some for specific things (Patron Saints) and they take our requests (prayers) to God. We consider Mary (The Madonna) to be the greatest intercessor because she is the mother of Jesus (God) and just like a mortal, he can't say "no" to his mother. Personally, I do not pray to Mary or the saints, but go straight to the top.

I just saw this episode for the first time and it was really enthralling. So much going on but centered around the same theme and everything works out. I would elaborate, but I believe everyone else has previously done a great job with the comments so I'll leave it at this. Also very emotional to see Mac get emotional. Just wanted to hug him and bring him home!