2.23 MacGyver + MacGyver

Airdate: May 4, 2018
Writers: Executive Producers Craig O’Neill and David Slack
Director: Stephen Herek
Guest Cast:Tate Donovan (Oversight) , Billy Baldwin (Elwood Davis) , Lance Gross (Billy Colton)
Reign Edwards (Leanna Martin) , M. Serrano (Grillo) , Brad William Henke (Jonah Walsh) , Marco Rodriguez (Luis Gomez)
Cristian Gonzales (Cartel Guard # 1) , Javier Vazquez, Jr. (Cartel Guard # 3) , Stephan Jones (Assassin)
Bobby Hernandez (Muscular Lookout)


MacGyver gets a shocking surprise when he tries to tell Matty that he’s quitting the Phoenix Foundation.

Five thoughts:

1. This week, and last week I believe, Mac drove a jeep.

2. That first fight scene (the one with the cheesy, peppy music) was clearly filmed with a stunt double. Some shots made it so obvious.

3. Mac's dad is more like original Harry than reboot Harry was. They both left Mac's life, couldn't connect with him without being reminded of losing Mac's mom, and got a serious chewing out by Mac.

4. I love how Mac kept asking his dad, "What now?" and how his dad kept saying, "I don't know yet." Especially when Mac commented on how annoying it was and said, "I really need to stop doing that to people." Like father, like son.

5. I thought for a minute there that Walsh (or whatever his name was) was the one who planted all the clues so Mac could find his father.

Eh... I got about half way through it and turned it off. It was basically what I expected.

If they had been smart, they would have waited until the end of the episode to reveal the identity of Mac's father. It seemed kinda intentional that they picked an actor with brown eyes. Usually I'd just write that off, but the way it was presented seemed like a way of saying... this could have been RDA.

I didn't really like how Mac's father was presented either, but... that's just me.

In my personal opinion, this show is far more pretentious in it's presentation than the original... and I think that turns me off a little.

To be fair though, I did watch this episode right after the latest episode of Supernatural, which still has two episodes left in this season and has a far better story. Let's just say... Amanda Tapping, and I'll leave it at that.

Early Ratings are in: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/the-...d-5-4-2018.html

There were pre-emptions and nice weather, leading to all shows losing in ratings.

The Reboot didn't loose as much in viewers as other shows (e.g. H50 almost lost a million viewers compared to last week), but the demo-rating is very low and totally unexpected.

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Honestly, I wasn't shocked by the ending, or the identity of Mac's dad. Most people were, according to twitter, but I wasn't. Press releases made it so obvious who James MacGyver was. And you just know MacGyver quitting won't last very long. Bet the first episode of season 3 will have him return by the end of the episode.

Of course, the season finale of the first season didn't shock me either. I worried about Bozer only a little, and I totally predicted Murdoc's escape.

Either this show is predictable, or I just don't get shocked by anything anymore. I'm guessing the former.

How did MacGyver come to the conclusion that Matty was the one leaving him the clues??

There was no earthly way or reason for him to know or even suspect it was her.. yet he had the story nailed down on exactly what she did.... makes no sense to me at all.

There was a moment mid-season where I thought Murdoc or the Ghost might have done it, especially after Episode 2x12. It must have taken hours to rig Mac's house with explosives, so there would have been enough time to put the package under the tree?

I thought the choice of the actor for Mac's dad was interesting.

I don't know any of Tate Donovan's work; at least I don't remember ever seeing him.

There were scenes where I thought he was downright charismatic and nice and interesting, and others where I just wanted to grab him and "shake" a bit; muttering about him being a jerk . I'm very ambivalent about him, and I guess that was what they intended because that's exactly how Mac must feel about him.

I hope he's a recurring next season because the storyline is not finished and I'm tired to have unfinished storylines and still open questions that probably won't ever be answered. There was nothing about Cairo this season, the storyline about Thornton needed something more to wrap it up in my opinion and Cage isn't really done yet, either. They should have at least mentioned her (e.g. that she stays in Australia with her sister who just got a baby or something like that).

It felt like they started a new story arc when that bad guy told his goons to get Mac and Dalton So I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of the 2 Macs hunting down Walsh next season.

I was pleasantly surprised that Mac's dad is actually called James. It was canon in pretty all Reboot FanFiction (at least the ones by authors that know about the original show).

Remember when Mac found out about Matty investigating his dad in 2x16? He immediately assumed she had investigated his dad, although the file said "A. MacGyver". So either this was a post-production error, or the writers have backtracked after implementing MacSenior was called Angus as well.

In Season 2, Annabelle asks MacGyver why he has such a strange name and he says he doesn't know. He never mentioned his Dad having the same name. You could speculate he didn't want to mention his father, but that doesn't make much sense. So I guess it was a post-production error, not a continuity problem.

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I here he voiced Hercules in the Disney adaption, but that's all I know.

That's a really good point. I hadn't even thought about that aspect of it.

I only remember him from "24," and I liked his performance in that, even if his character in it wasn't meant to be particularly likable.

I haven't watched this latest episode of MacGyver yet, but when I heard he'd be in it, I figured he'd probably do a good job. I'll probably watch it later today.

I definitely noticed that when that episode aired. I always wondered if Matty was actually investigating Mac, but they didn't say, so... I guess not?

I enjoyed this episode. Of course, I kept picturing how it would have been if RDA had been cast as Mac's dad, but then I remembered that Lenkov had once said that they wanted RDA for a different role, since playing Mac's dad would have been too predictable. Not sure if I believe that, or if he was just hoping to keep the surprise. Anyway, I think Tate Donovan did fine with the part.

Seeing Mac and his dad working together kind of reminded me of Mac and Harry working together in the original series, though of course the dynamic was a bit different this time.

Obviously Mac will end up rejoining Phoenix next season, but I'd be happy if they don't rush it too much. With Mac not working for Phoenix, maybe we could get some more variety in the stories during the first few episodes next season. And there's the possibility of Riley leaving Phoenix to become a bounty hunter, which would also be interesting, though probably not likely to happen.

So with Season 2 now finished, I have to say that it was, overall, an improvement over season 1, and I hope it gets even better next season. One thing I do like about this show better than the original series is that it doesn't have any annoyingly preachy episodes.

Final Ratings are here: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/show...s-5-4-2018.html

While some shows lost half their audience, the Reboot kept its numbers.

Still hope they will start S3 with better ratings. Next week's ratings will be interesting since instead of reruns, they air "Undercover Boss". "Hawaii Five-0" will have its Season Finale in two weeks between an episode of "Undercover Boss" and a Rerun of "Blue Bloods", in May when ratings are struggling anyway. Not the best combination, I guess.

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I really loved the episode. I think Tate Donovan was fine as the dad. It couldn't be someone too likeable. After all, he abandoned his son I don't care how many times he said he was always in the background. I also think Mac needs time away to sort his feelings. The mission didn't allow for that. Probably Walsh will drag him back.


I don't understand ratings. I know it was a sluggish night but at least viewer numbers were good. But how can it have more than twice as many in some cases near 3 times as many viewers and not have higher demos? I also think networks need to expand the key age groups. 50-55 is not considered old today.

QUOTE (DashboardOnFire @ 5 May 2018 - 3:40 PM)

What? No other Friends fans here?!? "Josh....UA!"

Actually, wasn't Tate Donovan in Argo, too?

QUOTE (Miasma @ 7 May 2018 - 08:18 AM)

I hadn't considered that, but I think you're right. And I'd LOVE it if they have Mac on his own for a little bit because it might feel more like the original series!

plot twist...... Lucas is leaving the show and MacGyver senior is now the title character... now played by RDA!

Nielsen Ratings are probably not the best way to measure ratings because they're a bit outdated. But that's the system that's implemented and it will probably be around for a bit longer than we like.

Yes, it's a bit ridiculous to dismiss people over 55 when it comes to ad value. For once, they have often more time to watch TV than people around 30. Also, they might have more money to buy the things advertized on the screen with most of their kids earning their own money and probably already moving out and starting their own families.

I remember the hubbubb about the Twilight books/movies back then. They advertized the movies for a kids and teens, totally missing the fact that the biggest part of fans consisted of middle-aged women - a cluster of people who can actulally afford to go to the movies more than once for the same movie. Summit/Lionsgate kept repeating their mistake; interviewers asking the cast about the young fans and reports of the premieres focusing on the kiddies trying to get autographs - although even the actors repeated every time that the major part of fans is actually not that young anymore. I'm pretty sure it's the same for Marvel fans.

TV Ratings keep focusing on the 14-34 demo when it comes to discussing renewals and cancellations but I'm pretty sure that CBS keeps an eye focused on the older demo groups. CBS is known for having viewers above the 40+ and 50+ categories and they keep ordering TV shows that are family friendly. They tried to reign in younger viewers for their CBS All Access programme and keep ordering "young" shows for The CW but the ratings for the CW shows seem laughable compared to shows like those in the CBS Friday line-up.

And looking at the shows they ordered to pilot for this year, they keep repeating the same formula; bringing back shows like "Magnum" or "Cagney & Lacey" many people below 34 might never have even heard about.

Wonder how people would react to that.

I know how I would react to that.

Honestly, as much as I gripe about the reboot... I'd actually be sad if Lucas Till left the role, even if that meant RDA's return. Kinda a bitter sweet thing, ya know?

And not that I thought Tate Donovan's acting was bad, I just didn't like the way the character was portrayed. Acting wise, he did a great job. If that was what they were going for, then job well done. But, if his father was a real person, he and I wouldn't get along... mostly because I think his reasons for leaving Mac were just extremely poor excuses.

It sorta reminded me of Francine's excuses for putting Jack up for adoption in Ma Dalton. At least with her, it was a bit more understandable.

While I don't want to see Lucas leaving; I actually wouldn't mind if he's either absent for 3x01 and we'll see the rest of the Team struggling without him and the Fallout of him quitting, or if we see Mac alone; doing something non-Phoenix- and non-mission-related (e.g. visiting Carlos in Puerto Rico or back to visiting MIT or Mission City). Methinks he Needs some time to mull Things over; time away from his father and oversight.

I thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity that at the end of S1, we had Mac and Jack going on a roadtrip to find his father and in 2x01, they were already back on a Mission. We didn't see anything about their adventures (e.g. how they found the watch). They only talked about it. I don't want to start S3 with all Problems already solved.

I agree. I think we need to see Mac struggle a bit with what he learned and how the others help him through it. I hope they don't gloss over things . A lot of great opportunities.

BTW I really don't like Leanna as an agent. She's beautiful but no grit, no edge.

I think it would be interesting to see how they manage, or can't manage, without him.

I also would like to see more character development with Mac himself. He is the title character after all, and we don't really know a lot about him. What does he do when he's not at Phoenix? Does he have any hobbies outside what we already know? What are his passions? What motivates him?

Of course, we don't need to learn this all at once, but just a little insight to his character would be nice other than the typical stuff. The audience will connect better with him if they can identify with him.

I agree the road trip with Mac and Jack was a missed opportunity. I originally thought they were going to dedicate a couple of episodes to that. I was a bit disappointed myself. lol

Agree 100%

Did anyone notice the new Phoenix Foundation logo in this scene?

I can't figure out what it is or what it represents and how it relates to Phoenix?

It's just fancy. The top part is probably just an accent to the logo. Under that is a P and an F.

Looks like a tornado... XD

first thought it was a snake. or the snake symbols for pharmacies . didn't even realize you can kinda see a P and an F. guess a bird on top?

hm. not that fond of it and didn't even notice when watching the episode... we've never seen any stationary or material with the symbol on it so far? guess they don't need that since no one in Phoenix seems to have an office or paperwork

The very top of the symbol looks like a hatchet lying on it's back.