2.15 - Murdoc + Handcuffs

Airdate: Feb. 2, 2018
Writer: Marqui Jackson
Director: Stephen Herek
Guest Cast: Michael Des Barres (Nicholas Helman) , David Dastmalchian (Murdoc) , Michael Michele (Diane)
Anthony Starke (Henry Fletcher) , Kate Bond (Jill) , Brady Bond (Cassian) , Parker Wierling (Teenage Geek)


After one of Murdoc’s go-to assassins agrees to hand over Murdoc to MacGyver in exchange for $10 million, the team finds itself protecting Murdoc from his former mentor, Nicholas Helman, who wants him dead.

It was a pretty good episode but I feel like there were some missed opportunities, like more dialogue from Michael des Barres and interactions between him and the heroes + Murdoc. I was disappointed to find out he was really dead at the end too, just like that, after he was built up as being even more dangerous than Murdoc. I would have loved it if he'd disappeared while they had their backs turned and that maybe he had a bullet proof vest on or something to survive the shooting.

I have mixed feelings on this one. In a way, I wonder if it might have better without Des Barres, because it was actually one of the stronger episodes of the series, but I kept feeling let down by how under-used Des Barres was. Maybe with a different actor, I would have just enjoyed what we DID get, rather than focusing on what we weren't getting.
As for Des Barres's character, he was supposed to be such a terrifying villain, but all he did was walk really slowly and then die an anti-climactic death. I just feel thry could have done so much more with him. Oh well. Like I said, it was still a strong, enjoyable episode. And even though we didn't see him much, it was good to see the original Murdoc again.

I agree with Widowmaker and Miasma as far as the negative aspects. I stopped watching the show a year ago and returned to watching the original on DVD. I watched this episode just because of MDB returning...so many missed opportunities and anti-climatic ending. I know he wasn't Murdoc, but I was hoping they would have found a way to work in the famous "MACGYVER!!!!" yell for old time's sake.

Michael Des Barres and Peter Lenkov did hint on Twitter that Helman might not be dead so who knows. It just seems like the episode could have hinted at that, with a report from Maddie that his body went missing or whatever.

How many times were Pete and Mac sure that Murdoc was dead in the original only to have him show up again? Maybe "You don't know Murdoc" will become "You don't know Helman". We did finally get a first name for Murdoc though...Dennis.

I dunno. I'm used to the new show always subverting stuff from the original series that I have doubts that they'd actually have Helman come back from the dead like classic Murdoc. I mean, they keep putting the new Murdoc in custody and the closest they came to the classic Murdoc fakeout deaths were those falls down the stairwell and off the balcony in his first appearance.

Very disappointed with how little we saw of MDB. It was just a few shots of him walking around with a gun and a couple of lines. Feels like a really big opportunity was wasted.

I laughed at Jacks line "Reboots don't work."

I found the interaction between Jack and Murdoc hilarious. Not sure if it was meant to be that funny but it was a damn good comedy if nothing else. Very entertaining.

I like how this episode seemed to take it's time a bit more than some of the others. One of my big gripes of the first season was how fast paced everything was and that it was hard to keep up with what was going on. It's good to see they've slowed down a bit to tell the story rather than just non-stop bam bam bam.

I didn't see MDB being Nicholas Helman coming, but now that I think about it... it makes sense since that was who trained Murdoc in the original. Duh...

I was a tad disappointed though because I thought MDB would have a bigger part. I was SO excited too!

Regardless, it was great to see MDB and David Dastmalchain working together. I was happy about that. David was brilliant. Damn, he's so good at being creepy. I love how he just tormented Jack the entire time, and the part with the can of beans. XD

I think if they had left out Riley's Mom, and the whole "daddy issues" part, there would have been more time for more MDB. I'm sorry, but that is getting a tad old, and the conversation Mac had with Jack about his Dad seemed a tad... underwhelmed. Just me?

Well... here's hoping we'll have MDB in the future, with a bigger part!

I thought that was funny too!

I was so thrilled to see Michael Des Barres! And to play Nicholas Helmond! Perfect!

Face it, MDB is way too old to do fall off a cliff yelling MAC-GUY-VAH any more. But I was disappointed that he was killed with just a gun shot. Not a very dramatic way to kill him off. Needed more drama.

But WTF? at the end? Maddie said Murdock was back in custody. Um.... nope.......

This episode, to me,"felt" more like the RDA version. The last few episodes just weren't thrilling me. Perfect episode for February sweeps, since it's the ONLY one for February sweeps, no more until March cuz of Olympics.

I'm pretty sure they didn't actually throw MDB off a cliff even when he was younger!

Kidding aside, I guess I just wanted a more clever death for him. Shooting him was pretty uninspired. Heck, I would have been happier if Mac used his net trap, at least then we would have gotten a scene of Mac and MDB talking to each other. As it was, we didn't even get to hear MDB say the name MacGyver once in the entire episode!

On a side note: I might be forgetting something, but did the can of beans ever get used for anything? I remember Murdoc asking for them (twice), and it seemed to be a set up for something, but now I can't remember what happened with them.
(Speaking of which, "Murdoc and Beans" would have been a funny title for this episode.)

Murdoc tormenting Jack made my night. I don't know what I liked best about that scene with the beans: the fact that Murdoc was that protective of them, the look on his face the exact second he realized Jack was going to throw him off the train, or the fact that he screamed when Jack threw him off.

Yeah, I think they could've done more with MDB, but all the producers and MDB himself kept saying on twitter, "Murdoc never dies. Did you see a body? He could've had a vest." and so on.

So Murdoc's real name is Dennis? Not what I expected.

I think the best scene of the night was Murdoc singing. That settles it- both Murdocs sing better than I do.

I also like Fletcher's comment about Mac's place-"It's not very secure." Why does Mac still live there?

And Mac doing charades...

We've been saying that for many episodes, now. So far, his house has been invaded by serial killers several times and even been rigged with explosives. It makes no sense he doesn't even have a security system installed - not because he feels the need to, but because Phoenix insists on it (I mean, if he's their highest valued agent, they might have some say in it where and how he lives).

I think Mac should move out and live on a houseboat. Just saying.

We've been saying that for many episodes, now. So far, his house has been invaded by serial killers several times and even been rigged with explosives. It makes no sense he doesn't even have a security system installed - not because he feels the need to, but because Phoenix insists on it (I mean, if he's their highest valued agent, they might have some say in it where and how he lives).

I think Mac should move out and live on a houseboat. Just saying.

To be fair, I always wondered that about the original, too. As everyone knows, I love Murdoc, but if I had either of them for an enemy... Well, I'd be a lot more careful than either Mac ever was, to say the least.

I'm pretty sure they didn't actually throw MDB off a cliff even when he was younger!

Kidding aside, I guess I just wanted a more clever death for him. Shooting him was pretty uninspired. Heck, I would have been happier if Mac used his net trap, at least then we would have gotten a scene of Mac and MDB talking to each other. As it was, we didn't even get to hear MDB say the name MacGyver once in the entire episode!

On a side note: I might be forgetting something, but did the can of beans ever get used for anything? I remember Murdoc asking for them (twice), and it seemed to be a set up for something, but now I can't remember what happened with them.
(Speaking of which, "Murdoc and Beans" would have been a funny title for this episode.)

I think Murdoc was just hungry. Or he really likes beans. Or both. I kinda laughed at the look he shot them when they gave him an unopened can.

As for the fate of the beans, they were thrown off the train, with Murdoc not far behind.

Also, Murdoc's response after the helicopter blew up.

MACGYVER: Jack, are you all right?
JACK: Yeah, I'm good.
MURDOC: *flusteres* I'm fine, THANK YOU very much for asking!
JACK: Shut up, no one cares about you.

That's my biggest nitpick right now. Matty should have revealed at the end that the body has gone missing or something alike...

On the other hand: according to EP David Slack, the character wasn't especially written for MDB - they only realized later who they should actually cast in that role. Guess it got forgotten to make another rewrite in the script. Also, reading throught tweets of cast and crew, it sure does sound as if MDB might have another chance to come back to the show. Who knows. I sure wouldn't mind!

Hm. Not bad, but not really what I had hoped/expected - ratings for yesterday's episode: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/the-...d-2-2-2018.html

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I here some of the haters who said they'd watch just this once gave up after 10 minutes. Oh well.

I agree. The original Mac certainly had his personal issues, but he never stood around discussing them during a mission...especially with a baddie in tow.

We've been saying that for many episodes, now. So far, his house has been invaded by serial killers several times and even been rigged with explosives. It makes no sense he doesn't even have a security system installed - not because he feels the need to, but because Phoenix insists on it (I mean, if he's their highest valued agent, they might have some say in it where and how he lives).

I think Mac should move out and live on a houseboat. Just saying.

This is one thing that did bother me about the original. His houseboat and 7th season apartment both had glass doors AND he kept his brass sailboat key holder on the wall right next to it. NO security!!! And, Murdoc did break into his houseboat at least once that I can remember off the top of my head. But then again, I think Murdoc could probably get in anywhere....especially to get to Mac!

Me neither. It's so... "ordinary". It would go well with "Helman" though - if they were related

Oh, I've actually read many comments of people saying that they never watched an episode, but will watch this episode for MDB. Maybe that's why I expected higher numbers.

It's not bad - all 3 shows had lower numbers last, and H50 actually lost more viewers than the Reboot. Guess we got spoiled after the last 3 episodes had the highest audience numbers and the last 2 episodes had the highest rating this season.

Me neither. It's so... "ordinary". It would go well with "Helman" though - if they were related

Do you know what's sad? Every time I hear Helman, I just want to sing the Hellman's mayo jingle....

Bring out the Hellman's and bring out the best!

Since no one else has mentioned it, I figured I'd ask. What did you think of the scene of Murdoc reuniting with Cassian?

I thought it was great, and my favorite part was the way that it's implied that Baby Murdoc killed someone with a pencil sharpener. Just *money.* Whoever came up with that idea deserves a chocolate chip cookie.

Although, I think it's really sweet that Murdoc is trying to protect Cassian by having him put on headphones, et cetera. He's a good daddy.

Definitely think that Dennis (which is how I will henceforth be referring to him) was the MVP of the episode. I wish that we'd had more interaction between him and Sexy Helman. (Don't judge me; I have to have a way to differentiate him from the original Helman, don't I?) I'm just glad to see MDB showing up at all, and they could still bring him back if they played their cards right, but I think that the entire storyline with Sexy Helman could've been handled better and that they should've had a real showdown instead of that anticlimactic ending. I think that Helman in all his incarnations is much more talented than this episode gave him credit for, and as cool as Dennis is, he's just not that good.

But yeah, seeing Dennis unleashed always puts me in a good mood. He's so funny!

Did anyone else catch the way that Jack Attack kept referring to Dennis as "Doc?" It reminded me of Jediferret's theory that "Murdoc" could be short for "Murder Doctor." Maybe she's onto something!

Addendum: I think I still prefer "Eddie" for the original Murdoc. Somehow it seems to suit him.

This post has been edited by Sanguine on 3 February 2018 - 07:50 PM

Me neither. It's so... "ordinary". It would go well with "Helman" though - if they were related

I second that!

Fanfic time, anyone?

Murdoc tormenting Jack made my night. I don't know what I liked best about that scene with the beans: the fact that Murdoc was that protective of them, the look on his face the exact second he realized Jack was going to throw him off the train, or the fact that he screamed when Jack threw him off.

Yeah, I think they could've done more with MDB, but all the producers and MDB himself kept saying on twitter, "Murdoc never dies. Did you see a body? He could've had a vest." and so on.

So Murdoc's real name is Dennis? Not what I expected.

I think the best scene of the night was Murdoc singing. That settles it- both Murdocs sing better than I do.

I really liked the part with the beans and how he tortured Jack the entire episode too!