3.07 - Scavengers + Hard Drive + Dragonfly

Airdate: Nov 9, 2018
Writers: Andrew Karlsruher
Director: Gabriel Beristain

Guest Cast: Joy Sunday (Abina) , Jimmy Akingbola (Joseph) , Ric Reitz (Steckler) , Jamal O. Peters (Guard)
Greg Vaughan (Ethan) , Makario Glenn (Danso)


Matty sends MacGyver and team to Ghana to recover a hard drive from an e-waste landfill that is run by a powerful and violent man.
But when Matty refuses to reveal what’s on the drive, other than a mysterious file called “Dragonfly,” the team speculates about what could be so important to her.

1. Got Thief of Budapest vibes

2. Yay, finally, Jack's in a entire episode without me wanting to strangle him!

3. Riley wasn't afraid to speak her mind to Matty

4. THAT ENDING THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Riley really sacked up tonight... more of that please!


Did anyone else find Bozer's line about "I don't know how many computer's I've thrown out in my life" kinda weird? How old is he and why is he throwing so many computers away??

Well, he was originally into film-making, correct? Those guys usually go through a lot of technology.

All in all a good episode with some great lines: "push the popcorn button" for example Good acting from all concerned.

I still don't get how Bozer is a field agent though. The lab, sure, but otherwise I don't see his skills besides having some amusing lines. Someone enlighten me

Who knew about these e-waste landfills. I was a little paranoid before now forget it lol!

Interesting humanizing info about Matty. I initially thought 'he' referred to Mac. Didn't see that coming.

I also wondered about Nasha. That just left us hanging. Is she still in LA? and all due respect to other characters but more Mac and more Mac/Jack please.

Next week looks awesome! Will there be some Mac whump?

Preliminary Ratings: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/the-...-11-9-2018.html

Sadly, still down on 0.7 in demo - but H50 had the same demo (which was a bit surprising; considering it aired Episode No. 200 with quite some promo surrounding it) and BB wasn't that much better. Also, it stands no Chance against LMS (which has a really impressive demo, whoa). But the audience number is pretty big - 400'000 more than last week! And it even beat LSM again.

Even if the final Ratings are a bit lower, this will be the Episode with the highest audience number this Season. Just shows higher numbers are still possible with good scripts and a Little bit of promo.

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I think Nielson or whomever needs to overhaul its system. I don't understand how a show can have so many more viewers but not improve the demo. As Mark Twain said, "there are 3 kinds of lies--lies, damn lies, and statistics."

I'm happy about viewership but I hope the demo improves. At least MacGyver is #1 in viewers its hour.

I think the Demo is the percentage of people watching so it doesn't change on audience size. 10 percent of anything is always 10 percent.

I liked the Episode. Didn't care much for Jack actually shooting to kill (would have preferred to see some of the guys rolling on the ground, clutching arms and shoulders), but I liked Joy Sunday as the guest star.

Though why is no one bothered by those (white) strangers walking around like they own the place?

Bit disappointed though that there was no follow-up at all with Nasha. I had assumed that Mac would break off with her off-screen, and that Jack (or Bozer) would mention it; saying they're sorry about Nasha or something.

So, after being traumatized by that Kidnapping; did they just leave her at Mac's place to do some cleaning? Did they debrief her and send her back home? Bit weird.

What weirds me out is that Mac only joined up to save Jack, then stayed to catch Murdoc. So now that he's willing to give his dad more of a chance, does that mean he wants to stay despite the fact that he got Murdoc?

Exactly. This was the other reason why I felt he sure would break it off with Nasha.

Before, his plan was to catch Murdoc and then go back to her to Nigeria. Now that they have him behind bars, he would have been free to go but if he's not with her anymore, he would figure out somewhere else to go and clear his head; maybe mourn the loss and trying to get over the heartbreak (even if they've only been dating for a couple of months) and trying to figure out what he wants to do about this dad.

Since Sibongile wasn't on set again I've always assumed it would happen off-screen anyway. Generally, I really think they leave fans hanging when it comes to explanations. At least with Cage, she had a little "farewell" and explanations where she's going and why she isn't seen anymore.

With Jack, they mentioned him so people knew why he wasn't in Episode 3x04. Interestingly, we never had a follow-up about this, either. Would have been nice if Mac asked about it to remind the audience the decision is still hanging because I think with George maybe being absent in another episode soon (haven't seen him on set of 3x08 and 3x12 at all ), that could be the reason to explain another absence.

They only mentioned Leanna wasn't available for the mission in 3x04, but she was never mentioned since then and fans keep asking on social media what happened with Bozer's girlfriend. I think other shows handle that a lot better.

Blog Post by Technical Supervisor Rhett Allain about the MacHacks used in this Episode - for example, the Microwave Gun: https://rhettallain.com/2018/11/11/macgyver...pisode-7-notes/

I already knew about the E-Waste graveyards, but Rhett Allain also linked to this interesting article with photos: https://www.wired.com/story/international-e...te-photographs/

Another fun little episode. Heartbreaking little ending, but good insight into perhaps why Matty is the way she is.

I thought both of the main guest actors did a really nice job. I liked Abina's character immediately (especially her kindred spirit connection with Riley), and Joseph was instantly unlikable...lol.

Final Ratings: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/show...-11-9-2018.html

Only marginal losses in audience. This episode had the biggest live-viewers audience of Season 3 so far, also winning the 8pm time-slot

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I'm happy MacGyver won the hour in viewership. But there needs to be an overhaul of the system regarding demos. I think it's time to give more weight to the 50+ crowd. The people I know are active, work well through their 60s, and most importantly, spend Factor them in and it's a different story.

Considering how well MacGyver's doing in it's slot, CBS would be crazy to cancel it now

Watched it tonight, and thought it was a surprisingly good episode. I really like these episodes that focus on just one story, rather than jumping back and forth. And despite the fact that this was a full team episode, it captured the spirit of the original series really well, with Mac trying to help the kid (when he says, "That's just not gonna work for me" in response to the girl saying she'd figure something out, it felt exactly like something RDA's Mac would have said.)
And Joseph was actually a strong villain, something we don't see often enough in the reboot.
Oh, and since I usually complain about Mattie, I should point out that I actually kind of felt for her in this one.

I was with it until MacGyver started watching Jack shooting people dead without flinching and then even giving him a "low five" of congratulations when he shoot the guy laying on the ground as Mac stood there watching. That's not the MacGyver I remember.


This season feels a lot more violent than the last two. I can't help thinking the producers are falling into the trap of thinking violence is entertainment.





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I was with it until MacGyver started watching Jack shooting people dead without flinching and then even giving him a "low five" of congratulations when he shoot the guy laying on the ground as Mac stood there watching. That's not the MacGyver I remember.


This season feels a lot more violent than the last two. I can't help thinking the producers are falling into the trap of thinking violence is entertainment.

I flinched when that scene played. My thought wasn't so much, "Original MacGyver wouldn't approve" so much as, "What if the guy who moved didn't hear you say 'stay down'? Or was too confused due to the circumstances to register what you wanted? I understand self-defense, but you could've at least gone for the kneecaps or something!" Jack really seems to actually enjoy shooting people, and that bothers me. I get that it's his job, but don't cross over into Murdoc territory.

I was with it until MacGyver started watching Jack shooting people dead without flinching and then even giving him a "low five" of congratulations when he shoot the guy laying on the ground as Mac stood there watching. That's not the MacGyver I remember.

Fair enough. That particular moment wasn't much like the original Mac, but the overall feel and pacing of the episode still felt very much like original Mac to me. As for Mac not minding Jack shooting the villains, yeah, it's different from the original, but this show already established that Mac is okay with that, so it would have been a bit odd if suddenly, out of nowhere, Mac now started admonishing Jack for using a gun. (And to honest, Mac's preachy attitude in the original was one aspect of him I didn't much like anyway, so I don't miss it now.)

Interestingly, 3x07 is a pretty OG storyline (helping the scavengers)... but it didn't really resonate with me.

It was a tad bit too violent for my taste and I didn't like the ending that much.

What's the point in getting them houses to live in instead of trying to get them out of the e-waste-dump; so they can go back to school and live with their families again? Now they still live in the dump and sleep in the dump - just in houses ON the dump instead of matresses NEXT to the dump. Very healthy

This was a good episode once more but I find it kind of hard to believe that they were found out by a 16-year old who saw them in the rear-view mirror. Not exactly good for their image.

Riley indeed showed some guts. I like her like that indeed.

Not really. I've had my share of computers as well in my time. I think I've had at least 5 or 6 computers by now. Usually I was like one windows behind on everyone else but as long as it worked. When a new computer came along, I mostly got the old one. I think I bought my first computer in like 2005 which exploded, then the laptop came along in 2009 (which actually still works but the screen goes black) and a new computer in 2014. The one I'm still using to this day but renewed it with Windows 10.

Not all of us are as handy as Mac or able to fix it or reprogram it. It's just the consumption society we are today.

He got a training once. Still in my opinion not a good move. Jack was already too present when it was just the three of them and then they add Bozer.

You'd be suprised what's being dumped in third world nations. But I thought it was mostly India.

Why should he do that? She was saved and they hugged. She said it was over but I thought she was referring to what happened. Did they break off, how much time has actually passed since the last episode? Maybe she just is around.

I know it's kinda strange to answer on messages from a year ago, but we're mostly a year behind in the airings.

I don't mind that she's not on the show. It feels a bit overcrowded anyway.

About the violence...

It's just funny I didn't read anything on Mac blowing up the tunnel in 3x05. Seriously, I think he killed those guys but I didn't read anything about it.

This Jack Dalton is not the favor-asking pilot we all know and love. This Jack Dalton is a trained soldier who does what he has to do to protect Mac at all costs.

Yes, it seems more violent because the guys with the guns are now guys with the machine guns. How many times did we see machine guns like that in our version? Yes, we saw Uzis a few times but real machine guns like that, almost never.

The fights we see are more brawls then just two guys fighting. It's Mac and Jack against units of 6 guys or more mostly running around on a little screen at a higher pace then we're used to and Jack may be gunhappy.

But I don't see this season as being any more violent then the previous two. There is a fight almost every episode, while in our version there is variation between episode without fights, the single-hand punch and the fights.

Is this version more violent then our version? Yes, but if I add everything up our version has his share of violence too. Our Mac started so many fights, punched so many peoples lights out in order to catch a bad guy, whether he made some sort of ism first in order to jump them. The Spoilers contains the most fights in a single episode, I think. Squeeze Play has two fight scenes.

I think… I'm beginning to believe they always want to show us a non-violent man in a violent world and how he reacts to that in both versions. Our Mac may be a non-violent man, yet he falls back on fighting a lot. Mostly when he is out of options or cornered.

Maybe it's like he said in Twenty Questions: you can abuse alcohol without being an alcoholic. Maybe he can use violence then without being a violent man.

The reboot Mac still doesn't use guns but they're used to cover him (Our Mac would probably throw a fit and tell them to stay low and out of sight). In fact they're still honoring that because if they didn't, reboot Mac would've used guns a long time ago. Don't forget western Mac carried a gun for four years.

And honestly, I think it's more important of not having Mac use guns then characters who you can tweak a little. And this Mac did not have the trauma our Mac had. So I don't see why reboot Mac has to start preaching about the danger of guns. He doesn't use them and it's not his place to say Jack can't use them either. Our Mac on the other hand, he probably would've. Our Mac and reboot Jack Dalton probably won't mix, but it might make an interesting fanfic.