Michelle 'Mike' Forrester Affectionately known to her friends as Mike, Michelle Forrester has known MacGyver since collage, where she gained her Botany degree. She, Jack Dalton and MacGyver traveled through Europe and Asia together after collage.  She was a keen mountain climber which eventually led to her death while teaching MacGyver to climb. She and MacGyver had always “had a thing” for each other, but neither of them ever acted on their feelings until the day of her accident, when she told MacGyver how she felt just moments before she fell to her death. This led to MacGyver blaming himself for upsetting her when he told her he only wanted to be friends.

Did Mike meet MacGyver in High School or Collage?

In Jack of Lies they talk about traveling through Europe and Asia.. but I don't think it indicates when.. was this after high school or collage?

I'm trying to figure out where this fits into the time line

I'm pretty positive Jack Dalton and Michelle Forrester and MacGyver all knew each other in high school. I thought they mention growing up in Mission City, Minnesota together.

In any case, this was a character who only appeared in 2 episodes, but obviously had a big impact on MacGyver. I liked her appearance in "Jack of Lies" and in "The Widowmaker" I think Michelle hinted that she had liked MacGyver but he had never wanted to commit to anything. But she was kinda unique in being a female friend that MacGyver could pal around with like one of the guys- and talk to about his various girlfriends without feeling uncomfortable. She reminds me some of Betty Cooper from the Archie Comics.
Anyway, her death in "The Widowmaker" obviously hit MacGyver hard (both because he felt responsible for her death and because she obviously was a good friend to him)
I liked her character just fine- sad to her die the way she did though.

I liked Mike.She was a great friend to Mac.I do think her character should have had more time on the show before they killed her off.I mean Mac and her were really good friends.It would have been interesrting her and Mac did date.I also do think that Jack should have been in the epo too.I guess that is what fanfic it for.You can make a character do anything and be anything.Thank goodness there are plenty of Macgyver freaks out there. Oh I should say fan and not freak. Ha Ha.

I like this character a lot.

One thing: she seems more self-confident in Jack of Lies. You can still tell that she has feelings for Mac, which I can't fault her for, 'cause they had been friends forever. I love how she reacts to Jack like Mac does, with the "I have a plan."
And she is confident when being interrogated by the bad guys.
The Mike that we see in the Widowmaker seems and is much more vulnerable emotionally. She declares her feelings for Mac, and gets rejected. Moments later, she dies.
I read the critque of the episode the Widowmaker, and I think you guys covered her death scene in its entirity. And I agree that as far as Mike scene's go, it's the one that I'll remember the most. And that's sad because I think they could have done more with the character. For example: other than the fact that she's a botanist and that she grew up with Mac and Jack, what do we know about her?

Ok, a few things bother me about Mike. First, once again, they don't use the same actress, AND her personality is WAY different in each episode. Mike in "Jack of Lies" is secure, confident, and although she has fond feelings for MacGyver, it doesn't seem like she is so into him that she would ever allow herself to make mistakes like she did in Widowmaker.
Second, they never mention her being an "expert" climber in Jack of Lies.
Third, and perhaps the most annoying, she's not in any other episodes, yet she's supposed to be Mac's "best friend."
Didn't quite seem to fit, and once again, the continuity was a big problem for me. The Mike in Widowmaker seemed weak and vulnerable, not at all like the Mike in Jack of Lies.

I really wish they used this character more. Killing her off in "Widowmaker" was dumb for two reasons--

1. She wasn't really Mike in that episode. Looked different, acted different. Why not just make it an entirely different character then? The writers even screwed up the dynamics of the relationship-- in Jack Of Lies, Mac was the one who had a crush on her. In Widowmaker, she's the one desperate for him to commit, and he merely sees her as a friend.

2. Aside from her death causing Mac to spend some time alone in the woods (thus setting him up as a target for Murdoc), what purpose did her death serve? None, as far as I can see. So why waste a character with so much potential? There are plenty of other ways they could have gotten Mac to be alone in the woods without killing her.

I really liked her in "Jack Of Lies." She had a certain grit to her, and I could easily see her tagging along with Mac on a few more adventures. Kind reminded me a bit of Karen Allen in Raiders. Patricia McPherson did a good job in the role. I'd much rather have seen her as a recurring character than Penny Parker.

I liked her a lot. She really worked well w/Mac.

I wonder if Nikki was based on the Mike character?

Maybe they realized the error in killing off Mike so tried to resurrect the character with Nikki.

Hmm...interesting point, Rocky, and definitely a possibility...

That is a good observation Rocky.

i loved her, ok it was acted by 2 , but she was the one for Mac, and he let her go, when she asked for more.
this was an emotional episode and a good one.

Oh that's an interesting thought....

Oh I love Mike, she was great character. She and Mac would have been GREAT couple.

I found this. I love it!




Attached Image

Loved Mike I wished they never killed her off. Wonderful photo btw

Nope! Never, Mac and Nikki were perfect and should have got together. I loved Nikki, smart and funny, she and Mac were frosty at the beginning, but they grew to have a deep respect for each other.
I'm sorry they got rid of her, she was an amazing character.

Nope! Never, Mac and Nikki were perfect and should have got together. I loved Nikki, smart and funny, she and Mac were frosty at the beginning, but they grew to have a deep respect for each other.
I'm sorry they got rid of her, she was an amazing character.

Each has their own favorites.

Hmmm....Mac and Nikki....that would have been interesting....great couple too.

The idea that Nikki may have been based partly on Mike is an interesting theory. I do see some similarity between the two (that is, if you go with the version of Mike who appears in JoL.) Mike isn't nearly as prickly, of course, but she could definitely hold her own against the bad guys, as could Nikki.

They liked each other and Mac was deeply effected by her death.

I agree that with the two actresses portraying her so different was a flaw. Though im sure that when they wrote the episodes they never considered that years later people like us would have watched it millions of times and followed the storylines so close.

I'd gone through all the seasons of Knight Rider again before watching MacGyver, so it was a thrill to see her appear. Of course, she skipped one season in Knight Rider and it sure wasn't the same until she came back.

One of the better supporting actresses in the show. The writers should have kept the character alive.

I liked this character. I wish she had been on more episodes.

I think we have timeline messed up on this one, because he had another girlfriend in college, the blonde haired lady in the episode about the nuclear plant that had a melt down, the one where she called him because she was scared, oh what is the name of that episode? But that was his college girlfriend.

I think Mike came from before college.