What's your favorite season finale.. and why?

Surprise, surprise...I voted for Passages as my favorite season finale (it's also my favorite episode ). Nothing is more edge-of-your-seat dramatic than MacGyver fighting for his life. The first time I watched it, I was really concerned that he might actually die, and every time I've seen it since, the suspense hasn't waned. I get hooked every time I watch it. I still think it would've made an excellent series finale episode as well.

That's a toughee. But... um for me there's an intense fight between Passages and The Stringer.
They're all great. They all got their last fights and MacGyverisms. But I think Passages has the most intensity.
I wish all episodes were like that.

I voted for Passages with The Assassin in close second.

The Assassin I thought was a good season finale, Piedra was a good rival, the fight scene probably one of the best of the show and ... well, MacGyver in clergy garb. Heh.

For Love or Money - thought it was weak. Didn't like Diana and saw the Viera betrayal coming a mile away. I guess so did Mac or else they wouldn't have had a vest on Dubcek.

Murderer's Sky - really didn't care for that episode. Luke? Not very Asian name, especially for a family so steeped in tradition. I guess it was okay but I don't like the Asian mysticism. Little over the top.

Unfinished Business - Hate clip shows. Lame of the writers, especially for season finale and I thought it was a pitiful revival of Deborah. That character deserved better.

Passages - good deep episode and closest thing they came to a cliff hanger for the show.

Hind Sight - Argh! Another clip show.

The Stinger - Nah... not going with the long lost son. ON THE LAST EPISODE?!? Guess that's the ultimate cliff-hanger?

I think I'll go for Passages. It is one of the most moving episodes ever. It really got to me.

I also liked Hind Sight, though it was a clip show. Just love Pete, poor Pete.

HATE The Stringer. I mean, it's a good plot, has many MacGyverisms nd a smokingly sexy Mac, but why bring up a son?? Goodlooking son, yes... But still...
It stinks.

I'm stuck between Assassin and Passages.

I really like Assassin as an episode, good action, real secret agent feel to the episode.. love it.. but not sure about it as a finale.

Passages strikes me as a better finale, because in its original airing, there would have been the uncertainty of "Is this the final ever? are they gonna kill off MacGyver?" So it would have added a more cliff-hanger type feel to the episode.

Ok.. so after typing all this... I think I've decided on Passages.

I'm with you, Rock. 'Assassin' and 'Passages' were my last two nominations. Piedra is such an awesome bad guy, just the perfect fiend to counterbalance our good MacGyver! Had I been watching these shows at the time of their release and I was not already sold on the series, THAT episode would have kept me coming back!

But Passages takes the cake! That episode scared the poo outta me! I was totally afraid that Mac wasn't going to make it, that he would chose to stay with his family.

*shivers* Thank goodness for unfinished business!

I actually thought they did this episode quite well, the way the clips where used... but non-the-less your right Nymphy, it was a clip show and a poor resurrection of the Deborah character.

I agree with you about clip shows.. I think they are lazy. I could understand it if the main actor was injured while filming or something and they needed a quick standby option, but I think RDA looked pretty healthy.. so this was just a lazy option on the writers part.

Hands down, I voted for Passages. I remember the first time I saw it, I was on edge the whole time, afraid that MacGyver would loose his fight for life. I LOVE the fact that he didn't allow himself to die because his best friend (Pete) was going to be murdered. It really made me look forward to the next season.

Yeah, I don't think anyone was unwell. They had them trouncing around in the great outdoors. The story was very trite and generic. They could have had any character previously known or unknown that Mac or the Phoenix Foundation had put away in that part.

They could have done so much more with Deborah later… or never. They took a character from one of my favorite episodes and put her in to one of my least favorite episodes.

Bugger!


On a note.. you called me Nymphy! Tee Hee

I voted for Passages, with The Assassin a very close second.

Passages is really deep and very moving. About the best cliffhanger eppy they ever did

As for The Assassin, I love Piedra. You can see elements of Murdoc in him.

hmmm....tough question... As far as what episode worked best as a season finale, I'd agree with most on here that "Passages" is an incredibly powerful episode (dealing with death and loss and the hope of life beyond the grave... a lot of things to think about...)- however, you can't count out "The Stringer" (MacGyver unites with his son!- And it's the last episode!) or "The Assassin" (Piedra was a great villian- and I love the scene where MacGyver finally defeats him and Pete comes up and asks- "What happened?" "The wages of sin...I think," MacGyver replies. (Nice allusion to Romans 6:23- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." )
"For Love or Money" and "Murderers' Sky" are great episodes too- but I suppose they don't strike as strong a chord as these other episodes do... they're good episodes though (I particularly like the kinda polar opposites with MacGyver and Diana in "For Love or Money" and Ernie Reyes' martial arts skills in "Murderers' Sky" )
I also rather enjoy "Unfinished Business" and "Hind-Sight". I think Pete's story of the scorpion and turtle to help MacGyver and Jack deal with the death of Deborah was a great note to end on.
And I definitely love the hopeful note that "Hind-Sight" ends on-
"Ooh! MacGyver! That is just like you! I'm gonna get you!"- Pete
"I'm counting on it."- MacGyver


I know not everyone likes "clip shows" but I enjoy them just fine- and I think the backstory for each "clip show" on MacGyver is definitely important and worth the flashbacks.
But as I've said before, I really am never good at choosing just one thing- or choosing between things that I like a lot. I really do pretty much just enjoy all the MacGyver episodes for what they are. I try not to focus on the flaws so much, but look for the good in it all.

MaaaaaGyyyyyvvvvveeeeeeeerrrrrrr!!

That's what I miss a bit in MacGyver. That's why I think Xena is much better on that matter. OK, not every season has to end with a big cliffhanger but I think that would add a lot more flavour to it. How the third and fourth season ended of Xena is top class. With Gabrielle's "death" in the third and the crucifixition in the fourth. That's so sweet.
This is actually also why I like to compare MacGyver and Xena so much. Both series were looking for the first two seasons on how to develop it. MacGyver got the houseboat, a new co-worker, ocassionally Jack Dalton over the floor, a brush with Murdoc and a love romance in the third season. While in Xena the bigger storylines began in the third season. The whole Hope/Dahak thing, which continued in the fourth season and the China adventure, the death of Xena's son and the rebirth of Gabrielle's daughter, Hope's death, reborn (again) which resulted in Gabrielle's "death".
It sure wouldn't have been so bad if they did the same thing for MacGyver. The bigger storylines and cliffhangers, I mean. The Dahak/Hope storyline in Xena lasted for about six episodes throughout the season, from which the last two episodes became the cliffhanger, and lasted another three episodes in the fourth. Those are 9 episodes in total!!! There's actually one more in the sixth season. The comedy episode Soul Posession. In which they show what happened between the two parted opener of the fourth season 'Adventures in the Sin Trade' and third episode 'Family Affair'. The China thing only lasted for two (intense) episodes but they talked about it throughout the season and it was set directly after the first two episodes of the Dahak/Hope thing.
MacGyver's third season sure has made it's impressions too if you call out the major events like the return of his lost love, bigfoot, the death of Mike Forrester, the organism from space and the Deborah situation. But not enough bigger storylines. The only bigger storylines are Lost Love, Legend of the Holy Rose and Good Knight MacGyver.
OK if you have enough with 45 minutes be my guest than but I wouldn't have mind if Passages was a two-parter and The Stringer too. OK, better 45 intense minutes than a boring 90 minutes. Like Serenity that was also a great intense episode which didn't need to last more than 45 minutes. But still I think in MacGyver they missed the chance to do more things on bigger scale. For The Stringer it would've been great for instance, if they would've made the audience guess a little longer of who Sam was instead of making it clear after the first 10 minutes.

Huh.

All that would probably make more sense to me if I'd ever seen an episode of Xena, I bet.

What MG really meant to say was that he liked Xena's gravity defying battle suit.

Ya, I wondered about Luke's name too... there's a few names in the series that are weird, like "Lisa" for a russian woman? In Lost Love. I suppose it's possible, but it just sounds inauthentic and sloppy.

The "Stinger"? Is that the one where MacGyver fights off hordes of killer bees? I can't stand The Stringer (sorry to like, oh...everyone? )I always consider the real series finale to be The Mountain of Youth, for me personally. It's perfect- Jack's very last lines at the end are like a metaphor for the show. Curiously, Iv'e recently enjoyed reading Sheepy's fan-fic along those lines of The Stringer...Sheepy I guess it shows you're a better writer than the writer who wrote the actual Stringer! (in my own opinion.) Can't wait when we discuss The Stringer...when is it? Next week I think.

Thanks Devon, but I must admit I didn't come up with the idea...
I just took it on as a round robin and things kinda started rolling from there.

If it had been for me, I had never brought up Sam as to me, it's still strange to think of Mac as a dad. (Like thinking Richard Moser from Kommissar Rex is shot dead) But I'll do my best to keep you entertained.

Yeah, buy the series. Some episodes are quite brutal but than there are always the comedy episodes.

That too!!!

Well before the internet I also always figured The Mountain of Youth was the last episode. Apparently it was a mistake. Maybe The Mountain of Youth was supposed to be aired on April the 25th and The Stringer on May 19. Those two actually should've been in aired in the first two weeks of January 1992.
Actually it has something of a series finale. Last full episode to be set out of the country, Mac and Jack finally reunited since Jenny's Chance. 40 episodes in between huh. They've never been seperated like that for such a long time.

Hey that was John Sheppard, he wrote nearly every Murdoc-episode, The Secret of Parker House in cooperation with others, Cleo Rocks and Jenny's Chance in cooperation with Rick Drew, Brainwashed, Passages, Lesson in Evil, Eye of Osiris and Lost Treasure of Atlantis.

Yep yep! I'm going to protect it with all my heart and soul.

Yep yep! I'm going to protect it with all my heart and soul.

Oh, can't wait MG, can't wait...*rubbing hands together like a villian*
Should be a *spirited* debate... (But those are the best kind! )
Before we start that thread, we should all repeat to ourselves "Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, everyone's entitled to their own opinions..." If we keep chanting this it will all work out fine...

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, everyone's entitled to their own opinions..." Bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

I just came away. just now from watching "Passages " . And I voted for it . It is my favourite episode as far as season 5 is concerned . And then I saw also , that " Hind-sight " and " The stringer " were also listed . But as tough as the call was, I voted for " Passages " . The thought that my favourite hero would actually have died , and " made his peace " so that he would have stayed dead, is actually sad and scary . To think that he would have died . . . I mean, okay. I guess I am being reduntant here. But it is otherwise inconceivable that he would have died ( as even it took Pete time to register the possibility of him dying ) . And that great discussion Pete had with MacGyver . . . I like the line MacGyver said " Death 's not so scary , it's just another step along the way . " That settled it, for sure . So that is why I would choose " Passages " .
Sincerely,
Kate Mackay