Eric Andrews (General Ma)

Eric Andrews (Joe Pantoliano) is a US veteran who went rogue.

He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War; with Leland (Tobin Bell) being his commanding officer. After the war, Andrews stayed in Vietnam and went off the grid while Leland got involved with an organization called “Codex”. Andrews joined The Yards, a militant indigenous group. Andrews became renowned for his tactics of killing with a chain and earned the nickname “General Ma”.

In 1985, Andrews was reunited with Leland to attack a foreign embassy. Andrews was taken into custody and sentenced to life imprisonment. While incarcerated, he desired to reform himself and leave the persona of General Ma behind. Andrews started meditating and painting in order to curb his violent impulses.

Season 5
In Episode 5×03 (Eclipse + USMC-1856707 + Step Potential + Chain Lock + Ma), Phoenix Boss Russ Taylor (Henry Ian Cusick) is kidnapped by Codex-member Roman on orders of his boss. Leland demands Eric Andrews in exchange for Russ.

Angus MacGyver (Lucas Till) and Desi Nguyen (Levy Tran) visit Andrews in prison; breaking him out against his will. When they realize the FBI is tailing them, they learn that Andrews had a tracking device embedded in his tooth.

MacGyver manages to jam the signal by using gold chains and electronics. During the trade-off, Mac is forced to let Andrews go free to fight off Codex agents. Andrews can’t resist his murderous impulses and escapes.

In Episode 5×10 (Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower), Murdoc (David Dastmalchian) teams up with Andrews against Team Phoenix. They hack the Phoenix comms to reveal their most closely-guarded secrets to each other.