MacGyver Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Wire Cutter
Megan King
at
.
(One of) Mac’s secrets was revealed on MacGyver Season 1 Episode 4.
And what are a few secrets between friends?
Oh, Bozer, if you had only snooped a little deeper you would have realized that Mac’s obsession with Nikki is the least important secret on his laptop. Password protect, Angus!
Bozer’s little intervention was adorable (better than his usual silly film projects in the apartment) and unintentionally revealed to Jack that Mac had lied to him about chasing down Nikki.
We're all here because we love you.
Bozer
But Jack doesn’t have time confront him about it in front of everyone (two of whom believe Nikki is deceased) because there is a possible Russian coup brewing! So Vintage MacGyver.
Through a webcam, Mac helps the agent in Russia open a door using a bullet casing as a wrench. But there is a nuclear warhead behind that door, and the rogue Russian colonel who stole it busts in, kills the agent and takes the bomb.
Whoever you are, you should have minded your own business.
Russian Colonel
(At this point, shouldn’t the White House get involved? Or at least should it be escalated above Thornton at the Phoenix Foundation?)
The team realizes (by looking at the name of the top-secret weapons program etched on the front of the bomb) that the scientist who created the computer that controls the bomb is living in a nursing home somewhere in America.
He turns out to be a bit of an elderly MacGyver, but he can’t help them without his former partner (also a local Uber driver, I think?), who resembles an elderly Jack.
It's like someone put you in a copy machine but you came out all Russian and wrinkly.
Riley
But secrets tore these two long-time partners apart, and they haven’t spoken since 1991. See what happens when you keep secrets, Mac&Jack(™)?
Time to go to Russia to stop history from repeating itself. Elderly Jack stored an old Chegat computer that is capable of communicating with the nuclear bomb, which the Russian baddie took to Serbia and will detonate in 24 hours.
The team grabs the ancient computer (Mac turns it into a laptop!) from the safe house, which, as it turns out, is not so safe, because Elderly Mac is abducted.
The team stakes out the warehouse where the bomb and its creator have been taken. The Russian baddie’s grand plan involves building more bombs so that he can really heat up the modern Cold War.
That’s when Mac, Jack, Riley and Thornton storm in. Lots of bullets fly, but (of course) no one is hit as they make their way to bomb.
Did you just Donkey Kong those two guys?
Jack
The Russian baddie escapes, because he knows he has to leave the blast radius. Now Mac & Co., who are definitely still within the blast radius, have to dismantle the bomb or die.
If you blow it, we're all dead. No big deal.
Jack
No problem for MacGyver, who figures out how to fix the keyboard and trick the computer into thinking it’s the 20th century. In fact, this entire episode was a trip back in time, with antiquated computers (beware Y2K glitch!), multiple KGB mentions and a renewed Cold War.
Unfortunately, elderly Jack didn’t survive (a bad guy was revived long enough to get off one last shot!), which made Mac and Jack reevaluate their friendship:
No more secrets from now on.
Mac
What did you think of this throwback episode of MacGyver? Kinda made you miss the original, huh? If you need to catch up on the reboot, watch MacGyver online anytime.
OTHER NOTES:
- Every mommy blogger in America has done a post about baking soda and vinegar. The better food-related trick was the exploding flour dust.
- Another favorite TVism that hasn’t changed since the 80s: When two people from the same country speak to each other in English.
- I’m in agreement with Mac and Riley: Jack should stop singing.
- How many bullets did they dodge tonight? In Turkey, Russia & Serbia – Team Mac came away unscathed (that guy behind them in the tunnel must have been a terrible shot).
- Three continents this episode. Are there really no domestic fires that the Phoenix Foundation could put out?
Megan King is a staff writer for TV Fanatic.
