‘MacGyver’ episode 6 review: Give up the Ghost
If there’s been a defining issue for the “MacGyver” remake on CBS so far, it is the lack of compelling villains. We’ve got Nikki, sure, but beyond that we’ve been floating to a certain extent in a sea of ambiguity with characters we don’t quite care about serving as chief adversaries.
Through much of Friday’s new episode, the real hope was that we were going to be seeing someone significantly more notorious via the Ghost, an old enemy of Mac’s whose work led to the death of one of his key mentors. It was a chance to dive into more of his own past, and present him with someone who posed a serious threat. This was evidenced further by what needed to be done in order to stop him — namely, we’re talking here about the multiple bombs that needed defusing.
Aside from the flashbacks here and there to some of Mac’s earlier years in training, there were a few small highlights here and there in the hour. For one, we learned that Jack’s happy place apparently involves him thinking about his Fantasy Football glory days. Who knew that hearing George Eads say “boom boom” would be so fun? Also, the idea of someone dressing up as “President Morgan Freeman” for a party sounds entertaining and then some in itself. This is a show that is starting to realize that it should lean more into the humorous moments, given that this is what will make it stand out.
Now that we’ve said that, we don’t want to pretend that the show was short on the emotional moments, either. In the closing minutes of the episode, we saw Mac visit the family of his aforementioned former mentor, where he told them about the hero he once knew. While the Ghost may still be out there, at least his plans were stopped at present — and there was something further he learned about himself and the importance of family through this mission stop him.
As a viewer, the biggest takeaway we have is that this was the best episode of the season in terms of comedy, action, and mythology galore. Grade: A-.
Next week’s new episode – Want to get some further details about it? Then be sure to head over here! (Photo: CBS.)