‘MacGyver’ episode 9 review Bozer’s new gig; Mac’s embassy escape
What a run we’re on at the moment when it comes to “MacGyver” on CBS! The introduction of Murdoc on the show last week proved to be enormously action-packed and interesting, and we’re glad to say that the ninth episode on Friday once again proved to be the case.
Before we get into the action of “Chisel,” let’s get to the stuff we’re really enjoying right now from the character standpoint: The evolution of the MacGyver / Bozer relationship. The best parallel we can draw here is to the relationship between Chuck Bartowski and Morgan Grimes on “Chuck,” another similar pair of best friends with a big secret between them. With that show, they actually waited until all the way until season 3 for the secret to come out, but the fundamental difference there was that Chuck didn’t become a government agent-of-sorts until the pilot. Mac had already been harboring this secret from his friend for years. The timing felt right for Bozer to know, and getting him working with the government, albeit in a capacity where some of his technical skills are being put to use, gets Justin Hires more involved. Basically, this is a win-win-win to quote “The Office.”
Also, kudos to the writers for making the Bozer scenes at times particularly funny, especially with him pretending to want to go out in the field but being ultimately relieved when he finds out he doesn’t have to.
Crisis in Latvia – This story proved to be particularly engaging, mostly from the vantage point of it having a relatively simple start that spiraled more and more as time went on. A mission to stop a terrorist ring in its infancy led to the entire team being stuck within the Latvian Embassy, where Mac, Jack, and the rest of the gang had to figure out away to protect their own lives to go along with some civilians.
If you watch the show for handy something-out-of-nothing moments, you got it here with MacGyver putting up reams of paper on the walls to protect the group from bullets while also making a makeshift shields out of Kevlar vests. The entire story was all about biding the time necessary to protect the team until reinforcements could arrive. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out according to plan, but thanks to a makeshift bomb and, once again, some clever thinking, eventually our hero was able to get everyone out the second-story window into safety.
There were a couple of tender moments in here, in particular watching MacGyver take on such a leadership role, and also a particularly funny one when Jack thought the ambassador briefly had a thing for him. In the end, everyone made it back to the embassy all right and now has a chance to live on to kick butt / take names another day.
Overall – Other than the Bozer stuff, there wasn’t anything particular standout-ish about the episode in the sense of it being extremely memorable down the line. Sometimes, though, that doesn’t matter if the ride is enjoyable enough. This felt enough like signature “MacGyver” to be worth the while, especially when it comes to capturing that underdog spirit. This character isn’t as fun when he has unlimited resources at his disposal; the more danger you can put Mac in, the better off we’re going to be — provided of course that he manages to figure things out in time. Grade: B+.
Want to get some other news when it comes to “MacGyver,” including a preview for the next new episode of the show? Then be sure to head over to the link here right away! (Photo: CBS.)