‘MacGyver’ episode 11 review: Riley’s mother, Jack’s conflict, and Bozer’s Merry Christmas
Given that we’re in the thick of the holiday season, shouldn’t everyone by settling down to enjoy some holiday traditions and some time with loved ones? You’d think that; however, that doesn’t always turn out to be the case — and you can absolutely say that when it comes to Friday night’s new episode of “MacGyver” — the final episode of 2016. Also, it was one of the strongest.
This episode began with Bozer trying to get Riley to enjoy some of his holiday traditions, which apparently includes pastrami. That reminds us that we really want pastrami. Also, he wants to make Riley feel like there is something worth celebrating in the holidays, which is something that she has not always had for the majority of her life. Right when it looked like he was willing her over, though, she promptly disappeared, and it was up to the rest of the team to find her.
Let’s just say that something else happened along the way in the NSA was hacked, which everyone to believe that she was behind it. The more that Mac and Jack, with the help of Bozer (who wouldn’t give up any information unless he came along), investigated, the more it looked as though she was the responsible party. The picture eventually was made clear that she was behind it, but not in the way that you’d think — instead, she was only doing this because she had no choice, since the other consequence was potentially losing her mother forever.
Further complications – Remember the pilot? In that, we learned that Riley’s mother and Jack had a romantic history, and that this was something that led to a little bit of animosity. This is something that managed to play a role in a number of different ways as we moved forward into the remainder of the case, which revolved around Jack, Riley, and Mac all working together overseas (no Bozer this time) in order to stop the Chinese from using her hacked information in order to properly stop a possible World War III.
At one point, the three were forced to go undercover in front of Chinese officials, and this gave us a scenario that was probably a little more real than Riley and Jack realized at first. She wanted to lash out at him, with the primary reason for that being that she was upset over Jack hurting her mother. She felt like he was the closest thing that she ever had to a father, and he left her, even after he kept her mom safe from her violent and aggressive father. She didn’t trust him, and in turn, he didn’t trust her. There was a lot of tension that needed to be resolved in here, and there was almost something funny in Mac having to be an innocent bystander in much of this, even while there was a significant threat facing the entire world.
This is the sort of character stuff that the show can do that we really enjoy — it’s a chance to mine your relationships, and establish some conflicts that can pay dividends that we really like. It also helps episodes like this one stand out more rather than just “Mac and company save the world again.”
To stop a missile launch – The peak of the action came when Jack ultimately had to trust Riley to ensure that the world didn’t crumble to the ground; a missile threatened countless lives as it went towards America, and the Pentagon was preparing for a counterattack of their own. It was all of course up to the team, and they of course managed to stop it. Did you really think anything was going to happen? Within these moments of crisis, Riley and Jack realized once more that they are a good team when the chips are down, and that is something they should really take away from this moving further into the future.
Back to Christmas – The team eventually headed home to find both Bozer and Riley’s mother waiting for them, and for the news to be revealed that many of the people who threatened Riley are all behind bars. Riley’s mom and Jack shared a moment, and he admitted that there was so fear that drove him away — in addition of course to the fact that he had a secret government job.
Another happy moment: Bozer got the rest of Riley’s phone number! They’re moving forward! Well, they’re not at the place Bozer would like for them to be, but it’s a start. Mac gave the gang a white Christmas through one of his latest inventions, and we had a happy ending! Given the way most midseason finales end these days, we didn’t exactly expect that, but it was earned and we like leaving on a warm note before the holidays.
Overall – A solid end to 2016, this episode had a lot of great character moments to it, plus just the right amount of holiday cheer. Grade: B+.
Next time – Want to know when “MacGyver” is returning in the new year, or some other news all about it? Then just be sure to head over to the link here! (Photo: CBS.)