MacGyver season 2 episode 2 review: A Riley spotlight — plus, pizza!
Beyond this fun introduction to the story, we touched on what much of the story is going to be about: Riley’s struggles out in the field. Jack tried to give her a pep talk about it, and that was important given what lied ahead for her. A notorious group of hackers was interested in bringing in Riley after one of their best coders disappeared. Why would they want someone who is out of the game? They could be planning a massive cyber-attack, one that could have devastating consequences. This meant that Riley was set for one of her first major solo missions out there in the field. Jack didn’t love the idea, but there wasn’t a whole lot that could be done about it. Matty Webber did her best to fight for her to go out there, but nobody else was really biting … not that it matters since Matty’s the boss. (Riley was out of the room at the time of this discussion but could still overhear — that’s troublesome given that she knows just how much Jack didn’t want her out there doing this.)
The moment Riley got out in the field it was abundantly clear that the stakes were high, and that Jack was all sorts of paranoid in the process. He didn’t trust her enough to ensure that she would be able to get the job done without getting hurt, and the moment he heard the hacker group pull a gun on her — a part of their elaborate test for her to prove herself — he was ready to barge in there and cause mayhem.
Riley passed the test with flying colors, but unfortunately for Jack his impulsive actions got him thrown off the case. Cage had to replace him, and that meant interrupting her interrogation/seduction mission with the ambassador. Right when Jack made it back to the Phoenix Foundation he learned what the real endgame was: Killing a key Cabinet official in the Secretary of Defense. This was enough to make Jack, again, try to pull her out of there. He may have had a point given that once the hackers felt like they got what they needed from her they basically disposed of her … though they did allow her to live.
This was the hacker’s biggest mistake: Assuming that they could lock Riley in a trunk and think that she would do nothing to get out — or nothing to contact other members of the team. She was able to call Jack, and in turn, the Phoenix team was able to ping her location while she hacked the steering wheel of the car. Meanwhile, Mac and Cage were able to find the Secretary (after he initially blew them off) only to learn that the hacker group were using his pacemaker to effectively kill him.
The aftermath of all this
We suddenly had a race against time to both save the Secretary and also make sure Riley was okay. Jack managed to get Riley and use her to reverse the hack on the pacemaker. Meanwhile, Mac managed to piece some things together using paper clips … typical MacGyver, and that is what we love about him.
The episode ended with Riley and Jack having a heart-to-heart, everyone getting pizza at Jack and Riley’s hang, and Matty almost punching a giant cat mascot for being annoying. Isn’t that the perfect way to end any mission?
CarterMatt Verdict
You can argue that Jack wanting to pull Riley out of the case repeatedly was a little much, but we get it given the person that he is. He already feels like he let Riley down earlier in life and doesn’t want to do that again.
This episode was altogether a whole lot of fun — you got a great performance by Tristin Mays, some fun sequences, and a little bit of Jack / Riley backstory. We’re glad that we had a Riley spotlight episode this early in the story. Every supporting character can use a little more fleshing out.
What’s coming on MacGyver season 2 episode 3?
Head over here, since you can get some more insight on the big casino episode that is finally set to be coming up on the show soon. (Photo: CBS.)