MacGyver, Season 7 Review: Six Weeks Late
I know everyone has been wringing their hands about my delayed review of MacGyver's final season DVD release, which was officially released on October 24, but lament no more....the review is finally here! Clearly, the election occupied my every thought and moment of free time since October 24, so MacGyver: The Complete Final Season was unusually low on my priority list. It didn't help that the series' final season was the equivalent to a nursing home stay in a television series' lifespan. Watching this DVD set is in many ways tantamount to watching a beloved friend suffering a slow, painful demise. And the pace at which MacGyver lost its quality was astounding, starting late in the sixth season. With only a few notable exceptions, the seventh season of MacGyver was a collection of 14 afterthought episodes conjured up by an exhausted writing staff that seemed to be almost begging viewers to let the tired series go.
You could have never told me this in the fall of 1991, but I'm glad MacGyver was spared any further humiliation by ABC, who thankfully did not extend the series' bleak final act by ordering additional episodes beyond the 13 they signed on for (the remaining episode in this DVD set was a holdover from the sixth season). It was time for the show to go, as evidenced by the weak batch of episodes in this set. Let's take a look at the few winners, and the many losers.
Included in the winner's circle:
"Obsessed"--It was the weakest of the Murdoc episodes, but had a fantastic first half where MacGyver was being taunted by his archnemesis with a series of crank phone calls and coded messages, leading MacGyver to a state of burnout just as the Phoenix Foundation is under a spotlight providing security for a deposed Central American dictator during his trial. The story takes a silly and disappointing during in the second half of the episode, but there are still some satisfying moments between MacGyver and Murdoc. I'm assuming the writers were not planning on the series ending before they were able to make another Murdoc episode, but an open-ended finale where we're led to believe Murdoc is still alive nonetheless disappointed fans after the series ended.
"The Prometheus Syndrome"--There was nothing particularly impressive about the plot in this mad bomber/arsonist episode, but the pyrotechnics in the explosion scenes were pretty impressive for TV circa 1991, the suspenseful cat-and-mouse through the dark tunnels of an abandoned newspaper office, and some attention to detail on the physics of explosive devices made this one worth the time.
"Good Knight, MacGyver, Parts 1 and 2"--MacGyver gets conked on the head and returns to King Arthur's Court in this two-part fantasy episode. I was very skeptical about this premise working, particularly after two disappointing Western dream episodes in seasons 5 and 6, but a clever script and some convincing costume and set design efforts make this episode a pleasant surprise. MacGyver's first name is finally revealed in Part 2.
"Deadly Silents"--MacGyver pays homage to Batman in this installment where he and an elderly silent film star are targeted by a special-effects wizard after the star's fortune. There are several silly moments, but the clever escapes make up for the plot deficiencies.
"The Mountain of Youth"--The return of Jack Dalton and a globe-trotting adventure feel breathe a little bit of life into this episode, where MacGyver finds the fountain of youth in central Asia, only to witness the nation's government divert the water for construction of a hydrogen bomb. The execution of this episode, airing in the summer of 1992 and billed as the series' "lost episode", was imperfect, but is nonetheless one of the few episodes in this set that would appeal to those looking for some good old-fashioned adventure.
"The Stringer"--By the time they get to their series finales, most long-running series are well past prime and manage to end with a whimper. MacGyver was not really an exception to this trend, but the revelation of a long-lost son nonetheless provided some satisfying closure to a character who was running from his own dark past during the series' seven-year run. A few touching moments, without being an hourlong sapfest. Modestly recommended.
Most of the remaining episodes were clunkers to one extent or another, but the worst of the worst include "The Walking Dead", where MacGyver gets kidnapped by a voodoo cult and turned into a zombie; "The Coltons", a yawningly dull episode intended as a spinoff featuring the three bounty hunter brothers from several previous episodes with only two cameo appearances by MacGyver himself; and "Gunz'N'Boyz", an episode about an inner-city gang war that has some powerful and convincing scenes, but ends so preposterously that it obliterates any credibility the episode had scored up to that point.
Without a shadow of a doubt, MacGyver: The Complete Final Season was the series' weakest season and I can only recommend it for the most committed fans. Anyone seeking to purchase only one or two MacGyver DVD sets should consider any season besides this one.
You could have never told me this in the fall of 1991, but I'm glad MacGyver was spared any further humiliation by ABC, who thankfully did not extend the series' bleak final act by ordering additional episodes beyond the 13 they signed on for (the remaining episode in this DVD set was a holdover from the sixth season). It was time for the show to go, as evidenced by the weak batch of episodes in this set. Let's take a look at the few winners, and the many losers.
Included in the winner's circle:
"Obsessed"--It was the weakest of the Murdoc episodes, but had a fantastic first half where MacGyver was being taunted by his archnemesis with a series of crank phone calls and coded messages, leading MacGyver to a state of burnout just as the Phoenix Foundation is under a spotlight providing security for a deposed Central American dictator during his trial. The story takes a silly and disappointing during in the second half of the episode, but there are still some satisfying moments between MacGyver and Murdoc. I'm assuming the writers were not planning on the series ending before they were able to make another Murdoc episode, but an open-ended finale where we're led to believe Murdoc is still alive nonetheless disappointed fans after the series ended.
"The Prometheus Syndrome"--There was nothing particularly impressive about the plot in this mad bomber/arsonist episode, but the pyrotechnics in the explosion scenes were pretty impressive for TV circa 1991, the suspenseful cat-and-mouse through the dark tunnels of an abandoned newspaper office, and some attention to detail on the physics of explosive devices made this one worth the time.
"Good Knight, MacGyver, Parts 1 and 2"--MacGyver gets conked on the head and returns to King Arthur's Court in this two-part fantasy episode. I was very skeptical about this premise working, particularly after two disappointing Western dream episodes in seasons 5 and 6, but a clever script and some convincing costume and set design efforts make this episode a pleasant surprise. MacGyver's first name is finally revealed in Part 2.
"Deadly Silents"--MacGyver pays homage to Batman in this installment where he and an elderly silent film star are targeted by a special-effects wizard after the star's fortune. There are several silly moments, but the clever escapes make up for the plot deficiencies.
"The Mountain of Youth"--The return of Jack Dalton and a globe-trotting adventure feel breathe a little bit of life into this episode, where MacGyver finds the fountain of youth in central Asia, only to witness the nation's government divert the water for construction of a hydrogen bomb. The execution of this episode, airing in the summer of 1992 and billed as the series' "lost episode", was imperfect, but is nonetheless one of the few episodes in this set that would appeal to those looking for some good old-fashioned adventure.
"The Stringer"--By the time they get to their series finales, most long-running series are well past prime and manage to end with a whimper. MacGyver was not really an exception to this trend, but the revelation of a long-lost son nonetheless provided some satisfying closure to a character who was running from his own dark past during the series' seven-year run. A few touching moments, without being an hourlong sapfest. Modestly recommended.
Most of the remaining episodes were clunkers to one extent or another, but the worst of the worst include "The Walking Dead", where MacGyver gets kidnapped by a voodoo cult and turned into a zombie; "The Coltons", a yawningly dull episode intended as a spinoff featuring the three bounty hunter brothers from several previous episodes with only two cameo appearances by MacGyver himself; and "Gunz'N'Boyz", an episode about an inner-city gang war that has some powerful and convincing scenes, but ends so preposterously that it obliterates any credibility the episode had scored up to that point.
Without a shadow of a doubt, MacGyver: The Complete Final Season was the series' weakest season and I can only recommend it for the most committed fans. Anyone seeking to purchase only one or two MacGyver DVD sets should consider any season besides this one.
posted by Mark at 2:42 PM
1 Comments:
Yup that 7th season was extremely dull not to mention the hip 90s wardrobe macgyver wore was cringe worthy. Shudder. RIP
Post a Comment
<< Home