Episode Number: S1E1
Rating: 5/10
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| Photo from CBS.com |
Taking the plunge into the MacGyver reboot was no easy decision for me to make. I'd heard mixed things about it, and had been debating with myself on whether to watch it for months. You see, I'm an "original source material" snob, so I've been very dubious about it. Most of the reviews online are negative, but there are a few people I know personally who've said they like it, so that left me to wonder if the online reviewers were taking personal offense to the show because it's not got Richard Dean Anderson in it (understandable, but still).
The major turn-offs for me that I'd read about in reviews were the complaints about how Lucas Till portrays the character - they said he's cocky, a player, and obnoxious. If this was true, I didn't want to watch it, because that's beyond out of character. I'd also heard that they dumb down the "MacGyverisms" by putting words up on the screen to show what he's thinking about - but to me, that sounds like it could be CBS trying to take a leaf out of BBC's book with Sherlock's thought process... though admittedly, that doesn't necessarily make it any better. Reviewers said that most of the new characters (which is all of them, really, because they just took goofy, get-rich-quick schemer Jack Dalton's name and pasted it onto a generic good-looking muscle man, and it was portly and lovable Pete Thorton, not slinky and mysterious Patricia) were dull, and that some of them served absolutely no purpose whatsoever.
And, call me shallow, but I could not seem to get past the fact that the lead actor was, only recently, in a Nickelodeon movie called Monster Truck about a monster truck ... that's actually a real, live monster. And he looks like he's twelve. And a One Direction reject.
Despite all these negatives, however, there were still some people who actually really liked it, and the show got a second season despite its 3/10 rating, so it sounds like it must be doing something right. And so, today, I decided to take a chance on the MacGyver reboot.
Without further ado, here are the 10 Things I thought about Season 1, Episode 1 of the MacGyver reboot:
Without further ado, here are the 10 Things I thought about Season 1, Episode 1 of the MacGyver reboot:
1. MacGyver isn't as cocky or annoying as most online reviews make him out to be. He's definitely out of character from the original, but a lot of that can be attributed to different actors and different directors. Lucas Till is a good actor, and upon watching him on screen, he actually does look a little older than twelve.
2. HOWEVER, it is unacceptable that he's so okay with Jack shooting up people to "cover his six." That is NOT MacGyver. He hates guns, and while he would tolerate other agents or policemen carrying weapons, he would have never condoned his friends carrying weapons and shooting people to cover his own tail. The real Mac doesn't need cover fire. And in what universe would MacGyver ever stand around watching someone beat an answer out of an enemy without finding another way, or at least protesting? Um... this one, apparently.
3. This Jack Dalton is not the Jack Dalton, and having him call Mac "Kemosabe" one time isn't going to make up for the gross differences. But, surprisingly, I like him regardless. George Eads is pretty hilarious (I mean, he's no Bruce McGill, but his portrayal of anti-Dalton is pretty great).
4. I hate Patricia Thornton so far. She's bossy (and not in the lovable Pete Thornton way) and not nearly as fun as Pete is. Though, the disdain she has for Jack is pretty much spot-on from the original.
5. I am surprised to say that I actually really like Riley, though the whole backstory of Jack dating her mom is a little weird. I think I'll continue to like her as long as she doesn't take center stage. Mac isn't supposed to have a team, after all. He works alone. But if he has Riley as technical backup, I think I can handle it.
6. Bozer's funny, but I'm not sure if he has a purpose just yet. And again, it's weird seeing pseudo-Mac having a roommate, because in the original, MacGyver is a lone wolf, except for those times when Jack would just let himself in and crash overnight, but even that would grate on Mac's nerves.
7. Where the heck did all the drama with Nikki come from? There wasn't even a relationship between them in the original, just hints of something possibly there before the outraged female MacGyver fans protested her off the show. And why all this betrayal stuff? I mean, in the original, it was a little rocky when they first met, and they argued all the time, but they were never together, and they never had straight-up betrayal between them.
8. And speaking of Nikki, I HATED all the innuendos between her and Mac. I mean seriously. Can we not have a show on cable where there isn't an implied sex scene? Can we not keep the wholesomeness of the original? Call me a prude, but I watch shows like MacGyver for the ingenuity (more on that in a minute) and action, and if there has to be romance - if that's what you can call dirty jokes, innuendos, and steamy flirting - then let it be a peck on the cheek or something, with absolutely no handcuffs in the mix, please and thank you. I get that they used the bobby pin and handcuffs memory to give context to Nikki's grand escape at the end, but it didn't have to be sexually charged.
9. The MacGyverisms failed to impress. I'm not offended by the words on the screen like a lot of people are, but I am offended that the first MacGyverism we get is the fingerprint copy trick we've seen in everything from Nancy Drew to National Treasure. MacGyver does stuff like making gliders out of plastic bags and duct tape, or blowing a wall down with a chemical mixture in a jar!
10. If I continue to watch this show for any one reason, it will be for the camaraderie between Mac and Jack. Or kinda-Mac and pseudo-Jack. Though I can't see them as MacGyver and Jack Dalton, I'm a sucker for bromance, and the panic on Jack's face when he thought his buddy was hurt was wonderful. Plus, the banter was great.
Verdict?
Not MacGyver, but still not bad. If I make myself forget that it's supposed to be a reboot of one of my favorite shows ever, which was admittedly cheesy and sometimes preachy but ever so fun and with so much heart, I can see myself enjoying it to an extent.
Looks like I posted the last message to the wrong place. Just to make it easier, I'll cut and paste here.
ReplyDeleteIf you continue to watch, I'll be curious to hear what you think as the show proceeds. Having watched all 21 episodes from season 1, I can definitively say it's not working for me. There were a handful of episodes with minor rewards but none of them would even rate within the top 100 episodes of the original.
I think Lucas Till is decent as "MacGyver". He plays the character well with just enough of a youthful sparkle to differentiate himself from the original. But MacGyver is a character who needs to fly solo to stand out. When he's constantly surrounded by knuckleheads loudly delivering lines and acting foolish, the fundamentals of the "MacGyver" format are diluted to the point of not being recognizable.
And above all, that's my biggest problem with the reboot. If feels like a generic CBS procedural. It feels like NCIS 4....not "MacGyver". The cast is too big. The writing is too cookie-cutter. The special effects are too cheap. And even when his MacGyverisms are above-average, as a few have been over the course of the season, they are explained at such a lightning-fast speed that the audience doesn't have time to fully process what he's up to. The complete and utter lack of creative inspiration stands in depressing contrast from the original, where amazing risks were taken to tell some truly memorable, diverse, and outside-the-box stories.
Of the secondary players, the only one I like at all is Riley, who has her moments of genuine humanity and delivering for the team. She's the only character whose hits aren't overwhelmingly overshadowed by her misses. Jack has taken over the show in many ways and his bull-in-a-china-shop foolishness doesn't work for me. Bozer has had a couple of moments but his shtick is typically as annoying as Jack's. Patricia Thornton was just a cardboard cutout, reflective of a show put together on the fly without any creative inspiration.
The 3 out of 10 score you listed would be what I'd give it...if I was generous. When I start watching a given network show, I tend to stick with it if I have any interest at all. With this series, the only reason I'm still watching it is my long-standing loyalty to the "MacGyver" franchise, and to see the little clues and character/location name-drops carried over from the original. Otherwise, I'd have dropped this show after about six episodes. I'll probably continue to suffer through season 2, which the series has been renewed for, but given that it airs in a bad time slot for me, I expect at some point to just say enough is enough.
The ratings are strong enough that it's likely to stick around for awhile. I had hoped it would get a full season to find its sea legs, but a full season in, it just doesn't feel like this patient is worth saving. I'll be curious to see if you agree as you proceed with the reboot. Like you, I thought the premiere was passable....but I can't say it gets better from there.
Welcome back, by the way. I thought maybe you decided against proceeding with the project after a more than two-month vacation!
Hi Mark! Thanks for the warm welcome back!
ReplyDeleteI did a bit of binge watching this morning (I think I'm to episode 6 now), and, surprisingly, I've found that I enjoy the show. I don't like it nearly as much as the original, and I don't even think of it as MacGyver - it's so far removed from the original that it's not, for me, MacGyver at all. So as long as I don't remind myself that this is supposed to be a reboot of MacGyver, and I just watch it for what it is, a new, admittedly generic, crime show drama with some familiar names thrown in, it's actually pretty enjoyable. I'm not in awe over it or anything; some things are really annoying and don't make sense, but for what it is, I like it. My favorite part is the friendship between kinda-Mac and pseudo-Jack, and even though he acts like a complete moron most of the time, Jack does actually have some genuine moments.
I'll stand by what I said in this review, though, whole-hardheartedly. It is not, at all, MacGyver, and I cannot, and will not, attempt to reconcile it with the original in any way. It doesn't have the charm, the heart, the values, or the moral convictions of right and wrong that the real MacGyver has. It will never be a replacement, and it will never be better. But as its own entity, it's a fun, if generally shallow, means of entertainment. I totally agree with what you're saying about it being more like NCIS 4 instead of MacGyver, and I absolutely agree with you about Thornton's being a cardboard cutout.
MacGyver (the original) was unique in so many ways because it defied so many tropes and stereotypes. You've got an action hero who doesn't use guns, who uses brain instead of brawn, who thinks his way out of difficult situations. Instead of his boss being, well, a cardboard cutout with no personality, he's the hero's best friend, and a generally lovable guy. You don't have huge shoot-out scenes, and the bad guys don't generally die, and never by the hero's hand. The original show didn't bow to mainstream culture and ideals, and I love it for that. But with this anti-MacGyver, it has essentially synced back up with action stereotypes, tropes, and mainstream culture in general, and it's lacking because of it.
DeleteThat's the thing that drives me crazy about the media today. Whether it's doing a remake of a movie, rebooting an old show, or making a movie out of a book, they think that they have to strip the original of the quirky qualities that made it such a success in the first place and squeeze it into the mold that every other mainstream movie or show fits into. For instance, I'm a huge fan of the Percy Jackson books, and they're funny, clever, and snarky in tone and content - and the movie not only completely changed the plot and tried to fit all 5 books into two movies in a jumbled mess, but it completely stole the heart out of the story. There was nothing unique about it, with none of the charm, snark, wit, or anything that made the books so compelling in the first place.
All in all, people who want to do remakes or reboots need to realize that if something is popular, there's probably a good reason why and they should stick to the source material. I mean, why didn't they just make this show with original characters, instead of using loose details and familiar character names and calling it MacGyver?
Oh, right. Branding. It's all about money. It should be - it should always be - more about the story you're telling than money, but, alas, this is the world we live in. And frankly, its approach to story, entertainment, and media, rather sucks.
I want to like the show because it's a fun little jaunt away from reality, with fairly likable characters and a decent story to tell, but every time I remember that it's supposed to be MacGyver, I just get indignant and start spouting off about the shoddiness of today's media industry.
Thanks so much for the great, insightful comment! I always look forward to reading your thoughts on these episodes!
Thanks for responding. Glad to hear you're getting some enjoyment out of the reboot. Apparently there are enough fans of the original who are getting casual enjoyment out of the reboot...enough to keep the show delivering modestly successful Friday night ratings. I have yet to talk to a fan of the original that finds the reboot on the same galaxy as the original in terms of soul, heart, and mind, but many are still watching and a fair number think it's mildly amusing. I've done my best to detach the association with the original and try to enjoy it as a stand-alone show, but even there it's a struggle. As I said, if it wasn't for the nagging curiosity about what connections the reboot draws to the original, I wouldn't be watching any longer.
DeleteNot sure if you know the full story, but there was an original pilot for the "MacGyver" reboot that CBS immediately pulled after the series was picked up. They then proceeded to hand the project off to Peter Lenkov (of the "Hawaii Five-O" reboot) and his creative team after Memorial Day. In some respects, I'm willing to give Lenkov a pass because this project was foisted on him very late in the game by the network, and he had very limited time to assemble a new cast and reconfigure the show. It also explains the very obvious lack of inspiration guiding the project. This was why I wanted to give the show a full season. Lenkov has done very well with the "Hawaii Five-O" reboot and I figured he could be trusted to make this "MacGyver" reboot work if given some time to find its footing. A full season in, however, and I don't feel the show has improved and is unlikely to. I set the expectations bar low so it's not as though I'm agonizing over it, but at this point I'd rather see the show go away rather than spoil the "MacGyver" franchise name any further. A whole generation of young people is gonna associate this inferior product with the "MacGyver" brand...and that's hard for me to accept.