MacGyver: #134 MacGyver's Women (S6E8)

Episode Title: MacGyver's Women
Episode Number: S6E8

Ranking: 134 of 138

sitcomsonline.com

Summary: When Maria presses MacGyver to consider commitment, MacGyver dreams that he's a cowboy in the wild west who helps two mail-order brides escape from a group of outlaws.

Quotable Moment: 

Maria: Are all American men frightened of marriage?  Or is it they are frightened of women?

 MacGyver: Oh, come on.  What are you talkin' about, "all American men"?

Maria: Okay.  Some American men.   Like cowboys, who are faithful to their horse, but not with a woman.

Best Part: When MacGyver escapes the noose and signpost trap with only his belt buckle and upper body strength.

Worst Part: The mustache.

Opening Gambit: Like I said in the last post, I am not a fan of dream episodes.  Much like clip shows, they seem pointless to me.  However, I think that dream episodes are generally more useless than clip episodes because they contribute nothing to the show.  I can only think of a handful of episodes from the dozen or so shows I watch that I can actually get behind because they do actually further the character, inspire character growth, or contribute in some way to the plot of the show.  "MacGyver's Women" is not one of them.  To me, it's just an excuse to dress Mac up in a cowboy costume and plop him into the old west just for kicks.  It doesn't fit with the formula of the show, and it doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things.  I've said this before, and I'll say it again: if you're going to add an element to a story, it needs to be something meaningful.  If it's just there for fun or a joke, then you're not doing your job as a storyteller justice.

But I'll admit, it isn't even the fact that it's a dream episode that's got me putting "MacGyver's Women" (and next week's episode) this low on the list.  Well, not entirely.  After all, "Good Knight MacGyver," while still not up there on my list, is significantly higher than the western episodes.  No, my biggest problem with this episode (and call me shallow if you wish; I'll stick to my guns 'til the end) is that stupid, ugly mutant caterpillar that attached itself to Richard Dean Anderson's face and then died there.  Don't remember a mutant caterpillar?  Scroll up to the picture from the episode and take a gander at that atrocious mustache.  Even from that angle, it's hideous, and I can't take Mac seriously with that thing on his face.  There are plenty of outlaws in the western episode that are clean-shaven - why can't Mac be like them?  I know, I know - it sounds really petty, but the mustache really, really bothers me.  A lot.

MacGyver: #135 Friends (S2E20)

Episode Title: Friends
Episode Number: S2E20

Ranking: 135 of 138

CBS.com

Summary: After one too many brushes with death, MacGyver seriously contemplates resigning from the Phoenix Foundation at his surprise birthday party.

Quotable Moment: 

MacGyver: Pete... for the past seven years I have done nothing but travel around the world getting shot up, locked up, blown up, and all I've got to show for it are a couple of empty rolls of duct tape.

Best Part: Either the part where Mac tells Pete he wants to resign or the scene where Penny proves she's not as gullible regarding Jack's tall tales as he thought.

Worst Part: Just the general fact that it's out of character, and a clip show.

Opening Gambit: Something that you will discover about me early on is that I don't like clip shows, and I don't like dream episodes.  Both, to me, are fairly pointless and don't contribute anything substantial to the overall arc of a show.  The only exception to this is when the clips shown in an episode inspire new and emotionally-driven dialogue discussing something that was not addressed in the episode itself.  For example, in "Hindsight," the conversation between Pete and MacGyver about the coma in "Passages" is a great moment for me, because we get to see Pete learn about Mac's near-death experience and discuss mortality.

 But this episode, from what little I remember, does not really inspire introspective dialogue and doesn't really make a difference.  Sure, you've got the whole thing about MacGyver wanting to quit, but that isn't the focus of the episode; instead, it's focused on past episodes, and mostly shows us things we've already seen.  I do appreciate MacGyver's internal conflict about his job at the Phoenix Foundation, but I feel like that could have been much more effectively addressed with a full episode dedicated to this crossroads he has come to.  The decision to keep going has less impact on me when it is buried beneath a pile of memories and clips I've already seen before.

I do remember, however, that the episode was dedicated to a co-worker (I think he was maybe a grip?) of the cast, and while that is very thoughtful and sweet, I think that it could have been even more touching if there had been a full new episode dedicated to him rather than one cobbled together with scenes from earlier episodes.

I don't foresee this episode climbing any on the list, mainly because of my distaste for clip shows, but maybe I'll find some nuggets of goodness buried beneath all the "been-there-done-that"s cluttering the episode.

MacGyver: #136 Countdown (S1E14)

Episode Title: Countdown
Episode Number: S1E14

Ranking: 136 of 138 

CBS.com

Summary: MacGyver and his bomb-defusing partner from Vietnam are called in when a cruise ship is targeted by a bomber who calls himself Viking.

Quotable Moment: 

MacGyver: You know, Charlie and I busted 51 bombs together in Vietnam.  Charlie used to put a little scratch on the wall above our bunks every time we'd get back from doing one.  We used to tell anyone who would listen that we were going for the record.  The day we shipped out, he counted'em.  Fifty-one.  Then he laughed - just laughed.

Best Part: When Mac tries to impress Susan with his robotic egg-cooking, and fails spectacularly. Also, Mac's speech about Charlie's bomb-counting ritual in Vietnam.  Emotionally charged and powerful moment.

Worst Part: Charlie Robinson's death.