WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Summary: A reboot of the original series from the 80’s, MacGyver follows a hero who uses who unconventional methods to thwart crimes.
The Good: George Eads portrayal of Jack Dalton is fantastic. The new backstory and ease with which he flips from serious to camp is a joy to watch. Also, Riley David (Tristin Mays) is a fun character, (the token hacker needed in every tv series nowadays), and her chemistry with Dalton is fun to watch.
They kept the voiceover from the old show, which is great, and MacGyver’s friendship with his boss Patricia Thornton…which is a woman! I thought this change was great and a nice homage to the original Pete Thornton, who was played by Dana Elcar, and passed away in 2005.
The Bad: Lucas Till has put on a pretty wooden performance, not to mention the character is way too cocky and assholish for my tastes.
There’s not enough plot going on here. Plenty of action, yes, but not enough plot.
And what’s with the titles while explaining what he’s doing? We, the audience, are not idiots! Seriously, stop that shit. It’s annoying and almost made me turn off the show.
The Ugly: MacGyver is a non-gun-loving guy. Also non-torture-loving. He has no problem with lying to you, as long as no one gets hurt. This version of him seems to have forgotten that.
And what is up with the cliché fake dead girlfriend who – gasp! – turns out to be the bad guy (girl)? Who didn’t see that coming? And of course she escapes at the end. Duh. Who didn’t see that coming?
Also that there is more to a story than action. There seemed to be almost no story going on here!
The best friend cover, Bozer, was extremely annoying and superfluous.
Conclusion: The creators of the reboot tried too hard to modernize this, stripping it of most of what made it a great show in the first place.
I’m giving this until episode 6, like all the others..let’s hope the writers get their asses in gear.
Grade: D