Review(s): DVD MacGyver - The Complete Fourth Season
Another great MacGyver season!
I love how quickly these MacGyver sets are coming out. This time around, we have episodes 65 through 83, which feature MacGyver in his prime. The chemistry between the characters is smooth and well-defined. The occasional supporting characters (Jack, Penny, etc) begin to hit a regular rhythm with their appearances. Murdoc shows up to cause a little more trouble. And Dana Elcar (Pete) steps behind the camera to direct a few times this season!
Season 4 starts off with a bang in episode 65, "The Secret of Parker House", as Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) returns in a haunted house adventure.
Episode 66 is entitled "Blood Brothers", the episode that explains why MacGyver doesn't like guns (Hint: it involves a personal tragedy). Told partially in flashback, this episode is a bit of a tearjerker. Jason Priestly (years before he became famous) appears.
Episode 67 is "The Outsiders". In a timely tale of eminent domain, MacGyver helps an Amish community settle a dispute with a construction company, and save a girl's life along the way!
Episode 68, "On a Wing and a Prayer", has MacGyver and Jack Dalton attempting to rescue Pete and his nun friend, Sister Clara, from Central American rebels. Of course, Jack's involvement complicates things, as usual.
Episode 69, "Collison Course", is notable for the guest-appearance by G. Gordon Liddy. The Phoenix Foundation has helped develop a new engine used in a race car. After Mac's friend is injured in a crash, Mac ends up driving. A fun episode!
Episode 70, "The Survivors", features MacGyver and Pete in a survival training exercise that goes awry when they encounter smugglers. Pete's lack of fitness becomes a plot point.
Episode 71, "Deadly Dreams, has Mac tracking down a serial killer, but there's someone else behind the scenes helping the killer!
Episode 72, "Ma Dalton", brings back Jack Dalton, who enlists MacGyver to help him find his mom. It turns out she's a fugitive in fear for her life, and Jack messes things up for her!
Episode 73, "Cleo Rocks", is the second Penny Parker episode of the season. Mac must help Penny secure her big break when her broadway-style musical suddenly has a rash of deaths. But Mac may be the true target himself!
Episode 74, "Fraternity of Thieves", begins with Pete's son joining the Phoenix Foundation. But does he have ties to an international thief named Papillion.
Episode 75, "The Battle of Tommy Giordano", involves MacGyver in a family custody battle as a Phoenix Foundation employee has her son kidnapped by the boy's father. But family mob ties complicate things. Plus, Mac ends up on the wrong side of the law when he tries to recover the boy!
Episode 76, "The Challenge" has another future star in a supporting role. This time it's Cuba Gooding, Jr! A racist frames a black guy for theft, and Mac must help the victim while ensuring the survival of a local youth center.
Episode 77, "Runners", takes on the topic of teenage runaways. A young girl has been drawn into prostitution by a decidely cruel pimp, and Mac must help her out. But her policeman father has a secret that complicates things!
Episode 78, "Gold Rush", is interesting because it has MacGyver helping a group of Soviets retrieve gold from a crashed plane in Alaska. There is tension, since a good third of the episodes thus far have had the Soviets as the bad guys, but this time, east and west work together (a sign of the changing times as the Soviets began the long, hard road to reform, culminating in their collapse). Unfortunately, someone may have beaten them to the gold!
Episode 79, "The Invisible Killer", is another of the regular "trek-into-the-wilderness" episodes. As usual, something goes wrong. This time, Mac must identify two escaped convicts among his party! Adam Arkin guest-stars!
Episode 80, "Brainwashed", centers around Jack Dalton being brainwashed to kill. Mac must overcome Jack's "programming", but it turns out Jack wasn't the only one brainwashed! A nice little twist in this one!
Episode 81, "Easy Target", has MacGyver fighting terrorists who threaten to use an EMP weapon on a city unless their captured compatriot is released.
Episode 82, "Renegade", involves MacGyver recovering stolen military-grade Anthrax. It was stolen by a deranged friend of his, a retired Naval commando who is still affected by old head trauma.
Episode 83, "Unfinished Business", is an understated season finale becasue it's one of those regular "clip shows" that TV does to save money at the end of the season. (If the producers dipped a bit too deep into the finances to get earlier episodes right, sometimes they have to make up for it by turning in a later episode under budget. Clip shows are a common way to do that.) As clip shows go, "Unfinished Business" is a pretty good one because they give us a great guest-star to make up for the shorter amount of new story! MacGyver, Pete and Jack are on a gold hunting expedition, and spend a good part of the episode recounting their past adventures. But unbeknownst to them, a former foe is stalking them. Kristian Alfonso reprises her memorable role from the Season Three episode "The Negotiator" as the assassin who infiltrated Mac's life to kill him.
All in all, a great season. There were many great episodes, and even the conventional ones were well-executed!
Recommended!
Give Macgyver some duck tape and he can just about fix anything.
Episodes for Macgyver season 4. SEASON 4 The Secret of Parker House Blood Brothers The Outsiders On a Wing and a Prayer Collision Course The Survivors Deadly Dreams Ma Dalton Cleo Rocks Fraternity of Thieves The Battle of Tommy G. The Challenge Runners Gold Rush The Invisible Killer Brainwashed Easy Target Renegade Unfinished Business
what a great show
Wow I am so happy that they ar coming out so fast with macgyver
maybe because he is such a big hit on stargate sg1.
Related DVD's MacGyver - The Complete Fourth Season
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