The CBS Reboot of MacGyver is so disappointing. I love the idea of MacGyver as the American James Bond, a charming hero who can be perennially refreshed. Unfortunately the new version is terrible. I’ve tried to enjoy it — I watched three whole episodes! But they totally missed the mark.
In case you weren’t a fan of the original, let me review.
Angus MacGyver was a 35-year-old Vietnam vet. He was raised by his Mother and Grandfather in Minnesota where he dreamed of becoming a pro hockey player. It was in the Cub Scouts that he learned to always Be Prepared. He attended Western Tech after high school and then bounced through a series of jobs including: nuclear power technician, bomb disposal in Vietnam, race car driver, and more until the day when he picked up Pete Thornton in his taxi and managed to defeat Murdoc with just some shoelaces and a wrench. He’s clever, but humble. He insists aw shucks, it was nothing — you’d probably have done the same thing if you were in my place.
He’s smart but folksy and worldly without being world-weary. Watch as he cooks up a batch of his mom’s chili to fuel a prison break:
FailGyver, by comparison, is a 25-year-old certified genius — two years at MIT before three years EOD in Iraq. He was a Boy Scout for only a couple of weeks before the “girl repellent neckerchiefs” drove him away. He is super awesome, totally cool, and wants to make sure you know it.
FailGyver and the Joie d’être un Bâtard Arrogant
In fact, being ‘Mr. Wizard’ seems to be the only thing which brings FailGyver joy. His roommate makes him waffles and he’s nonplussed. His buddy brings him a celebratory beer and he sips it perfunctorily as he broods over his ex-girlfriend. He says proudly, “It’s no fun if it’s too easy,” — Being the smartest, the one who overcomes what no one else can, is his sole motivation in life.
The original MacGyver was filled with Joie de Vivre—His hobbies (typically the subject of each episode’s B-story) are rich and varied. Mac never shirks his duty; he is always the one running towards trouble. But being an agent is his job, not his life. In the pilot, he’s spending the afternoon with his (adopted) little brother at the Griffith Observatory, watching the transit of Venus, when the call comes for him to rescue survivors of a lab explosion. In another episode, he’s taking his grandfather to a hockey game when he discovers that nefarious people have infiltrated the Phoenix Foundation. Or it’s when he pauses to enjoy an ice cream cone and check out some classic cars that he meets the eponymous ‘Thief of Budapest,’
A warrior’s constant battle for peace.
Although he was a patriot, employed by a clandestine government agency, and often worked directly with the military, MacGyver was dubious about militarization in general and killing in particular. As a boy he saw a friend get killed in an accident with a revolver. Perhaps he saw even worse things in Vietnam. Rarely does he use a gun as it was intended and then only as a distraction or (empty) threat. MacGyver abhors killing.
Conversely, for FailGyver and his team, murder is just another tool. In a flashback, we see four men with assault rifles sweep toward FG as he disarms a bomb. When they loom close, four shots from a sniper ring out, killing each with a head shot. Jack Dalton exclaims, “Who loves you, baby?!” and FailGyver observes in a calm, pleased voiceover that Jack ‘has always had [his] back’.
You could argue perhaps that original MacGyver was a bit of a Hippy, that mid-80s network television was more restrictive, or that we’re all more jaded about violence today. But to cite the environment is to miss the point: MacGyver’s creative solutions grew from his refusal to kill, not alongside it. To claim that he doesn’t use a gun, but has no problem with people being murdered on his behalf is to fundamentally misunderstand the character.
A True Modern MacGyver
Richard Dean Anderson, the actor behind the original MacGyver, commented earlier this year that he had been approached about the new show, but would not be appearing:
And all I can say is, I’m not considering being a part of a project that has overlooked the insanely LOYAL FANS of the original character and has proceeded without considering how and why they all became and STAYED loyal fans…
He didn’t elaborate, but we can look at a MacGyver project where he did choose to be involved for clues. Mercedes commissioned a series of three long-form ads in 2012 to promote their Citan van, featuring a retired MacGyver. In it we see the character ring just as true:
It demonstrates the charm of MacGyver in a 7 minute car promotion with a gritty backdrop. He misses his old job ‘like a needle in the eye’ because he’d rather be with his daughter; he describes his solutions in a matter-of-fact way; and the fatalities are all on the bad guys.
There are things to dislike about Mercedes’ Citan ads— the story is not flawless. But it preserves the charm of the original series and that’s where FailGyver falls down. Hopefully CBS won’t renew it for a second season. We just don’t need any more Joie d’être un Bâtard Arrogant in the world.