Does MacGyver have any more tricks up his sleeve?

This 21st century reboot of the much loved 1985 series sees a much younger actor taking on the role of MacGyver. “Mac” MacGyver (Lucas Till) and former Delta Force agent Jack Dalton (George Eads) deal with dangerous missions around the world as part of the Phoenix Foundation on behalf of the American government in this first season reboot of the 1985 series.

Nostalgia plays a powerful role in the first season with Till’s character countlessly nodding to the original with similar names and missions.  One recurring gesture that the 2016 reboot MacGyver is known for using new technology to aid in solving a case but also frequently resorts to similar tactics used by original MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson’s character during the 1980’s-90’s television run.  So, in short, the show isn’t totally forgetting about its past history with the Pilot episode maintaining the characters’ signature paper clip and Swiss army knife that is repeatedly used each episode.

Former imprisoned hacker Riley Davis (Tristin Mays) along with Wilt Bozer, a struggling film director and maker of lifelike prosthetic masks (Justin Hires) round out the team with Hire’s character immediately providing comedic relief from the moment he appears on the screen. Riley and ‘Bozer’ have an on-again and off-again friendship with Bozer admitting to being in love with his new friend but as the season progresses this is forgotten and a best-friend outcome is achieved through character progression.  The series also uses voice over’s by Till’s character which is diverted from the original as he explains the contraptions he builds in a matter of seconds to countlessly bring his team out of trouble and defeat the villain each and every time.

The delivery from Till is emotionless and unwieldy during the start of the season but by the fifth episode, running inline with the newly developed plot of his ex-girlfriend being a double agent, his delivery is more upbeat with the occasional witty one-liner.  With the new incarnation setting more of a comedy- action show rather then the predecessor’s action-adventure setting, it takes severabe released in April, fans of the original and the reboot are torn over the possible second season.

By Jaylee Ismay