Review: MacGyver Season 3X04 Guts+Fuel+Hope
- MacGyver(Lucas Till) and Riley(Tristin Mays) must navigate past rebels to get a truckload of liquid oxygen to a children’s hospital.
- Spoilers!
A Date With Dad Delayed
MacGyver and Riley are heading home after a mission in Abu Dhabi(Which means “father of the gazelle” in English. The more you know!). Their trip home-and a standing breakfast time with MacGyver’s dad- is delayed. Children in a Georgian (this Georgia) hospital need a tanker of liquid oxygen, but it has been stolen. No neighboring countries can or will help. MacGyver and Riley are the children’s last hope.
MacGyver works to save a hospital full of children.
Photo credit: CBS
C. Thomas Howell as Vasil.
Photo credit: CBS
Using Matty(Meredith Eaton) and Bozer(Justin Hires) as eyes in the sky, MacGyver and Riley locate the tanker. They chase it down(Riley has mad driving skills, just like Leanna) and MacGyver fights the driver. But the driver, Vasil(C. Thomas Howell) is not as he seems. He is not stealing the truck to sell on the black market; he is taking it to the hospital after the driver abandoned it. His son is one of the sick children in the hospital. Joining up with Vasil, the two must now navigate hostile roads to make it to the hospital in time. The clock is ticking, as the hospital only has hours of oxygen left.
Riley helping to save the day.
Photo credit: CBS
With Only a Few Miles Left To Get to the Hospital…
After MacGyver must use his skills to get the tanker out of an old creek bed, and plug up a leak, the coast seems clear. Vasil knows of a fueling station, and it is in a safe area. But once again, Vasil is not what he seems. At the fueling station, armed friends of Vasil are waiting. He was stealing the truck after all to sell on the black market. He takes the truck at gunpoint, even after MacGyver pleads with him for the children’s sake. MacGyver and Riley head to the hospital anyway, to see what they can do to help.
Dammit, Vasil! We trusted you!
MacGyver Faces Death
At the hospital, MacGyver finds that there is a backup source of energy. Relieved, he realizes that the backup can be converted to oxygen for the children. The only drawback? Someone must go into a room of pressurized air to hook up the makeshift hose. That is a dangerous thing to do without the proper equipment or after care. MacGyver rigs up a suit, and risks his life to get the oxygen to the children. His suit begins imploding, and Riley thinks he has paid the ultimate price. But all is well, and the children are saved. Not only that, but the Vasil and his stolen truck were tracked and the smuggling ring apprehended.
Dads
Riley and MacGyver spend a few times this episode discussing fathers. MacGyver is having a hard time forgiving his, but Riley’s words make him realize it it time. He finally shows up for the breakfast, and MacGyver and his father(Tate Donovan) begin to talk.
Thoughts On the Episode
- No George Eads in this episode. Did he have a prior commitment? Hope this isn’t a hint of more absences. He was missed. as was Reign Edwards’ Leanna.
- Peter Weller, a practical MacGyver himself, directed this excellent episode.
- Loved Matty’s heart to heart with Bozer about the late Jill. A lot of small, personal moments in this episode really elevated it to classic status.
- The ’80s epicness continues with C. Thomas Howell’s appearance as the backstabbing Vasil!
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