"MacGyver" Lesson in Evil (1990)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

William Gereghty

TV Series:

"MacGyver" (1985)

Original Air Date:

29 October 1990 (Season 6, Episode 6)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime

Plot:

The infamous Dr. Zito escapes from court during his insanity hearing. MacGyver and the police, including the same officer responsible for Zito's incarceration, are now the victims of Zito's sadistic games. |

Plot Keywords:

Science | Gadget | Terrorist | Famous Opening Theme | Hero

Cast

Richard Dean Anderson	...	MacGyver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Ail	...	Kid #2
Karen Elizabeth Austin	...	Judge
Andrea Brown	...	Legal Secretary
Jackson Davies	...	Police Captain Mike Kiley
John Kirkconnell	...	Kid #1
Ken Kramer	...	Zito's Lawyer
William MacDonald	...	Paramedic
Lynne Moody	...	Dr. Marion Skinner
Michael Rogers	...	D.A. Howard
Alvin Sanders	...	Charles Davis, Nurse
William Morgan Sheppard	...	Dr. Zito (as W. Morgan Sheppard)
Paul Stafford	...	Security Chief
Douglas Stewart	...	Orderly
Kim Zimmer	...	Police Lt. Kate Murphy

Poor Man's Evil Genius

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I can't believe that at the time of writing, this episode has got 9.0 average. It's so full of stupid plot twists and clichés. First there's the Obsessed Cop, then the Doctor Who Believes the Psychopath Has Made Progress. Zito escapes during daytime. Zito hates MacGyver and no one immediately thinks about putting some bodyguards on Pete and others even though Zito gives a plain clue for them? They have the time: it's dark when Pete leaves the Phoenix Foundation and by that time they've been listening to the tape over and over again. They find Pete's car ONLY when Zito leaves it in front of the police station, in broad daylight! Wasn't there an APB or anything for the car? And nobody has the sense to assign any protection to the doctor when she tells she has transcripts that might be useful. The doctor arrives on MacGyver's place by car and literally stays inside for only two minutes. Meanwhile, Zito has somehow managed to take out the Doctor's car battery while there are a number of police swarming about! But the most stupid thing is the formulas which Zito leaves for MacGyver to give the numbers: 4, 15, 3, 20, 15 and 18, which, when changed to letters spell out "DOCTOR". Great, but there's a couple of problems with that. Supposedly Zito has started planning to strike at the doctor ever since she took him in for evaluation. The first number has to be "4", which coincidentally just happens to be Zito's cell number! The second number has to be "15", which is the page number on which Zito has written the formula for the next number. The third number has to be "3", which refers to the Fates in Greek mythology. Just when MacGyver has figured the third number, Pete calls that the Phoenix Foundation laboratory has discovered another formula, the one for the fourth number! How convenient. Why didn't they discover it before the second or the third number? Because the script says so. The fourth number has to be "20", which refers to Pete's parking lot number. How does it happen to just be the 20th letter of the alphabet? Because the script says so. Zito leaves the formula for the fifth number on Pete's parking space. The fifth number has to be "15", which already was the second number – MacGyver just conveniently doesn't yet figure out that now the numbers would spell out "DOCTO". Why? Because the script says so. When Pete's car is found, in the trunk is MacGyver's doormat. The Obsessed Cop makes a sweep of MacGyver's apartment and MacGyver conveniently sees the sixth formula and the words "P.S. Goodbye Murphy" written on the wall just before the Cop steps into a trap that nearly kills her. When the sixth formula gives the number "18", only then does MacGyver make the alphabet connection. By the time Zito kidnaps the Doctor, I no longer cared how it would turn out in the end: it was obvious MacGyver had to go in alone, because that's the cliché and the script says so. Criminal masterminds like Keyser Soze are cool, but omniscient posers like Zito and the currently popular Jigsaw are just plain stupid.