"K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit" - MacGyver S03E15 Review

And so with "K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit" we come to the first post-Jack episode of MacGyver. And... it's better. For one thing, I like Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, (Levy Tran) she makes a much better Jack than Jack did. Granted, some of it is doing opposites. Jack is dumb, therefore Desi has to be smart to provide the necessary contrast.

Like Mac she doesn't like guns, and supposedly only carries one because of "regulations". And I wonder who the heck makes the regulations, and what the chain of command is? Does Desi work for Phoenix? Or is she in some branch of the military on assignment to Phoenix? Or what? Mac doesn't have to carry a gun, and I don't recall Riley and Wilt ever having to carry one, either. So is it some kind of "Phoenix bodyguard regulation" they haven't told us?

But then again, when Desi goes into a house she draws her gun and points it anyway. And makes noises about how she draws it when necessary. Since there's no point in her drawing the gun except to look intimidating, I'm not impressed by her doing so.

We also find out Desi is a big fat liar. She claims she's giving a report revealing all of the dirt on her. But it doesn't mention why she disappears for four days in Afghanistan (to disobey orders and rescue a local man who has adopted Desi into his family). Or why she owes Jack a favor so she's helping out Phoenix in the first place.

Still, I've never made it a secret I considered Jack the weak link of MacGyver, so anybody would be a decent replacement. Desi is smart, competent, and by the end of the episode, has a grudging respect for Mac and his competence while indicating she isn't going to take any shit. Which brings us to the episode itself.

We start with something for Lucas Till fans, as Mac emerges from the shower and Desi slaps a bang sticker on his forehead. She's eaten his chips, and we find out later Desi paid Wilt, Leanna, and Riley visits and did the same thing. Desi couldn't pull it off on Matty because Matty knows counter surveillance techniques, and I'm still confused about exactly what kind of an organization Phoenix is. If they have regulations and security procedure and such, why don't Mac & Co. follow them? If they don't, then what's the big deal? But that's part of my (and the creative team's) on again/off-again opinion on what the heck Phoenix is and what authority it has.

Desi does promise to get Matty eventually. And then the team is off on its new mission: to help Mac's friend, an ATF agent Maria Ramirez (Presilah Nunez) and her partner Cody. It turns out Cody is a super-sniffing dog that can find guns. Smugglers wants Cody out of the way. Or do they?

Mac, Riley, and Desi head out into the field while Wilt and Leanna (Reign Edwards) stay at Phoenix. And I should note this is a mistake on the creative team's parts. For starters, why does Riley go out in the field? She does get a hacking scene or two, but mostly she does grunt work. If she's such a whiz at hacking, why doesn't she sit back at Phoenix and do all the hacking stuff by remote.

For another, Wilt and Leanna then proceed to do pretty much nothing for the rest of the episode. Justin Hires looks happy to be collecting a check. With Ms. Edwards, you can almost see the "Why am I in these scenes" thoughts going through her head.

The smugglers set up a rather clever trap using burning gun oil to lure Cody & Co. into some cargo containers at a dock. There's a big fight, and Cody runs off. The field team goes after him and eventually discover someone took the dog. Mac rigs some kind of RFID *technobabble* detector and after they pay an AM radio station to send out a signal, drive along and eventually find the chip implanted in Cody. Some dad found Cody and brought him home to his wife and daughter. Way to go, dad. Shouldn't you have the dog checked for rabies and such first? Do people find dogs and bring them home these days?

The mother posted on the neighborhood site saying they have a missing dog, and the incredibly neighborhood-site savvy smugglers spot the post and send an email asking for the dog's return. They show up and there's a fight. Riley sleeper-holds a smuggler, Mac knocks out another, and Desi takes out the rest without using her gun. So she needed the gun to barge into the house, but not to fight the smugglers?

Some of the smugglers escape with Cody and Maria, but Riley tracks the emails. The smugglers are packaging guns in airtight plastic wrap and want Cody so they can test how well the plastic wrap works. Cody runs off and the smugglers set the building on fire. Desi rescues Cody, and Mac rescues them by MacGyvering some fire-fighting foam and getting them out.

In the end, the team gathers around Mac's fire pit. Desi shows up long enough to show up, but says she doesn't want to make friends with her co-workers because they have a tendency to die. Which doesn't strike me as the greatest inspirational speech to new co-workers, but oh well. Desi and Mac make eyes at each other. Matty suckers Desi into kneeling and picking up a wrench (?) so she can stick a bang sticker on Desi's forehead. Have I mentioned how much I like Meredith Eaton as Matty? Even if I hard to believe she got the drop on Desi so easily.

The RFID chip detector is a bit complicated as a MacGyverism. A lot of the original MacGyver was about Mac making quick easy things out of whatever he finds. Using a stolen truck, an antenna, and an AM station seems a bit more than a simple MacGyverism. His improvised dog whistle--with a plastic bag as a bellows--is much more... MacGyvery. The fire-fighting foam, I'm so-so on. It's an interesting idea, but the fact the smugglers happen to have all the components, and they're conveniently near each other, seems a bit awkward.

Also, the whole dog-finding gambit subtly undermines Riley. The smugglers were able to check websites and find the dog, but Riley couldn't? What a dope.

There are no subplots, other than Wilt oohing and aahing over Cody, and suggesting to Leanna they get a dog. Most of the focus is on Cody, which is treated like God's gift to the ATF. He also gets a "cute" moment when the little girl in the family puts a boa on him. The girl's mother and father sit around watching like they have nothing better to do, and Riley and Desi oohing and ahhing. A pity Cody didn't rip off the girl's face.

Did I write that down? Sorry, but I'm more of a ferret person.

Also, there's a brief mention of a turncoat in the ATF. Other than providing a reason for why Maria can't turn to her own people, it means nothing and goes nowhere. At the end we find out the smugglers gave up the ATF turncoat's name, and that's it.

As a "Let's meet Jack's replacement" episode," "K9" is adequate. If you're a dog lover, you'll like the episode. Writer Rob Pearlstein also worked on Scorpion, which might explain his interest in the high-tech end of things with RFID detectors and implant chips. I liked Pearlstein's previous episodes, "Guts + Fuel + Hope". So I wouldn't mind seeing him write another episode: he has a good fundamental grasp of what makes a decent MacGyver episode. He also kept Wilt and Jack out of that episode as well, so the man has good taste.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?