30 May 2016 | tenshi_ippikiookami

7 | A middle of the road episode, but still fun

MacGyver vs The Ants could be the title of the episode, as MacGyver, for once, is not pitted against other humans, but nature.



It all starts when one of MacGyver's friends, Dr. Alden, asks for his help to get upriver in the middle of the jungle. Something is wrong, as birds are running away from its natural environment, and Alden wants to discover the reason behind it. MacGyver agrees and both decide to investigate together, till their inquiries bring them to the territory of a white man called Trumbo. There they discover that some dangerous ants are causing the birds to run away. And they are planning to continue their advance and take over Trumbo's kingdom.



The show has the same problems that other episodes of MacGyver have. It is still very white-centered (Trumbo, Alden and MacGyver are the center, and you just have some peasants to give color to the episode). Also, it follows clichés (like the peasants running away, save the loyal one, that stays to help his master) of colonialism views of the world. If that was not enough, the beginning of the episode, where MacGyver has an encounter with some Basque terrorists, offers some of the less Basque-looking Basques of the world, which makes for some fun cultural treatment of other cultures (something that the lack of extras brings to basically all the episodes of the series, as the second one in Burma, for example).



It is not the greatest of episodes, but, as always, Richard Dean Anderson's charisma keeps the show going. And it is a little bit darker than other episodes, which makes for some surprises. And seeing MacGyver pitted against something that's not human gives it some originality. Nonetheless, the show is capable of much better.