MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series developed by Peter M. Lenkov that ran on CBS from September 23, 2016 to April 30, 2021, comprising five seasons and 94 episodes. The series stars Lucas Till as the title character, an undercover government agent who prefers to fight crime with ingenious feats of engineering rather than lethal force. It is a reboot of the original series of the same name created by Lee David Zlotoff, which aired from 1985 to 1992. CBS cancelled the show in April 2021; the series finale aired on April 30, 2021.
MacGyver takes place in the same fictional universe as two other series, both also developed by Lenkov and both reboots of earlier shows: Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I. The three shows have been collectively referred to as the "Lenkov-verse".
Premise Angus "Mac" MacGyver is a U.S. government agent of a secret, privately funded U.S. government intelligence agency (cloaked as a think tank) called the Phoenix Foundation, where he uses his extraordinary talent for problem solving and his extensive knowledge of science to save lives and, in some cases, prevent catastrophes. "With skills that are only limited by his creativity, Mac saves the day using paper clips instead of pistols, birthday candles instead of bombs, and gum instead of guns."
The episodes make frequent use of second-person narrative in the form of voice-overs provided by Lucas Till as Angus MacGyver. The commentary usually provides instructions or "tricks of the trade", as if for a training or orientation film.
Cast and characters
Main Lucas Till as Angus "Mac" MacGyver: Mac is a highly intelligent and incredibly resourceful U.S. operative who works for the Phoenix Foundation, a covert agency operating under the guise of a think tank. Trained as an EOD technician for the U.S. Army, Mac prefers to use non-lethal means to stop his enemies; he is never without his trusty Swiss Army knife and has the uncanny ability to use anything in his environment to his advantage. He is very proficient in chemistry, applied physics and engineering. At the end of season two, he learns that his absent father, James MacGyver, is Oversight—the man who oversees the Phoenix Foundation. Mac then leaves the Phoenix because of his lack of trust in its leadership. He eventually returns after realizing how much they need his skill set. George Eads as Jack Dalton (seasons 1–3): Mac's partner in the field and a former Delta Force operator. Jack's history with Mac goes back to his days in the Army and, unlike Mac, he is not afraid to use guns in the field. He also has history with Riley, because he was once in a relationship with her mother and had an altercation with her deadbeat father. While mostly easy-going and laid-back, Jack can get serious when the situation calls for it and often calls upon his special operations training to help the team get out of a tight spot. Midway through season 3, at the end of "Father + Bride + Betrayal", Jack leaves the Phoenix to track Tiberius Kovac, a terrorist thought to have been killed years earlier. In season 5's "Jack + Kinematics + Safe Cracker + MgKNO3 + GTO", it was revealed that Jack had been killed in action while trying to apprehend Kovac. Tristin Mays as Riley Davis: A tough-as-nails, sarcastic hacker who is hired by the Phoenix Foundation as their cyber specialist. Riley was originally in prison for trying to hack the NSA in order to save her mother from a reclusive hacktivist group. She had a strained relationship with Jack because he vanished from her and her mother's lives after an altercation with her abusive father, but now views Jack as a father figure. Sandrine Holt as Patricia Thornton (season 1): Initial Director of Field Operations at the Phoenix Foundation and, in Mac's own words, the most successful clandestine operative in U.S. history. By the book and serious most of the time, Thornton regularly assigns the team their missions. In the 12th episode, "Screwdriver", she is discovered to be a mole working for the Organization and arrested. Justin Hires as Wilt Bozer: Mac's best friend whom he has known since childhood. He is initially a struggling film director possessing several artistic talents. His ability to create lifelike masks and facial prosthetics gets him hired at the Phoenix Foundation, working primarily in robotics. Bozer is a source of comic relief and, in the 1st season, helps Riley in exchange for getting her phone number one digit at a time. When Bozer undergoes training at the Operative Training Center, he falls for fellow recruit Leanna Martin. Meredith Eaton as Matilda "Matty" Webber: Thornton's replacement as Director of Operations at Phoenix Foundation and Jack's ex-boss from the CIA. It is revealed in season 3's "Scavengers + Hard Drive + Dragonfly" that she is married, but has not worn a wedding ring since her husband, Ethan Reigns, went on a deep undercover assignment. Isabel Lucas as Samantha Cage (season 2), CIA officer and formerly of SASR 4th Squadron. After she is discharged from the CIA for her unsanctioned actions in the second season premiere, Matty recruits her into the Phoenix Foundation. In the episode "Bullet + Pen", she is ambushed and shot by Murdoc, an assassin who is one of MacGyver's main enemies, in her apartment, but survives and returns home to her native Australia to recover. Levy Tran as Desiree "Desi" Nguyen (seasons 4–5; recurring season 3), Desi is a new recruit for the Phoenix Foundation who takes over for Jack after he leaves. Though she does things differently than Jack, she seems to be equally effective. She is skilled in six martial arts, and very adept at hand-to-hand combat. The fourth season premiere reveals that Desi and Mac had a brief romantic relationship that ended badly. Their romance is rekindled in season 5. Henry Ian Cusick as Russell "Russ" Taylor (seasons 4–5), is an Ex-MI6 Agent. Before joining the Phoenix, he worked as a Private Military Contractor and managed Spearhead Operations. Described as a master manipulator and salesman, Russ is skilled in propaganda and lie detection, and boasts an extremely high emotional intelligence. He is also very wealthy, and thus is used to both getting his way and enjoying the spoils of war (including expensive suits, fast cars, private jets and a house in Monte Carlo). The events of the fourth season portray Russ as being obsessed with destroying Codex, with him later revealing that Codex approached him for recruitment several years ago.
Recurring Tracy Spiridakos as Nikki Carpenter (season 1), an undercover CIA operative who formerly worked as a hacker for DXS until she faked her own death. She is also Mac's ex-girlfriend. Amy Acker as Sarah Adler (season 1), a CIA operative and Jack's ex-girlfriend David Dastmalchian as Murdoc (seasons 1–3 & 5), an assassin who described himself as one of the best in the world. When he was first introduced, he was referred to as Suspect 218, which is a nod to the original series. Originally, Murdoc was hired to kill Mac, but frequently targeted other members of the Phoenix Foundation after developing a fascination with the group since they are the first ones to survive his attempts to kill them. He is at first thought to have been sent by Nikki, but is later revealed to have been sent by Thornton. Murdoc is especially obsessed with Mac as he sees him as an equal and a "friend." Aina Dumlao as Andie Lee (seasons 1–2): Andie Lee was the personal assistant of Patricia Thornton (Sandrine Holt), Director of Field Operations for the DXS and the Phoenix Foundation during the first half of season. She was present when Thornton’s successful career and highest respect in the governmental ranks abruptly ended when she was revealed to be the mole known as ‘Chrysalis’ and arrested for treason in Episode 1×12 (Screwdriver). Thornton was later replaced by Matty Webber (Meredith Eaton) whom Andie continued to work for into early season 2. Kate Bond as Jill Morgan: A forensics expert at the Phoenix Foundation. The team members occasionally ask her for help on personal missions. She is seen leading a task force to help capture Murdoc in the third season premiere. Murdoc kills her at the end of the episode. Lauren Vélez as Cassandra Glover (season 2), a coordinator for Operative Training Center Reign Edwards as Leanna Martin (seasons 2–3), a recruit at the Operative Training Center. Bozer meets and becomes good friends with Leanna, later leading to a romantic relationship that they try to keep secret. In the season 2 finale, Leanna is hired by the Phoenix Foundation. In the fifth season episode "Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower", it is revealed that she was killed on a mission six months prior, a fact that Russ had hidden from Bozer. William Baldwin as Elwood Davis (seasons 2–3), Riley's estranged father Lance Gross as Billy Colton (seasons 1–3), a member of the Colton bounty hunting family who becomes a love interest of Riley's. Riley breaks up with him after she discovers, on a mission, that Billy was cheating on her. Sheryl Lee Ralph as Mama Colton (seasons 1–3), Billy's mother and the head of the Colton bounty hunting family Emerson Brooks as Charlie Robinson (seasons 1–3), Mac's old war pal who is now a bomb squad specialist. He was killed by Elliot Mason in Season 3. Tate Donovan as James MacGyver/"Oversight" (seasons 2–4), Mac's father who had mysteriously disappeared from his life. He was first introduced in Season 2, and he and Mac slowly developed a relationship again. In Season 3, it was revealed that Oversight had cancer. Oversight was killed after he manually detonated an explosive at Codex headquarters in Season 4, just after he revealed his cancer had returned. Sibongile Mlambo as Nasha (season 3), Mac's ex-girlfriend whom he met in Nigeria after briefly leaving the Phoenix Foundation Brendan Hines as Ethan Reigns (season 3), Matty's husband who went deep undercover for eight years shortly after their marriage. It's revealed in season 3 that, to keep his cover, Ethan married another woman and had a child with her. Peter Weller as Elliot Mason (seasons 3–5), a former military special ops officer and former FBI agent who holds a grudge against James MacGyver for supposedly causing the death of Mason's son Leonardo Nam as Aubrey (season 4), Riley's brief love interest, who breaks up with her after Riley reveals where she really works Jeri Ryan as Gwendolyn "Gwen" Hayes (season 4), MacGyver's aunt (his mother's sister); an ex-DXS agent who was presumed dead, but is now a high-ranking official within Codex Amber Skye Noyes as Scarlett (season 4), a Codex soldier Zach McGowan as Roman (seasons 4–5), a Codex soldier Alexandra Grey as Parker Phillips (season 5), the newest engineer at Phoenix Foundation
Notable guests Daniel Dae Kim as Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly, a member of the Five-0 Task Force Grace Park as Officer Kono Kalakaua, a member of the Five-0 Task Force Taylor Wily as Kamekona Tupuola, an entrepreneur and confidential informant for the Five-0 Task Force Michael Des Barres as Nicholas Helman, a hitman who is also Murdoc's mentor. Des Barres played Murdoc in the original MacGyver series. Bruce McGill as LAPD Detective Greer. McGill played Jack Dalton in the original MacGyver series. Sarah Sokolovic as Amber, Murdoc's ex-wife and mother of their son, Cassian Sean Cameron Michael as The Ghost Bomber Presilah Nunez as ATF Agent Maria Ramirez, MacGyver's friend from their time in the Army and the handler of ATF K-9 Cody Brian "Q" Quinn as Dale, a restaurant patron who slips Mac a candy bar at a fancy restaurant James "Murr" Murray as the maitre'd of a restaurant where Mac and Desi go undercover Salvatore "Sal" Vulcano as Chef Salvatore, who serves rare delicacies Joseph "Joe" Gatto as Larry, a bartender at a restaurant where Mac and Desi go undercover