Yeah, I know what you're thinking. If this guy's the hero, it's not looking good. But like my grandfather used to say; whatever doesn't kill you makes you want to get even.
—Angus MacGyver
A mission to steal a bioweapon from Lake Como, Italy goes horribly wrong, leaving DXS agent Angus MacGyver grievously wounded and his girlfriend Nikki Carpenter dead.
Three months later, DXS gets a lead on the bioweapon, and the man who stole it and murdered Nikki. But there are more surprises to come...
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: The bioweapon is secure and its broker John Kendrick is in custody, but Nikki escapes after being revealed as a traitor, forcing DXS to rebrand as the Phoenix Foundation.
- Black-Tie Infiltration: Mac's mission in the Cold Open is to retrieve something dangerous from a safe before it's auctioned in a black tie event.
- Boxed Crook: Riley is recruited from prison to break into Nikki's laptop, at Jack's insistence.Mac: [Checking her records] Jack, there's nothing here but black marker.
Jack: Which means it's one hell of a résumé, am I right? - Casual Kink: When Mac shoots down the idea of wearing a tux more often, Nikki suggests he keep the tie, as she can think of another use for it. Jack asks them to stop talking like that over the comms. In a Flashback, she also expresses an interest in handcuffs.
- Chekhov's Skill: A Flashback shows Mac teaching Nikki how to pick handcuffs. At the end of the episode, she uses that skill to escape DXS custody.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Jack claims DXS is so secret, the CIA don't even know about it. Later episodes establish that joint operations with the CIA aren't unheard of.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Nikki enjoys the sight of Mac in a tux.
- Faking the Dead: Nikki's murder by John Kendrick in Italy was staged, on her orders.Mac: When you shot her, the first round was a blank.
John Kendrick: She insisted we make her disappear after the transaction. It was non-negotiable.
Mac: And me?
John Kendrick: She wanted you unhurt, but hey... she understood it might get messy, if necessary. - Hero with Bad Publicity: Jack reveals why he wanted Riley offered a deal so badly; he used to date her mother after her parents' divorce, and beat her father up after learning he was abusive. Riley didn't know about the abuse, and Jack felt it wasn't his place to tell her, which allowed her father to get his story (that Jack beat him up out of jealousy) in first.
- Hollywood Healing: Averted. Mac takes three months' recovery time after being shot, and is shown doing physio.
- Indy Ploy: Mac's speciality.Nikki: Full handprint biometrics. We got bad intel. That print you lifted is useless. So, uh, what's plan “B”?
Mac: Same as always.
Both: Improvise. - I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Lucas Till and Vinnie Jones have both appeared in X-Men films, although not together.
- Locked Out of the Loop: It's lampshaded that Bozer, Mac's roommate and best friend since school, doesn't know he's an agent.
- MacGuffin: The bio weapon, and Nikki's harddrive regarding the Lake Como mission to acquire it.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Riley's version of how she ended up in jail.Mac: I need to ask you something. Are you guilty of the crimes that put you in here?
Riley: Mr. MacGyver, have you ever done anything to help someone, knowing it might hurt you? Well, that's why I'm here. Yes, I am guilty. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. - Noodle Incident: Whatever happened in Ciaro. Mac and Jack differ over whose fault it was.Mac: Oh, relax. It couldn't be worse than Cairo.
Jack: Hey, hey. We don't talk about Cairo, remember? - Oh, Crap!:Mac: Oops.
Jack: “Oops”? “Oops” like I just stubbed my toe? Or “Oops” like I just may have started the zombie apocalypse? - Omniglot: Mac speaks fluent Italian and Mandarin.
- Shout-Out: Bozer describes the film he's making as "Pearl Harbor meets Dr. Strangelove."
- Wham Shot: Nikki, alive and well three months after being supposedly shot dead.
