'MacGyver' Season 4 Finale Recap: [Spoiler] dies so Mac can survive and save the world once again
Spoilers for 'MacGyver' Season 4 Episode 13 'Save + The + Dam + World'
And so it ends. After what's been the show's best season yet, 'MacGyver' Season 4 has wrapped up with Episode 13 'Save + The + Dam + World'.
There were twists and turns aplenty in the season finale, not to mention equal loads of heartache and action. So without further ado, here's how the story goes:
Recap
After meeting his aunt Gwendolyn Hayes (Jeri Ryan) in Codex's underground city and finding out that the superweapon Shiva is actually a renewable energy source that will power the city indefinitely, Angus "Mac" MacGyver is taken to meet Leland (guest star Tobin Bell), the man who gives Gwen her orders.
They have a short conversation about history, volcanoes and survival of the fittest before Leland reveals that Russ Taylor (Henry Ian Cusick) was almost recruited by the organization.
After this, Gwen's team along with Mac and Riley Davis (Tristin Mays) were sent out from the bunker, traveling along separate routes to an unknown rendezvous point.
However, Mac and Riley are waylaid by Russ and Desi Nguyen (Levy Tran). Though they don't seem ready to listen to Mac, he gets their attention by revealing that Codex has a nuke in their possession and that Russ was once approached by Codex.
Russ explains that Codex did try to recruit him but after he refused, they killed his team in an effort to take him out, which is why he bought the Phoenix Foundation and set the season's events into motion, allowing Mac and Riley to proceed as planned.
Arriving at the rendezvous, Mac and Riley realize that the nuke isn't there while back at the bunker, Leland shows Gwen footage of Mac talking to the Phoenix Team on the roadside, before revealing that he has sent an attack helicopter to drop a missile on Gwen's team, Mac and Riley included.
Luckily, Mac figures out the trap and manages to escape the explosion with Riley by his side.
The Phoenix team regroups and tracks the truck carrying the nuke with Mac leaping aboard only to be confronted by Gwen. Mac just about manages to get through to her when he's attacked by a Codex operative and though Gwen tries to pull him in, he jumps off and makes his escape.
They continue to follow the truck to a dam near Yellowstone Park and realize that Codex's plan is to blow up the dam, triggering a chain reaction that would cause the supervolcano under Yellowstone to blow up, blotting out the sun across the western hemisphere for years.
Mac manages to rig up a device that will stop the chain reaction while Russ and Gwen have a fight before Gwen reveals that she wants to help Mac. Unfortunately, the Codex goon (Zach McGowan) returns and attacks Mac, damaging the detonator before Gwen shoots him dead.
Mac reveals that his device will now have to be activated manually and in a moment echoing the death of Jams MacGyver (Tate Donovan), Gwen tells Mac to run and sacrifices herself to set off the explosion.
In the aftermath of the incident, Mac and Riley are reinstated with Mac being given additional responsibilities while Russ recovers from a broken leg.
And as his first order of business, Mac takes a trip to Washington, DC, where he speaks to a subcommittee on the existential threat posed by climate change, with his mother's binders of data in hand.
Review
It was a pretty amazing episode and the only flaw that we could find was that Riley's recently-revealed feelings towards Mac went completely ignored. But that's forgivable considering the show had to wrap up on such short notice.
Overall, it's been a wonderful season for 'MacGyver' and Episode 13 wrapped it all up with a neat little bow on top. We couldn't think of a better way to end this amazing season of television and we'll be waiting for Mac's return, hungry for more.
'MacGyver' Season 4 Episode 13 aired on May 8 at 8 pm ET on the CBS television network.
