'MacGyver' Season 4 Episode 8 Review: Tragic death, Titan, File 47 and the last temptation of Angus MacGyver
Spoilers for 'MacGyver' Season 4 Episode 8 'Father + Son + Father + Matriarch'
'MacGyver' Season 4 has been a stellar run for the show and things reached new heights in Episode 8 'Father + Son + Father + Matriarch'. The episode was an emotional and action-packed installment to the show that managed to both get our adrenaline pumping and tears flowing.
The episode finally puts all the cards on the table for the Codex mystery that's been haunting Angus "Mac" MacGyver (Lucas Till) and his team all season with the reveal of what File 47 is and the true identity of Titan. 'Star Trek: Picard' star Jeri Ryan put on an excellent performance as the quirky villain Gwendolyn Hayes / Titan, Mac's aunt and the real head of Codex, and we can't wait to see more of her.
Honestly, Titan could probably give most Bond villains a run for their money with her sassy attitude, facial scarring and secret island. What's more, she makes some compelling arguments about the state of the world that almost gets us to root for Codex. Until her actions cost Mac's dad James MacGyver / Oversight (Tate Donovan) his life, that is.
It was a truly tragic scene that brought out the best of Lucas Till's acting ability. We have never seen Till put on such a touching performance and his steely resolve to bring down his aunt at the end of the episode was perhaps more heartbreaking than his sheer desperation when he realizes he can't save his dad.
Titan clearly wants Mac to join Codex and when she reveals that Mac's mother was killed by the CIA for coming up with File 47, the blueprint that Codex has been using in their plans to change the world, we see it almost work. The temptation here is whether to join his mother's side of the family or his father's but by the end, Mac has clearly chosen the latter.
We also finally got to know what File 47 is: a plan to use engineered natural disasters to trigger the end of civilization as we know it so that humanity can have a reset button. On the one hand, it's compelling, especially when you look around and see how badly our actions as a species is affecting the world around us, but on the other hand, the plan would cost millions of lives, which makes it not an option at all, at least for Mac.
Every once in a while, a TV show drops an episode that ticks off all the boxes and creates something so spectacular, it will be on our minds for months, maybe years to come. 'Father + Son + Father + Matriarch' was one such episode and we can't wait to see where this story goes.
'MacGyver' Season 4 airs new episodes Fridays at 8 pm ET, exclusively on CBS.
