Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t go back to school again. We all have reunions, and the lucky ones go back to see what wisdom they can impart on the next generation. That’s exactly what MacGyver does this week when the gang takes a trip back to the genius’s former middle school. MacGyver’s kernels of wisdom include basic exothermic reactions, don’t be a bully, and don’t accidentally create a small nuclear reaction which destroys the football field (though that one is probably exclusive to prodigies with too much time on their hands). While home MacGyver connects with a prodigy just like him, then must save her when she is kidnapped. The good news is that she wasn’t kidnapped for anything she personally did. That might not seem like a bright side, but considering MacGyver’s history with his alma mater, her teachers would feel better knowing she isn’t working on anything with legal implications just yet.
MacGyver goes back to his junior high school to speak to the students about science. In need of a little R&R, Jack, Riley, and Bozer join him for the weekend. Jack and Riley enjoy a tour down Bozer and MacGyver’s memory lane while MacGyver gives the science class of demonstration on elephant toothpaste. After class his old teacher introduces him to another prodigy student, the first he’s had since MacGyver roamed the halls. Valerie really does have a scary understanding of mechanical physics. MacGyver is impressed, then promptly shocked when Valerie is kidnapped right out of her classroom. It’s clear that Valerie’s father knows more than he’s saying about his daughter’s kidnapping, so MacGyver has to get creative to overhear the father negotiate with the kidnappers. In the meantime, Bozer delights in his “first mission”, helping Riley track down the car which the kidnappers took off in. I’m not entirely sure what Bozer’s role would be on the team if his first mission wasn’t in his hometown, but it’s nice to see him try on different hats.
It turns out Valerie’s father has been working as a drug smuggler part-time to make end’s meet, and his employers got a little testy when he quit. Once they get Valerie’s father to agree to it, MacGyver and Jack take off to make the drop for him to get Valerie back. Once again Bozer makes himself useful by jimmying up some makeshift antennas to keep track of the state police so the boys get a clear path to the drop. However, Bozer does accidentally tip off Thornton of the team’s off-books mission, so the covert part of being a spy is something he’s going to have to work on. The kidnappers are not as agreeable as they said, so MacGyver has to whisk Valerie away while Jack distracts the bad guys. They agree to meet at Mac’s old “lab”, which is actually a treehouse he and Bozer built together as a safe haven. With Valerie finally safe, MacGyver and Jack stave off the kidnappers with more elephant toothpaste until Bozer can show up with the cavalry. Unfortunately that cavalry includes a cop who used to bully MacGyver in school, so the dynamic duo spend the night in jail until Thornton can arrive to clear everything up.
The whole time MacGyver is on his mission he is uncomfortable being back. He had very good memories of home with his father, his grandfather and Bozer. Home is also where he lost his mother, and being back reminds him of her, which is exactly what MacGyver was afraid of. The reality of being back isn’t as bad as he thought, and finding another prodigy who’s also facing her future without a mom gives MacGyver closure. He can now come home annually to connect with his roots, connect with the kids, and maybe check in on Valerie once in a while. After all, he needs to make sure she takes good care of his “lab”. It wasn’t the biggest mission MacGyver’s undertaken, but this is one which MacGyver needed. Perhaps he missed his calling as a teacher.
Does MacGyver have a future in teaching after his spy days?
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