MovieChat Forums > MacGyver (2016) Discussion > The show's biggest weakness - too much t...

The show's biggest weakness - too much talk and not enough action


In the 1/13/17 episode, when MacGyver and Jack were in the woods, talking and talking and talking (about relationships or whatever), I almost fell asleep.

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Well the original show wasn't that action-packed either. It was mostly MacGyver and somebody else running away from somebody or MacGyver tackling somebody to keep an object from falling on them.

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Oh, not quite. :)

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I never watched the original series in full when it aired. Usually when it was on and I would channel surf and take several seconds on MacGyver to see what was going on and it was always showing an action sequence of him in a rut or chasing somebody. LOL

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The real weakness is that they don't often show the conclusion of the opening gambit.

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Biggest weakness in this show, and all modern shows, is it's all about the main characters. Old tv shows, MacGyver included, were people stories about other characters. Small little vignettes. Our tv heroes would enter their lives, learn of their struggles, help them solve their problems, and be on their way. It was never about them and their drama. Now the story of the week serves only as a background impetus to propel the soap opera drama of the main characters' stories. The whole writing formula has become inverted. The reason we love MacGyver of old, and why he will always endure as an iconic character, isn't the mythic journey he took. It's the shear weight of his many random adventures which lends to an overall understanding of him. He transcends being a man and becomes a symbol. So much so that "macgyvering" something has become a common and understood verb. We don't know that because of all the relationship troubles he overcame. I mean man, there's times in this new show where we don't even get the conclusion to the story's events, let alone emotional payoff with the characters, cuz we gotta cut back to how the events of the episode gave Mac some clarity with his own personal nonsense.

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