#team mac

I'm posting this only because I've recently heard of friends having similar experience and I want them to know they aren't alone.

November: CBS announces George Eads is leaving after striking a crew member and storming off set during filming.

Fandom: George George George George George George George George George George George George Cancel the show with out Jack! George George George Hiring a woman to replace Jack is homophobic! George George George George George George

Me: I don't like George anymore. His way of leaving is unprofessional. He was in Korea late December/January to make a movie how is that even quitting being with his family, like all of you said?

Fandom: shut up bitch! Stop being toxic! George George George George George George  George George George.

Me: it's called MacGyver can we talk about other parts of the show?

Fandom: *blink blink* George George George George George George George George

Me: Mac, Riley, Bozer, Matty, the writing

Fandom: The writers weren't fair to George with his exit! George George George George George George George George George George George George George George

Me *shrug starts blocking the Eadiots that won't talk about anything else and want the show to fail without him.*

So season 3 has seen a lot less team is family than we are used to, we haven't had the opening teasers, and biggest of all Jack and Mac haven't had the chemistry that made them an epic bromance. They've even had less scenes together. I, for one miss the old feel. I've seen the changes get blamed on the writers over and over again, and I don't think that is justified.

The bromance was not character only. George and Lucas were total buds. Lucas used to ask for breaks so George could call his kid when he was homesick. They were roommates while filming, and hung out doing escape rooms, and stuff. My theory is that Lucas and George had a falling out and the writers were trying to work around it.

Lucas has always been private about his personal life. I'm betting a survival mechanism from being a child actor. He's been quieter than normal and hasn't said a thing about George leaving. In his behind the scenes videos he posts Lucas hasn't been with George at all. He's been with Justin, Meredith, Tristan and Nick, and George has been in the background, but they haven't been interacting at all.

We KNOW George was filming a movie in Korea from October to January. Movies take months to years to set up. I think he told Lucas he was planning to leave long before his on set blow up and as good of an actor Lucas is he couldn't get past the betrayal, and their on screen chemistry took the hit. Remember Lucas had been out of work for a year before he got the part of MacGyver. We still don't know for sure we will get a season 4, (Fingers crossed) and it has always been Lucas's dream to play an action hero.

Spoilers Ahoy!

Or maybe not.

Because after all that, all I want to talk about is the tour de force acting of Lucas and George. Wow...they put on a clinic in that episode. After that well-edited ad, I knew they were playing off the fact we know George is leaving, but not how. I knew Mac would have a plan to get them out of the mess they were in, I knew drugs of some kind would be involved (Ketamine in the gas mask filters was a good use). What I WASN’T expecting was the Leverage-level con he thought up to fool EVERYBODY--the bad guy AND the audience.

And if one of you uneducated feather-dusters OG MacGyver “fans” come at me with that tired “Mac would never use a gun” nonsense I will laugh you right off of this site. YOU FELL FOR HIS CON, TOO! Do you HONESTLY think they would spend two and a half seasons reminding us Mac doesn’t do guns, just to throw it all out in one episode? Will the writers screw with your heads? Yes. You were played. Get over it.

And a shout-out to the B plot. It was easy, fun, and just the light-hearted touch we needed to balance out the drama of Mac and Jack’s predicament. I hope we get to see more fun sub-plots like this.

So, it’s happened. I watched the ep for the second time, finished a little while ago, so....

Spoilers Ahoy! Read further at your own risk.

That opening kind of threw people, didn’t it? I liked the way it played out. Jack called Mac over to be the first to know about his call-up. I’m thinking it was the CIA that called him in. You’re never really *out* of the Company. And the “say good-bye to a good friend” was perfect. Yeah, they’ve been through hell and back together in the sandbox, that makes you brothers in arms, but it still means FRIENDS. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Op: Wow...One of the best ops of a while. From our wonderful Matty’s snark (how in the heck did she agree to this meeting, anyway?!) to the “holding hands because science”(thank you for bringing us the childhood BROTP, Show!) to Dalton being a total Dean Winchester at the reception buffet (Supernatural, 2.18). I only wish we could have seen the Team dancing. And I LOVED the Sherlock-style onscreen text for being inside Mac’s head while he’s looking for things he can...MacGyver into what he needs. And the outfits! Sarah is awesome dressing our team!

About that good-bye...Again, PERFECT. A lot of unspoken communication. Matty didn’t say much, being Team Leader and all, but man, those words had weight. Bozer, trying to keep things light, bless him. To be honest, the only time I got teary-eyed was when Jack was saying good-bye to Riley. SHE’s the one I’m worried about falling apart, not Mac. Again, being honest, Mac looked a cross between sad and angry at the beginning of that exchange, and only looked resigned at the end.

So, no, it wasn’t the long, drawn out, maudlin tearfest some were hoping for; it was respectful.