MacGyver (2016 TV series, season 4)

The fourth season of the CBS action-adventure drama series MacGyver premiered on February 7, 2020 as a mid-season replacement for the 2019–20 television season. The series centers on the fictional Phoenix Foundation which is a covert organization masquerading as a think tank. The series stars Lucas Till, Tristin Mays, Justin Hires, Meredith Eaton, Levy Tran and Henry Ian Cusick.

MacGyver
Season 4
Promotional poster for the season
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes13
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseFebruary 7 (2020-02-07) 
May 8, 2020 (2020-05-08)
Season chronology

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Leonardo Nam as Aubrey, Riley's boyfriend for a brief time
  • Tate Donovan as James "Jimmy" MacGyver/Oversight
  • Jeri Ryan as Gwendolyn "Gwen" Hayes, MacGyver's aunt (his mother’s sister); an ex-DXS agent who was presumed dead, but is now a high-ranking leader in CODEX.[1][2][3]
  • Amber Skye Noyes as Scarlett, a CODEX soldier[4]

Guest stars

Episodes

The number in the "No. overall" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "No. in season" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "U.S. viewers (millions)" refers to the number of viewers in the U.S. in millions who watched the episode as it was aired.

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
671"Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix"David StraitonTerry MatalasFebruary 7, 2020 (2020-02-07)MAC4025.94[5]
Ex-MI6 agent-turned-private military contractor Russ Taylor (Henry Ian Cusick) recruits former Phoenix Foundation members Mac, Riley, Bozer, Matty and Desi to hunt down a bioweapon that will likely be used for a devastating attack on a major U.S. city. The man in charge of the weapon, Martin Bishop (Joshua Leonard), reveals a mysterious organization that is planning multiple catastrophes to get the attention of world leaders. Bishop then kills himself with a poison pill. After Mac and the team successfully stop the weapon from doing any damage, Taylor proposes to reboot the Phoenix Foundation as a privately-funded entity.
682"Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed"David StraitonTerry MatalasFebruary 14, 2020 (2020-02-14)MAC4015.77[6]
Department of Defense General John Acosta (Xander Berkeley) recruits MacGyver to steal a highly classified project from a military lab in order to find flaws in its security. But when it's discovered that the general is planning an attack using the weapon, Phoenix must stop Acosta before the weapon is uploaded while also trying to rescue the general's kidnapped daughter and grandson. When the two are rescued, the kidnapper kills himself after revealing his association with Martin Bishop's group. Meanwhile, Riley expresses concern about Mac and Desi's breakup, citing that the group has this "Phoenix Curse" about relationships. In reality, Riley already has another boyfriend that no one knows about except Matty.
693"Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck"Lily MariyeRob PearlsteinFebruary 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)MAC4035.83[7]
While aboard their jet, MacGyver and the team discover a private plane in which the pilot, flying with his young son, has suffered a heart attack. Mac and Desi board the plane mid-flight, and discover that the medical emergency was intentional. During the rescue, Russ and Matty disagree over who has the ultimate authority to make critical judgment calls in an active operation. Russ later agrees that Matty is more qualified to do so.
704"Windmill + Acetone + Celluloid + Firing Pin"Eagle EgilssonAndrew KarlsruherFebruary 28, 2020 (2020-02-28)MAC4045.57[8]
When a building explodes in a village in Germany, Mac discovers the cause was a defective time-release bomb from World War II. Mac finds another bomb that hasn't been detonated yet, so he and Riley try to extract it without setting it off. Meanwhile, Desi works to save one of the victims in the rubble, while Russ is concerned about Bozer's role on the team. Mac finally finds out that Riley is dating someone. He also hints at his feelings for Riley. They also find out that the mysterious organization was established in the 1940s under the name "CODEX".
715"Soccer + Desi + Merchant + Titan"Duane ClarkCindy AppelMarch 6, 2020 (2020-03-06)MAC4055.65[9]
The team finally plays offense against CODEX by planning to take down their source of income, "The Merchant", who rigs women's soccer games in Milan, Italy. Desi goes undercover as a member of the soccer team, and The Merchant takes the bait, asking her to throw the game. The team finds out that The Merchant is going to have a meeting with the leader of CODEX, "Titan". Russ wants to get to Titan, but things go bad when The Merchant plants an electronic chip in Desi that will electrocute her if she fails to intentionally miss a penalty kick. Mac devises a way to save Desi while the rest of the team tries to catch The Merchant and Titan. They save Desi, but The Merchant and Titan escape. In the end, they are shocked to learn that Titan appears to be Matty.
726"Right + Wrong + Both + Neither"Roderick DavisAndrew KleinMarch 13, 2020 (2020-03-13)MAC4065.84[10]
The team determines that Matty is not "Titan", and they learn that CODEX hacked their servers to plant the fake evidence. While on a plane, Russ listens to a voicemail from his former love, Emilia (Amanda Schull), who asks him for help. He learns that Emilia was kidnapped by the same Eastern European rebels he fought during his military contract days. He then takes the Phoenix team to a small, impoverished town just across the Ukrainian border to rescue Emilia and rid the town of the rebels for good. In the end, the team saves Emilia, shuts down the rebels' illegal operation, and Russ pays the rebels to leave the town.
737"Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey"Brad TurnerStephanie HicksMarch 27, 2020 (2020-03-27)MAC4076.72[11]
While on a double date with Riley and her boyfriend, Aubrey, Mac and Desi witness the murder of the restaurant owner by Chinese Triad hitmen. The hitmen kidnap Riley and Aubrey due to a $2 million debt, as Aubrey confesses to Riley that he co-owns the restaurant. After Aubrey sees his accounts have been emptied, Riley says she can use her hacking skills to locate the money. In the end, Aubrey breaks up with Riley over her dishonesty about her job, and she moves in with Mac. Meanwhile, Matty visits James MacGyver in his hospital room to tell him about the CODEX situation. He tells her to look up something called File 47, which he describes as "the end of the world".
748"Father + Son + Father + Matriarch"David StraitonTravis FickettApril 3, 2020 (2020-04-03)MAC4087.07[12]
When Mason resurfaces, Mac and his father Jimmy must put aside their feud and catch him once and for all, but they soon realize it is a setup by CODEX, forcing all three to work together to escape. They get caught by CODEX and finally meet "Titan", which turns out to be Mac's aunt, Gwendolyn "Gwen" Hayes, a former DXS Agent thought to have been killed. She explains the state of the world has forced scientists to "play God" and wipe out one-quarter of the earth's population to preserve its long-term future. She tries to persuade Mac to join her, but fails. Mason and Jimmy make a plan to destroy the place after Mac is safe, but Jimmy is forced to manually trigger the blast and is presumed dead. Mac survives alongside Mason, who then flees again. Meanwhile, The Phoenix is ambushed by the CIA, who found out Matty was inquiring about File 47. After thwarting the CIA, Matty finally tells the team about File 47, stating all who worked on it were presumed dead except one, which turns out to be Gwen.
759"Code + Artemis + Nuclear + N3mesis"Michael MartinezBrandon Botta & Casey Tollett BottaApril 10, 2020 (2020-04-10)MAC4096.38[13]
When Los Angeles County has a blackout, Riley discovers that "N3MESIS", an old code developed by her and two hacker friends Kai and Peyton, is being used to hack a nuclear power plant. Riley tracks down Paige, now a successful tech entrepreneur, to get the master key. Riley is able to reboot power plant computers, but during the reboot, someone takes over the computers and starts a sequence to trigger a meltdown. While Mac and the team devise a contraption to provide core cooling and buy time, Riley and Desi locate Kai, who was caught on video hacking the county power grid. Kai says she was paid by someone, which turns out to be Peyton, who orchestrated the attack to expose weaknesses in the plant's security. Although they save the city and over four million people from a meltdown, Mac is forced to sacrifice the power plant supervisor's life while he was trying to close down the nitrogen tubes manually. Riley visits Kai in prison and thanks her for helping take down Peyton. Mac and Russ watch a video that Jimmy MacGyver left in case of his death. Jimmy gives them a string of numbers, after which the USB drive and laptop self-destruct.
7610"Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac"Yangzon BrauenRob PearlsteinApril 17, 2020 (2020-04-17)MAC4106.44[14]
The team learns that the secret code Jimmy left leads to the address of a remote home where Nikola Tesla himself was building a super weapon. When CODEX ambushes them at the old house, it causes Mac to lose short-term memory. Mac undergoes a dangerous memory treatment, transporting him back to a house in the 1920s where he encounters an old school bully, the power plant supervisor who was sacrificed (from the previous episode), Thomas Alva Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, his mother Ellen (whom he learns supported File 47), and even his evil self, before he meets Tesla to get the answers his memory lost. Meanwhile Russ, Desi and Riley work without Mac to find the super weapon before CODEX does. They find it in an abandoned mine, and learn that it's a type of electromagnetic ray gun. A recovered Mac gets on the phone with the team and helps them arm and use the weapon, which thwarts all the CODEX soldiers except Scarlett, who escapes. The episode closes with Desi making dinner for Mac in his home, as Mac looks at a window and sees his evil self smiling back at him.
7711"Psy-Op + Cell + Merchant + Birds"Ericson CoreStory by: Stephanie Hicks & Andrew Klein
Teleplay by: Cindy Appel & Andrew Karlsruher
April 24, 2020 (2020-04-24)MAC4116.20[15]
Having captured The Merchant in China, The Phoenix drugs him and brings him back to L.A., where Russ concocts an elaborate simulation to make The Merchant think he's in a Chinese prison with Mac for a cellmate. Pretending that Aunt Gwen convinced him to join CODEX, Mac tries to get The Merchant to reveal the location of their bunker. However, The Merchant figures out the simulation and gets a coded message out to CODEX, who plans to storm the building. After a bloody battle, The Merchant is taken away in a car, but it's revealed his captors are Russ and Bozer. Russ reveals they intercepted CODEX earlier, and the battle The Merchant witnessed was staged. Riley realises that she likes Mac, which Bozer knows about. Mac later visits the imprisoned Merchant and asks how he almost believed in Mac's commitment to join CODEX. The Merchant says Mac sounded truly conflicted about his ideals.
7812"Loyalty + Family + Rogue + Hellfire"Geoff ShotzJim AdlerMay 1, 2020 (2020-05-01)MAC4125.89[16]
Russ questions Mac's loyalties when bio-feedback reveals he wasn't lying in his conversations with The Merchant. Mac insists he was playing a role, but Desi is also suspicious. Russ and Matty visit the White House to enlist military support to stop CODEX for good. Mac vehemently disagrees with a planned missile strike, knowing there are children and innocent people on the CODEX compound after conversations with Gwen. Gwen also revealed that Mac's mother did not die of cancer, but was murdered by the U.S. government. Mac goes rogue, certain that the best way to stop CODEX is to join them and convince them there are other ways to achieve their goal. He takes Scarlett out of custody to help him enter the compound, and they are later joined by Riley. The three obtain Tesla's Shiva weapon on the way, and use it to thwart the incoming missile. Gwen welcomes Mac and Riley into CODEX.
7913"Save + The + Dam + World"Carlos BernardStory by: Terry Matalas
Teleplay by: Cindy Appel
May 8, 2020 (2020-05-08)MAC4135.77[17]
At the CODEX underground compound, Mac meets with Gwen's boss Leland, who claims he once approached Russ. Mac and Riley are then given a transport assignment, and though they are kept in the dark about the group's plans, Mac has deduced they have some kind of nuclear device. Along the way, they are confronted by Russ and Desi at gunpoint. Mac is able to convince them he's still on the side of Phoenix, but the meeting is captured by a CODEX camera. Leland shows the footage to Gwen and states that Mac and Riley will be killed when they get to their fake destination, along with members of Gwen's team. Mac devises a way to save Riley and himself, and later convinces Gwen to accept that they can save the world together without destroying a billion or more lives. Mac figures out that the nuke will be used to trigger the massive volcano that rests under Yellowstone National Park by blowing up a dam and forcing water down a thousand-mile passage that was drilled. He concludes that they can't keep the bomb from exploding, but he can disable the nuclear reaction. Unfortunately, his timing device is destroyed in a scuffle with CODEX soldier Roman, after which Gwen arrives and shoots Roman. Gwen volunteers to trigger Mac's device manually, sacrificing herself. Reunited with Phoenix, Mac arranges a Senate hearing wherein he presents his mother's climate change research.

Production

Development

On May 9, 2019, CBS renewed MacGyver for a thirteen episode fourth season that would air mid-season in the 2019–20 United States network television schedule.[18] It was later revealed that the season would premiere on February 7, 2020.[19] On November 6, 2019, it was announced that nine additional episodes had been ordered bringing the season to a full season of 22 episodes.[20]

Filming

The series continues to be produced in Atlanta, Georgia, filming at Mailing Avenue Stageworks in Chosewood Park.[21]

On March 13, 2020, it was announced that production on the fourth season had been shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak, reducing the season to 20 episodes. Episode 19 was the last to be completely filmed before the production halt. Producers and CBS later chose to conclude the season with the final episode of the CODEX story arc, which was scripted to fit within the original 13 episode order.[22] This decision came after MacGyver was renewed for a fifth season on May 6, 2020,[23] allowing the final six episodes filmed for season 4 to be moved to season 5.[24]

Casting

The season features six starring roles, four of which returned from the first season. Levy Tran was promoted to series regular after recurring in the previous season, and Henry Ian Cusick also joined the main cast.[25]

Reception

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of MacGyver
No. Title Air dateRating
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
DVR
(18–49)
DVR viewers
(millions)
Total
(18–49)
Total viewers
(millions)
1 "Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix" February 7, 20200.75.94[5]N/A1.55N/A7.49[26]
2 "Red Cell + Quantum + Cold + Committed" February 14, 20200.75.77[6]N/A1.51N/A7.29[27]
3 "Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck" February 21, 20200.65.83[7]N/A1.39N/A7.23[28]
4 "Windmill + Acetone + Celluloid + Firing Pin" February 28, 20200.65.57[8]N/A1.43N/A7.04[29]
5 "Soccer + Desi + Merchant + Titan" March 6, 20200.65.65[9]N/A1.30N/A6.95[30]
6 "Right + Wrong + Both + Neither" March 13, 20200.75.84[10]N/A1.46N/A7.30[31]
7 "Mac + Desi + Riley + Aubrey" March 27, 20200.86.72[11]N/A1.34N/A8.06[32]
8 "Father + Son + Father + Matriarch" April 3, 20200.87.07[12]N/A1.34N/A8.42[33]
9 "Code + Artemis + Nuclear + N3mesis" April 10, 20200.76.38[13]0.31.471.07.85[34]
10 "Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac" April 17, 20200.76.44[14]0.31.511.07.95[35]
11 "Psy-Op + Cell + Merchant + Birds" April 24, 20200.76.20[15]N/A1.30N/A7.50[36]
12 "Loyalty + Family + Rogue + Hellfire" May 1, 20200.65.89[16]0.31.340.97.23[37]
13 "Save + The + Dam + World" May 8, 20200.65.77[17]0.31.390.97.16[38]

References

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