The essential episodes of MacGyver

Watch these 15 in order and you've got MacGyver — each pick states its reason.

  1. 01

    S01E01 · Pilot · September 29, 1985 · 1h

    Pilot8.5

    A bomb goes off in a classified laboratory, sealing off the lower levels. The explosion traps two valuable scientists and unleashes an acid leak. MacGyver is called in to help the two trapped scientists escape.

  2. 02

    S01E06 · Season 1 peak · November 10, 1985 · 1h

    Trumbo's World8.6

    Deep in the Amazon jungle, a horde of killer ants is destroying everything in its path. MacGyver helps his entomologist friend and the plantation owner to battle the ants before the plantation is destroyed.

  3. 03

    S02E18 · Season 2 peak · March 2, 1987 · 1h

    Partners8.6

    MacGyver and Pete meet at a wrecking yard, both thinking that the other one arranged the meeting. Soon an unknown assailant captures them inside a big truck. Their only clue is an obituary for them and Jack Dalton.

  4. 04

    S03E04 · Top rated · October 19, 1987 · 1h

    Ghost Ship9.0

    While mapping the wilderness for the Phoenix foundation, MacGyver stumbles on a deserted ship and finds a runaway girl who tells him that the rest of crew was driven away by Bigfoot.

  5. 05

    S03E05 · Top rated · October 26, 1987 · 1h

    Fire and Ice9.0

    A jewel thief with diplomatic immunity kills Mac's friend. But there are more people involved in the crime - and Mac can't be sure who's on his side.

  6. 06

    S03E08 · Top rated · November 16, 1987 · 1h

    The Widowmaker9.0

    MacGyver is forced out of his grief over the tragic death of a friend by a madman with a score to settle from their past association.

  7. 07

    S03E09 · Season 3 peak · November 23, 1987 · 1h

    Hell Week9.2

    A desperate physics student goes off the deep end and boobytraps a college lab when he fails to win a science competition and to live up to his father's high expectations.

  8. 08

    S03E12 · Top rated · January 18, 1988 · 1h

    Early Retirement9.0

    While testing a new nuclear bomb defusing team at the Phoenix Foundation, a deadly explosion kills three men. Pete blames himself for not inspecting their equipment better and resigns from his job out of guilt. However, Pete is replaced by a not-so-trustworthy man—one who may have been connected to the explosion.

  9. 09

    S03E14 · Top rated · February 29, 1988 · 1h

    The Odd Triple9.0

    After returning home from a long assignment, MacGyver has an unwelcome surprise. Jack Dalton is waiting and wants him to help with a new scheme. A wealthy woman has just acquired some invaluable jewels, needing Jack to fly her back to her home in France. Things seem to be going fine, that is, until they land. Jack and MacGyver are arrested and accused of theft.

  10. 10

    S03E15 · Top rated · March 7, 1988 · 1h

    The Negotiator9.0

    MacGyver becomes infatuated with a woman while conducting environmental-impact studies. However, what MacGyver does not know is that the woman was hired to "persuade" him to skip the studies—and if necessary, kill him.

  11. 11

    S04E02 · Season 4 peak · November 21, 1988 · 1h

    Blood Brothers9.0

    MacGyver returns to his hometown to find himself haunted by the memories of a fatal shooting accident when he was a kid. While he is there, he helps two teenagers battle the local drug dealers.

  12. 12

    S05E09 · Season 5 peak · November 20, 1989 · 1h

    The Ten Percent Solution9.2

    The Phoenix Foundation's purchase of a Nazi art treasure leads Mac to a holocaust survivor who claims family ownership of the painting, and to a group working to create their own ‘Aryan nation.'

  13. 13

    S06E19 · Season 6 peak · April 8, 1991 · 1h

    Strictly Business9.1

    After his sister dies in an avalanche, Murdoc decides to resume working for his former employer, HIT. In order to regain their trust, he has to take on MacGyver once again.

  14. 14

    S07E05 · Season 7 peak · October 14, 1991 · 1h

    The Coltons9.0

    Mac's old friends, the bounty-hunting Colton brothers try to find a young woman who's the only witness to a Chinatown murder, aided by their wise and patient mother, their impatient younger brother and their dog, Frog.

  15. 15

    S07E14 · Series finale · May 21, 1992 · 1h

    The Mountain of Youth8.3

    MacGyver joins Jack Dalton in Kabulstan on a search for a fountain of youth, but finds himself battling nuclear terrorists in the process.

Shows like MacGyver

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