There but for the Grace

I moved between wincing and thinking they did okay on this one. RDA essayed an accent – Bronx, possibly? – and was rather healthy-looking for one of the homeless. Also, he sucks at maintaining a disguise. They all sucked at not telling the bad guy their plans. Good lord, people.

They painted a fairly sympathetic view of homelessness, particularly re. mental health issues, but I'm not really fond of the either/or of helpless victims/evil criminals, either of which can only be dealt with by an outside force (i.e., Mac). It was all very comfortable and easy-to-fix, and I did wince at some of the lines, particularly the horrifically patronising, "Doc was one of Father Jim's favourites", as though he was a pet or a houseplant. But I guess I don't watch MacGyver for its depiction of the grim realities of life. And they did try: Doc's description of how fast he lost everything after a breakdown felt quite real, and tragic. There was a lot of emphasis on Mac's oft-repeated assertion that people are people. I'm not sure whether or not it was a point in this show's favour that Mac made no real attempt to quick-fix the confused, angelic-looking and obviously severely traumatised Danny, who instead was packed off to an institute at the end.

On a completely other note, staplegunning someone to a board in lieu of rope to tie them up was cool. *g*

Blind Faith

Aw, Pete. Or, more to the point, oh, Dana Elcar.

Mac looked genuinely distraught when Pete told him about the glaucoma and the high possibility of him going blind if he had the surgery – I wondered how much of it was just acting.

This felt a lot like some of the first season episodes – lots of international politicking, and the DXS (like the NID, we never really learn what their initials mean, right?), and drab, muddy colours that I personally feel suit Mac much better than the luminous shirts. I like these stories, although I'm glad they intersperse them with lighter ones because they can be a bit gloomy.

...Yeah, not much else to say about this one, really. The plot was secondary to the situation with Pete, which felt real because it was real. Overall, I feel like the season has picked up, although it's still not all that entertaining. I think maybe it needs Jack (Dalton) or Nikki getting on Mac's last nerve and generally making his life difficult. I like it when Mac flails. :)

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Phew. I watched those two last week, and wasn't allowing myself to watch any more until I'd managed to work up a post about them.

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Dammit, muse. No. No, I said. (ETA: If that doesn't open on the right place, scroll to the picture third up from the bottom. It'll be obvious which one I mean when you get there. Yes, the one with the SAK.)