Another emotionally manipulative Bob's Burgers episode. Another storyline that goes nowhere. Another episode with loads of pointless dialog. Another episode that focuses heavily on a side character. Another episode almost completely devoid of jokes. Another episode with a "heartfelt message." Another episode where everyone is written out of character. Another episode that feels like sitting through a boring lecture. All of these problems have reared their heads in the past, most notably with the terrible "Amelia" episode, but season 14 feels like someone is actively trying to sabotage the show to make people forget what made it funny and popular in the first place, because none of THAT is actually in this episode, nor in ANY of the episodes in season 14. Save yourself the time (and the slog) and watch Burgerboss again instead.
Reviews
17 Reviews
The worst episode of Bob's Burgers to date
21 January 2024
This episode is emblematic of all of the problems of the show in recent years: everyone acts out of character, Louise acts like an angsty teenager (she's supposed to be 9, apparently the writers have forgotten this), there's lots and lots of pointless dialog, nothing actually happens, it's overtly saccharine, and they try to force some kind of empty, pointless, and banal "life lesson" down your throat. Oh yeah, and I forgot the big one: it's devoid of humor.
Seriously, what is wrong with this show? Bob's Burgers would now rather make you "feel something" instead of just making you laugh. It feels like sitting through a boring lecture, really annoying, and not entertaining in the slightest. Reading the reviews, it's obvious that a lot of viewers eat this slop up. The Bible is also the best-selling book ever written. Both it and this episode prove that popularity does not equal quality.
I wish they would stop writing this kind of trash and go back to making entertaining episodes. This is a show that was originally supposed to be about a family of cannibals, after all. Episodes like this (which are unfortunately now the norm) are dragging the show down. Season 13 actually has some decent episodes, but it's very hit-or-miss, and when it misses, it misses BIG. No spoilers in this review because it's impossible to spoil an episode when nothing actually happens.
Seriously, what is wrong with this show? Bob's Burgers would now rather make you "feel something" instead of just making you laugh. It feels like sitting through a boring lecture, really annoying, and not entertaining in the slightest. Reading the reviews, it's obvious that a lot of viewers eat this slop up. The Bible is also the best-selling book ever written. Both it and this episode prove that popularity does not equal quality.
I wish they would stop writing this kind of trash and go back to making entertaining episodes. This is a show that was originally supposed to be about a family of cannibals, after all. Episodes like this (which are unfortunately now the norm) are dragging the show down. Season 13 actually has some decent episodes, but it's very hit-or-miss, and when it misses, it misses BIG. No spoilers in this review because it's impossible to spoil an episode when nothing actually happens.
It's watchable...
8 November 2023
Gretchen is a genuinely funny character, but like most supporting characters, she needs to be used in very specific ways. It's not that it's necessarily a bad thing that she's so prominent in this episode, but they leaned in a little too hard and she comes off quite annoying. And of course there is a sappy moral "lesson" thrown in at the end, because that's apparently now required. The end result is that the first episode of the season to have a potentially interesting premise is undone by the rest of its bad qualities.
At least it's watchable, which is more than I can say for the two episodes that came before it. I have watched episodes such as "Burger Boss" more times than I care to admit, but I doubt I'll ever re-watch this one.
At least it's watchable, which is more than I can say for the two episodes that came before it. I have watched episodes such as "Burger Boss" more times than I care to admit, but I doubt I'll ever re-watch this one.
Better than the previous episode, but that's not saying much
4 January 2023
MacGyver had a habit of introducing new, mostly annoying characters and having them reappear far too often. That's not to blame the actors, as I think for the most part there's a decent amount of good acting on the show, but they can only work with what they're given and I just don't like any of the characters in this episode. You can just tell that Mama Lorraine is one of those characters who are going to overstay their welcome. Sigh.
This episode is less annoying than it is just plain forgettable. Too many episodes in the later seasons of the show are throwaways like this one. I wish they would have given Harry a few more episodes instead or spent the time to come up with more interesting plots instead of just moving Mac and throwing new characters around him.
This episode is less annoying than it is just plain forgettable. Too many episodes in the later seasons of the show are throwaways like this one. I wish they would have given Harry a few more episodes instead or spent the time to come up with more interesting plots instead of just moving Mac and throwing new characters around him.
A sign of what's to come in season 7
4 January 2023
I don't want to go too hard on anyone, so let's just say that Shelley Berman isn't my brand of humor. I don't know what it is about guys like him but I feel like his schtick was all too common in the 80's and earlier decades. By the 90's, such humor was falling out of style and I feel like his casting was another example of the producers making a misguided attempt to bring attention back to the show and probably a boost in ratings as well. However, I can't imagine this working at the time, because in hindsight this is a pretty painful episode to watch.
As is far too common with season 7, a new character comes out of nowhere and Mac ends up helping him out for no reason. At this point, the show is less about Mac doing jobs for the Phoenix Foundation and more about him just being put in random situations. That's fine, I suppose, but Abe Sherman is another one of those random characters that is too wacky for this show. A light and comedic MacGyver episode does not have to consist of madcap comedy, and the writers don't seem to understand this. Or perhaps it's the result of the chosen guest actor. Either way, it's not funny and it doesn't work within the context of MacGyver. The episode is boring and annoying.
MacGyver is able to control an experimental military helicopter by shining a light at it. This is way too unbelievable even in the context of the show. I'm always willing to allow for a show to stretch reality to a certain degree, but this is absolute nonsense. Stuff like this makes the writing seem incredibly lazy.
This episode serves as a warning for what awaits anyone who decides to sit down and watch the whole season. Thankfully not every episode is this bad. MacGyver season 7 is still infinitely more watchable than a lot of current television.
As is far too common with season 7, a new character comes out of nowhere and Mac ends up helping him out for no reason. At this point, the show is less about Mac doing jobs for the Phoenix Foundation and more about him just being put in random situations. That's fine, I suppose, but Abe Sherman is another one of those random characters that is too wacky for this show. A light and comedic MacGyver episode does not have to consist of madcap comedy, and the writers don't seem to understand this. Or perhaps it's the result of the chosen guest actor. Either way, it's not funny and it doesn't work within the context of MacGyver. The episode is boring and annoying.
MacGyver is able to control an experimental military helicopter by shining a light at it. This is way too unbelievable even in the context of the show. I'm always willing to allow for a show to stretch reality to a certain degree, but this is absolute nonsense. Stuff like this makes the writing seem incredibly lazy.
This episode serves as a warning for what awaits anyone who decides to sit down and watch the whole season. Thankfully not every episode is this bad. MacGyver season 7 is still infinitely more watchable than a lot of current television.
Impressively bad.
2 January 2023
This episode is notable not just for its "anti-youth drinking" message, but also for being a perfect example of just how ridiculous such episodes of television can be. All of the tropes are here: teenage Lisa is a raging alcoholic, even though we barely see her drink anything at all. She gets into legal trouble "due to her drinking" (yeah right, more like stupidity) at which point Mac starts to notice the warning signs and tries talking to her. Naturally, she gets defensive and angry and claims she's not an alcoholic only to screw up again, doing something incredibly stupid that puts her and others' lives in danger. MacGyver saves the day, and Lisa admits she has a drinking problem.
The funniest part about this is that Lisa looks like she's 12 while her other "high school peers" look like they're in their mid-20's. The entire concept of the older kids manipulating a younger kid and bribing her with alcohol seems a bit ridiculous when there's 4 of them awkwardly sitting on a beach around a ghetto blaster sipping on beers while Lisa dances like a child. Like, is this a thing that people actually do? Is this someone's idea of having fun? Forcing a child to drink beer at the beach?
None of it makes any sense. The story only serves to push the anti-drinking message and everything else is an afterthought. It follows the PSA formula to a tee, which makes it unintentionally hilarious. For this reason alone it's worth watching it once, but only if this kind of schlock is what you're looking for.
The funniest part about this is that Lisa looks like she's 12 while her other "high school peers" look like they're in their mid-20's. The entire concept of the older kids manipulating a younger kid and bribing her with alcohol seems a bit ridiculous when there's 4 of them awkwardly sitting on a beach around a ghetto blaster sipping on beers while Lisa dances like a child. Like, is this a thing that people actually do? Is this someone's idea of having fun? Forcing a child to drink beer at the beach?
None of it makes any sense. The story only serves to push the anti-drinking message and everything else is an afterthought. It follows the PSA formula to a tee, which makes it unintentionally hilarious. For this reason alone it's worth watching it once, but only if this kind of schlock is what you're looking for.
Annoying, stupid, unfunny, and mostly just mediocre
1 January 2023
For some reason, Dick Butkus' appearances on MacGyver always stuck out to me, so much so that I would have sworn he was in at least a dozen episodes. Thankfully, that's not the case. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with his acting per se, but his character Earl Dent actively detracts from the show. It's a paper-thin character more defined by his middle-age biker appearance than anything else. Worse still, he's written like bumbling idiot. Whoever thought that Butkus would make good comedic relief was sorely mistaken.
I want to go easy on the rest of the actors, too, because it's often hard to tell exactly what to blame on poor acting, poor writing, and poor directing (or a combination of any of the 3). But the show used a whole lot of character actors over the years and it's pretty easy to pick out the really good ones they managed to find and the utterly terrible ones that somehow ended up making it into the final show. That said, most of the acting in this one falls somewhere in the middle. In particular, I found the woman cop Montana to be annoying and cliched. It doesn't help that she lacks any kind of cop instinct whatsoever, and that she's a total idiot. It's hard to care about characters you don't even like. But again, I can't be sure how much of this is because of the acting, or if it's more the writing/directing.
I really enjoyed Don Stroud's performance as Kluge. He made the episode a lot more interesting to watch. Other than that, it's pretty forgettable and not one I'll likely ever re-watch.
I want to go easy on the rest of the actors, too, because it's often hard to tell exactly what to blame on poor acting, poor writing, and poor directing (or a combination of any of the 3). But the show used a whole lot of character actors over the years and it's pretty easy to pick out the really good ones they managed to find and the utterly terrible ones that somehow ended up making it into the final show. That said, most of the acting in this one falls somewhere in the middle. In particular, I found the woman cop Montana to be annoying and cliched. It doesn't help that she lacks any kind of cop instinct whatsoever, and that she's a total idiot. It's hard to care about characters you don't even like. But again, I can't be sure how much of this is because of the acting, or if it's more the writing/directing.
I really enjoyed Don Stroud's performance as Kluge. He made the episode a lot more interesting to watch. Other than that, it's pretty forgettable and not one I'll likely ever re-watch.
Baffling
1 January 2023
It's always good to see underrated character actors like Kai Wulff make return appearances in shows like MacGyver. That said, we can't ignore the elephant in the room: Deborah Foreman's ENTIRE performance in this episode is ADR'd. It's so obvious that it's distracting.
I don't think I've ever seen this before, an episode of a TV show where one actor's entire performance has every single line dubbed over. I can't imagine why they would do this, or why they would think it would be better than just using the original audio. ADR is almost always noticeable but it works fine with limited use. In this episode, I'm constantly watching for her next line to see how awkward it sounds and looks. The funniest part is that you can somehow tell the person who did the dub isn't even the same actress.
I'm more surprised that this episode exists than anything else. This is one of those peculiarities that will forever exist as a byproduct of its time. That said, I find it way too distracting to enjoy.
I don't think I've ever seen this before, an episode of a TV show where one actor's entire performance has every single line dubbed over. I can't imagine why they would do this, or why they would think it would be better than just using the original audio. ADR is almost always noticeable but it works fine with limited use. In this episode, I'm constantly watching for her next line to see how awkward it sounds and looks. The funniest part is that you can somehow tell the person who did the dub isn't even the same actress.
I'm more surprised that this episode exists than anything else. This is one of those peculiarities that will forever exist as a byproduct of its time. That said, I find it way too distracting to enjoy.
Bleh.
1 January 2023
In another dimension, perhaps MacGyver is an avid baseball fan instead of hockey. In this one, it's a little weird seeing him appear in a baseball-centric episode, if only because it's not the sport he plays and loves. I even chuckled towards the end of the episode, when Mac throws a pitch as I imagined it not getting anywhere close to its target since Mac is not a baseball player.
This is one of those episodes where the motivations of various characters is either illogical or non-existent. The bad guys are killers not because they're really bad people, but because the script needs them to be "dangerous" in order to create tension. Other characters are sort of just aimlessly wandering around through the story, going through motions for "reasons." Even Mac seems uninterested in this one.
It's not nearly the worst episode, but it's really boring and entirely skippable.
This is one of those episodes where the motivations of various characters is either illogical or non-existent. The bad guys are killers not because they're really bad people, but because the script needs them to be "dangerous" in order to create tension. Other characters are sort of just aimlessly wandering around through the story, going through motions for "reasons." Even Mac seems uninterested in this one.
It's not nearly the worst episode, but it's really boring and entirely skippable.
In what might truly be the biggest surprise of season 6 so far...
1 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
...ex-girlfriend #39 actually turns out to be the bad guy this time. That's about it. There's some kind of story line about an Olympics-type hockey game that we never get to see and a Russian kid (who looks like he's about 30, because he is) who temporarily shacks up with MacGyver solely because the plot requires him to be involved in order for the ending to work out.
Naturally, MacGyver and the Russian kid get in a sticky situation, which Mac skillfully saves them from, by utilizing items in the area that inexplicably happen to be laying around, and being incredibly lucky. At one point, MacGyver rotates a door lock wheel using a rod with a string attached to it. The string is pulled in every direction around the wheel in order to turn it, which is impossible because MacGyver is stuck on the other side of the door with nothing to guide the string but the rod it's attached to.
There's always a certain amount of hand-waving and suspension of disbelief required of any episode of MacGyver, but I think it's very telling as to the amount of effort put into the creation of the episode when the camera blatantly shows Mac doing something downright impossible. Early seasons are a lot more careful about maintaining plausibility and some kind of semblance of realism. Granted, we *know* that Mac will always escape, but the tension evaporates and the show loses all interest when MacGyver turns into nothing more than an extremely lucky guy who can also apparently do impossible things.
Why did the writers suddenly forget how to put Mac into situations that required his intelligence to escape from? Why is it that all the traps in season 6 require little more than picking up something off the ground? Mac no longer combines seemingly useless objects together to create an ingenious escape device. Instead, he grabs a pole off the ground, and then extends it with another pole picked up off the ground when the original pole wasn't long enough. Conveniently, the poles even slip together, as if they were put there expressly for the purpose of providing the escape. This is probably why Mac no longer bothers to explain the contraptions he's making to the other characters around him: there's nothing to explain. It's just a pole that he uses to push something with. There's nothing interesting or unique about that at all.
Season 6 MacGyver has lost all of his ingenuity and problem-solving skills. The show no longer consists of him making cool devices or hatching ingenious plans. Now he just snoops around doing basic detective work (poorly), gets caught over and over again, and escapes via pure luck. On the rare occasion that he does show intelligence, it's more about demonstrating common knowledge (like removing snake venom, although this example is actually a myth itself, and one which MacGyver would have known better of) than demonstrating actual applications of esoteric information.
Naturally, MacGyver and the Russian kid get in a sticky situation, which Mac skillfully saves them from, by utilizing items in the area that inexplicably happen to be laying around, and being incredibly lucky. At one point, MacGyver rotates a door lock wheel using a rod with a string attached to it. The string is pulled in every direction around the wheel in order to turn it, which is impossible because MacGyver is stuck on the other side of the door with nothing to guide the string but the rod it's attached to.
There's always a certain amount of hand-waving and suspension of disbelief required of any episode of MacGyver, but I think it's very telling as to the amount of effort put into the creation of the episode when the camera blatantly shows Mac doing something downright impossible. Early seasons are a lot more careful about maintaining plausibility and some kind of semblance of realism. Granted, we *know* that Mac will always escape, but the tension evaporates and the show loses all interest when MacGyver turns into nothing more than an extremely lucky guy who can also apparently do impossible things.
Why did the writers suddenly forget how to put Mac into situations that required his intelligence to escape from? Why is it that all the traps in season 6 require little more than picking up something off the ground? Mac no longer combines seemingly useless objects together to create an ingenious escape device. Instead, he grabs a pole off the ground, and then extends it with another pole picked up off the ground when the original pole wasn't long enough. Conveniently, the poles even slip together, as if they were put there expressly for the purpose of providing the escape. This is probably why Mac no longer bothers to explain the contraptions he's making to the other characters around him: there's nothing to explain. It's just a pole that he uses to push something with. There's nothing interesting or unique about that at all.
Season 6 MacGyver has lost all of his ingenuity and problem-solving skills. The show no longer consists of him making cool devices or hatching ingenious plans. Now he just snoops around doing basic detective work (poorly), gets caught over and over again, and escapes via pure luck. On the rare occasion that he does show intelligence, it's more about demonstrating common knowledge (like removing snake venom, although this example is actually a myth itself, and one which MacGyver would have known better of) than demonstrating actual applications of esoteric information.
Another bad season 6 episode
1 January 2023
I don't have a problem with shows like MacGyver delving into supernatural topics, but after half a decade of episodes, there's a certain amount of grounding in science and reason that's required in order for an episode of MacGyver to actually qualify as an episode of MacGyver. This one fails in that respect.
In the season 5 episode "The Madonna," similarly supernatural aspects appear, and the implied explanation defies science and reason, but there's enough ambiguity to leave it open to interpretation. After all, Mac isn't a robot and doesn't explicitly deny supernatural possibilities but simply insists, like most reasonable people, that evidence be provided before such an explanation is accepted. This episode attempts to balance that same line, but fails because of the lack of grounding, and a blatant attempt to push the supernatural explanation.
I realize the alien stuff was very popular back then, but this story just doesn't fit the show. There's no MacGyvering going on here and no science, just some loosely-explained pseudo-bunk about why people are able to generate plasma in the sky to make it look exactly like a UFO... except when Mac demonstrates how it supposedly works, it varies significantly in several specific ways to the phenomenon shown originally. There is also no explanation for why the "UFO" shown at the end of the episode looks exactly like a plasma discharge. None of it makes any sense unless you buy the alien angle at face value.
The worst part of the episode is the poor family who is too stupid and stubborn to believe Mac when he tells them that the obvious con artists are actually con artists. This is an easy, lazy character trope, albeit one that bears some truth in reality, so it wouldn't be so hard to withstand if it weren't for the fact that they go completely out of character just before giving up their money and realize they're being conned for no reason whatsoever other than convenience of the story. In real life, they would have been so stuck in their conviction that they would have happily given up their money and then continued to rationalize why it was the right thing to do long after the grifters had left them high and dry.
In the season 5 episode "The Madonna," similarly supernatural aspects appear, and the implied explanation defies science and reason, but there's enough ambiguity to leave it open to interpretation. After all, Mac isn't a robot and doesn't explicitly deny supernatural possibilities but simply insists, like most reasonable people, that evidence be provided before such an explanation is accepted. This episode attempts to balance that same line, but fails because of the lack of grounding, and a blatant attempt to push the supernatural explanation.
I realize the alien stuff was very popular back then, but this story just doesn't fit the show. There's no MacGyvering going on here and no science, just some loosely-explained pseudo-bunk about why people are able to generate plasma in the sky to make it look exactly like a UFO... except when Mac demonstrates how it supposedly works, it varies significantly in several specific ways to the phenomenon shown originally. There is also no explanation for why the "UFO" shown at the end of the episode looks exactly like a plasma discharge. None of it makes any sense unless you buy the alien angle at face value.
The worst part of the episode is the poor family who is too stupid and stubborn to believe Mac when he tells them that the obvious con artists are actually con artists. This is an easy, lazy character trope, albeit one that bears some truth in reality, so it wouldn't be so hard to withstand if it weren't for the fact that they go completely out of character just before giving up their money and realize they're being conned for no reason whatsoever other than convenience of the story. In real life, they would have been so stuck in their conviction that they would have happily given up their money and then continued to rationalize why it was the right thing to do long after the grifters had left them high and dry.
Season 6 strikes again!
1 January 2023
Re-watching MacGyver to enjoy the series again, there starts to appear a rather obvious shift in the quality of the show at around the start of season 6. Earlier seasons have their own faults, but the show manages respectable consistency despite the relative duds here and there. Season 6 unfortunately fails in that rather lofty goal extremely early on, with the most obvious early example being this episode right here.
Here are some common trends of season 6 MacGyver:
1. Extremely convenient, contrived plot points.
2. Sometimes Mac is inexplicably an idiot, doesn't know obvious things, or can't read obvious clues right in front of his face.
3. Characters acting out of character or in some kind of way contradictory to the prior years of established character development.
4. MacGyvered objects materialize out of practically nothing, rather than Mac building something and explaining it as he does it.
5. When faced with a situation that has multiple obvious opportunities for escape, Mac chooses the most illogical, dangerous one with the least likelihood of success. Often Mac's subsequent escape has more to due with sheer luck than having an ingenious plan that actually works.
6. Likewise, the villains are also afflicted with this need to over-complicate everything, which leads to some incredibly unbelievable and stupidly twisting plot lines that delve into nonsense, more so than what is typical for earlier seasons.
This episode makes no sense. Zito has a supposed number code, but all he does is give them simple math. There's nothing here a first grader couldn't do in their head immediately. Zito might as well have just given the answers themselves instead as solving the math is no challenge whatsoever. Instead, the challenge is figuring out what the numbers mean... but that's impossible, because they're just random, individual numbers with no context given whatsoever. If the numbers were included as part of a riddle, it might make some sense but as the episode was written, it's just pure guesswork and blind luck that they manage to figure out where the next clue is.
Zito's breakout and subsequent "plan" is stupid and illogical. The show tries to pretend that he planned the whole thing, but it makes no sense as to how he could or why he would. Zito's entire motivation boils down to him "wanting a rematch" with MacGyver, but if that were his goal a prison escape wouldn't have been necessary, and the doctor's involvement doesn't make any sense regardless.
It's weird how quickly the quality drops off with season 6. Credit goes to William Morgan Sheppard as I think he did a great job with his roles on this show, and he really carries this episode. At least it's tolerable, which is more than I can say about "Harry's Will."
Here are some common trends of season 6 MacGyver:
1. Extremely convenient, contrived plot points.
2. Sometimes Mac is inexplicably an idiot, doesn't know obvious things, or can't read obvious clues right in front of his face.
3. Characters acting out of character or in some kind of way contradictory to the prior years of established character development.
4. MacGyvered objects materialize out of practically nothing, rather than Mac building something and explaining it as he does it.
5. When faced with a situation that has multiple obvious opportunities for escape, Mac chooses the most illogical, dangerous one with the least likelihood of success. Often Mac's subsequent escape has more to due with sheer luck than having an ingenious plan that actually works.
6. Likewise, the villains are also afflicted with this need to over-complicate everything, which leads to some incredibly unbelievable and stupidly twisting plot lines that delve into nonsense, more so than what is typical for earlier seasons.
This episode makes no sense. Zito has a supposed number code, but all he does is give them simple math. There's nothing here a first grader couldn't do in their head immediately. Zito might as well have just given the answers themselves instead as solving the math is no challenge whatsoever. Instead, the challenge is figuring out what the numbers mean... but that's impossible, because they're just random, individual numbers with no context given whatsoever. If the numbers were included as part of a riddle, it might make some sense but as the episode was written, it's just pure guesswork and blind luck that they manage to figure out where the next clue is.
Zito's breakout and subsequent "plan" is stupid and illogical. The show tries to pretend that he planned the whole thing, but it makes no sense as to how he could or why he would. Zito's entire motivation boils down to him "wanting a rematch" with MacGyver, but if that were his goal a prison escape wouldn't have been necessary, and the doctor's involvement doesn't make any sense regardless.
It's weird how quickly the quality drops off with season 6. Credit goes to William Morgan Sheppard as I think he did a great job with his roles on this show, and he really carries this episode. At least it's tolerable, which is more than I can say about "Harry's Will."
Terrible, nonsensical episode
1 January 2023
Season 6 is when the cracks really start to appear. MacGyver's tricks more often than not become less about throwing together ordinary items in ingenious ways and more about creating magic out of thin air. In the Episode "Humanity," for instance, he rips off the exhaust of a vehicle with his bare hands, then bends the piping into shape, making a sort of flare cannon. The flare payload is a magic item that we never see him make or source, we don't even see what he shoves in the pipe before a flare fires out.
Also frequent in season 6, you might be thinking that some of MacGyver actions make no sense. Sure, he tends to think of unlikely but creative solutions, but season 6 Mac has a tendency to REALLY over-complicate things. On more than one occasion he makes decisions that directly elevate the danger of the situation and increase the risk of him not achieving his goal, with a positive payoff being due to sheer luck rather than skill or intelligence.
This episode embodies some of the worst aspects of the series with a special emphasis on bad writing. This might be the worst-written episode of the whole show. It's utterly baffling how bad it is. I realize it's an attempt at an homage, but it fails miserably.
I hate this cast. Not that I hate the people themselves, but I hate that all of these stupid cameos were shoehorned into this show instead of the writers writing a different, better script for some of the lesser-known but genuinely enjoyable actors that often appeared on this show. Dick Butkus, James Doohan, Rich Little, Abe Vigoda, etc, it's an assembly line of stupid, pointless cameos shoved in with little thought paid to having a coherent plot. None of these characters or actors fit the show, at all, and their existence doesn't make sense in the context of the show, either.
I hate this story. What does any of this have to do with Harry or his will? Why does everyone suddenly know about this stupid gem that Harry somehow possessed? Why did Harry wait to tell Mac until after he died? How did he put the gem in the ice rink? WHY did he put the gem in the ice rink? Why did Harry turn into a cryptic riddler when writing his will instead of just giving Mac the information straight, you know, in a way that would actually fit his character? Why is Mac SUCH a naive idiot when it becomes convenient to the story?
See, that's the problem with this episode: it ignores everything great about the show and amplifies everything bad for the sake of a pointless, throwaway, cameo episode that likely no viewers wanted or asked for. And the worst part is that they tied the episode to Harry for no reason whatsoever. Harry Jackson is possibly the best character on the show, and to have this turd act as his final appearance on the show is just insulting.
Also frequent in season 6, you might be thinking that some of MacGyver actions make no sense. Sure, he tends to think of unlikely but creative solutions, but season 6 Mac has a tendency to REALLY over-complicate things. On more than one occasion he makes decisions that directly elevate the danger of the situation and increase the risk of him not achieving his goal, with a positive payoff being due to sheer luck rather than skill or intelligence.
This episode embodies some of the worst aspects of the series with a special emphasis on bad writing. This might be the worst-written episode of the whole show. It's utterly baffling how bad it is. I realize it's an attempt at an homage, but it fails miserably.
I hate this cast. Not that I hate the people themselves, but I hate that all of these stupid cameos were shoehorned into this show instead of the writers writing a different, better script for some of the lesser-known but genuinely enjoyable actors that often appeared on this show. Dick Butkus, James Doohan, Rich Little, Abe Vigoda, etc, it's an assembly line of stupid, pointless cameos shoved in with little thought paid to having a coherent plot. None of these characters or actors fit the show, at all, and their existence doesn't make sense in the context of the show, either.
I hate this story. What does any of this have to do with Harry or his will? Why does everyone suddenly know about this stupid gem that Harry somehow possessed? Why did Harry wait to tell Mac until after he died? How did he put the gem in the ice rink? WHY did he put the gem in the ice rink? Why did Harry turn into a cryptic riddler when writing his will instead of just giving Mac the information straight, you know, in a way that would actually fit his character? Why is Mac SUCH a naive idiot when it becomes convenient to the story?
See, that's the problem with this episode: it ignores everything great about the show and amplifies everything bad for the sake of a pointless, throwaway, cameo episode that likely no viewers wanted or asked for. And the worst part is that they tied the episode to Harry for no reason whatsoever. Harry Jackson is possibly the best character on the show, and to have this turd act as his final appearance on the show is just insulting.
A pathetic ending to a terrible season of a great show
25 April 2022
It's funny to think about how people complained about the way that Seinfeld ended, especially in light of the fact that this episode features Larry David making a cameo as "future Ruxin." Seinfeld wasn't at its creative peak by the time it entered the 9th season, although that's quite a bit easier to overlook when the show is actually airing and you're waiting months for a new season to start and a whole week between episodes.
A similar thing happened to me with The League. I don't recall at the time noticing any overall diminishing quality in the show's writing, and I know I watched these episodes as they aired. However, unlike Seinfeld, the last season of The League is mostly devoid of funny jokes and I can't remember any of these episodes. It's only upon re-watching them recently that I have knowledge of anything other than what happened to Sophia. The series finale might be the most forgettable episode of the season, and the entire show in fact.
The choice of having Larry David play future Ruxin is a curious one. For one thing, we've already seen "future Ruxin" in the form of his dad, played to perfection by Jeff Goldblum. He not only looks similar to Ruxin, but nails his mannerisms perfectly. Larry David, on the other hand, is just a bald Jewish guy. He doesn't look, sound, or act much like Ruxin at all, and even worse, he has very little reason to be on screen. True to the lazy, tired writing of the last season, they have a brilliant guest star on the show only to do absolutely nothing noteworthy with him.
This episode fills me with indifference. By the time it's over, I'm just glad to be done with the season and the show. In truth, the cracks began to appear sometime during season 4 but for the most part it's relatively consistent up through season 6 other than some weak episodes here and there. But season 7 almost feels like a different show, with different characters, or perhaps the same characters that have been tweaked in various ways to make them less likeable (Pete is boring, Kevin and Jenny are annoying, Taco is far less funny, etc). I get the impression that nobody was really interested in doing a 7th season. By the end of the finale, it seems like they're all as happy for it to be over as I am. What a terrible way to end a show.
People complained that the Seinfeld finale didn't have enough humor in it, but this one actively tries to be funny and fails at it. I was never particularly bothered by how Seinfeld ended and while it's certainly not the best episode, I still enjoy re-watching it on occasion. Jerry and crew quit while they were ahead, before the show had a chance to descend into mediocrity. The League ended a season too late for that. The only thing worse than how bad this episode is is how pointless it is.
A similar thing happened to me with The League. I don't recall at the time noticing any overall diminishing quality in the show's writing, and I know I watched these episodes as they aired. However, unlike Seinfeld, the last season of The League is mostly devoid of funny jokes and I can't remember any of these episodes. It's only upon re-watching them recently that I have knowledge of anything other than what happened to Sophia. The series finale might be the most forgettable episode of the season, and the entire show in fact.
The choice of having Larry David play future Ruxin is a curious one. For one thing, we've already seen "future Ruxin" in the form of his dad, played to perfection by Jeff Goldblum. He not only looks similar to Ruxin, but nails his mannerisms perfectly. Larry David, on the other hand, is just a bald Jewish guy. He doesn't look, sound, or act much like Ruxin at all, and even worse, he has very little reason to be on screen. True to the lazy, tired writing of the last season, they have a brilliant guest star on the show only to do absolutely nothing noteworthy with him.
This episode fills me with indifference. By the time it's over, I'm just glad to be done with the season and the show. In truth, the cracks began to appear sometime during season 4 but for the most part it's relatively consistent up through season 6 other than some weak episodes here and there. But season 7 almost feels like a different show, with different characters, or perhaps the same characters that have been tweaked in various ways to make them less likeable (Pete is boring, Kevin and Jenny are annoying, Taco is far less funny, etc). I get the impression that nobody was really interested in doing a 7th season. By the end of the finale, it seems like they're all as happy for it to be over as I am. What a terrible way to end a show.
People complained that the Seinfeld finale didn't have enough humor in it, but this one actively tries to be funny and fails at it. I was never particularly bothered by how Seinfeld ended and while it's certainly not the best episode, I still enjoy re-watching it on occasion. Jerry and crew quit while they were ahead, before the show had a chance to descend into mediocrity. The League ended a season too late for that. The only thing worse than how bad this episode is is how pointless it is.
Utterly awful
25 April 2022
The League was one of my favorite shows when it first aired, and for the most part, it still holds up. The main problem is that the quality of writing drops fairly dramatically towards the end, with the entire last season being mostly devoid of laughs. This episode is the worst of them all, by a mile.
While I do love the character of Rafi, as the seasons went on, he became increasingly more cartoonish. I suppose it was fitting then that an entire Rafi and Dirty Randy episode would be animated. Too bad the episode is completely lazy and unfunny.
I can't be bothered to sit through this garbage and because of that, I disagree with the other reviewers who claim this episode has any redeeming qualities. It's far easier to skip this one entirely than it is to watch the opening and closing bits, which aren't even funny enough to get a laugh out of me. In the previous episode, Pete makes a quip about the fictional show 'The Block,' asking "If it's so good, then why is it ending after 7 seasons?" Well the answer is season 7 and this episode right here. The show's concept and its characters have been thoroughly milked for all of their worth. There's nowhere left to go creatively with it.
As if to add insult to injury, the character of Sophia is treated with complete disrespect. This is a show known for being juvenile, irreverent, and crass, but in this case the sentiment is taken way too far and it's not even remotely funny. Somehow the writing has devolved so much that it begins to make you question whether the writers truly understood what made it popular in the first place. Most of season 7 feels like the show is ****ing on itself and its viewers, but this is the worst offender.
I don't remember ever disliking the show at any particular point, though I do remember disliking this episode. The funny thing is, I don't remember ANY of the animated part, which is basically the whole thing. Having rewatched the entire series now, I would skip season 7 completely, as there are only a couple good jokes throughout the whole thing. Even if you decide to sit through season 7 for whatever reason, you're going to want to skip this episode since it is exceptionally bad.
While I do love the character of Rafi, as the seasons went on, he became increasingly more cartoonish. I suppose it was fitting then that an entire Rafi and Dirty Randy episode would be animated. Too bad the episode is completely lazy and unfunny.
I can't be bothered to sit through this garbage and because of that, I disagree with the other reviewers who claim this episode has any redeeming qualities. It's far easier to skip this one entirely than it is to watch the opening and closing bits, which aren't even funny enough to get a laugh out of me. In the previous episode, Pete makes a quip about the fictional show 'The Block,' asking "If it's so good, then why is it ending after 7 seasons?" Well the answer is season 7 and this episode right here. The show's concept and its characters have been thoroughly milked for all of their worth. There's nowhere left to go creatively with it.
As if to add insult to injury, the character of Sophia is treated with complete disrespect. This is a show known for being juvenile, irreverent, and crass, but in this case the sentiment is taken way too far and it's not even remotely funny. Somehow the writing has devolved so much that it begins to make you question whether the writers truly understood what made it popular in the first place. Most of season 7 feels like the show is ****ing on itself and its viewers, but this is the worst offender.
I don't remember ever disliking the show at any particular point, though I do remember disliking this episode. The funny thing is, I don't remember ANY of the animated part, which is basically the whole thing. Having rewatched the entire series now, I would skip season 7 completely, as there are only a couple good jokes throughout the whole thing. Even if you decide to sit through season 7 for whatever reason, you're going to want to skip this episode since it is exceptionally bad.
Law Abiding Citizen
(2009)
Great concept let down by poor ending
10 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Like a lot of the reviews state, this is a movie that starts off good only to end with a resounding thud. It's a movie that I really enjoy and like to rewatch occasionally, but man, the ending is a total letdown every single time.
The first third of the movie is great. In a relatively quick opening sequence, we see Clyde and his family the victims of a home invasion, one which ends up taking the lives of his wife and daughter. The actions of the thieves don't exactly make sense especially since one of them is written like a cartoon villain, but it's all in service to set up the premise of the movie: Clyde has been wronged, the system has failed him, and he's out to get revenge. Rather than just take revenge on the perpetrators of the crime (which he does rather quickly), Clyde goes after everyone involved in the subsequent trials because of the deal made with one of them which lets him go free (naturally, it's the more evil of the two, a guy named Darby).
Clyde kind of has a point, too. Nick, the prosecutor, wants to make a deal with Darby despite the fact that Clyde would rather he go after both perps. Clyde pleads with Nick, but Nick is more concerned with his career and his win percentage, so he offers Darby the deal and Darby walks free. This starts Clyde on the path of vengeance and sets the stage for the rest of the movie. One could easily argue that Nick is entirely to blame for Clyde's actions, and Clyde even tells him at one point that he would have been fine with them losing the case, had he at least tried to go after both of them.
As the movie goes on, Clyde kills a bunch of people. Everyone killed was involved with the case somehow, but some of them arguably don't deserve his wrath, or at least the movie's script doesn't adequately justify it. One example would be the judge, who as far as I can tell did nothing wrong, as all she did was preside over the case. Clyde's internal logic is also inconsistent; he says the system is broken and wants to tear it down, but he also says that he would have been satisfied with the criminals going free had Nick tried to prosecute them both.
Most of this stuff is easily overlooked. Shut brain off, enjoy movie. What starts to become an annoyance is Nick's arrogance and the fact that it's painfully obvious he's never going to get his comeuppance. Nick even takes Clyde out of his cell, outside of the jail actually, and physically beats him, punching him in the face repeatedly, leaving him with a mouthful of blood. The movie wants us to believe that Nick is a good guy, but Nick doesn't really do anything to deserve that label throughout the entire movie.
By the last third of the movie, Nick has been promoted to DA (thanks to Clyde killing the previous one) and has become an ace detective. Meanwhile, Clyde has for some reason lost a bunch of braincells and become nothing more than a common criminal. Nick illegally breaks into one of Clyde's properties with a police detective and finds his secret tunnel to the prison (I still have no idea why Nick is doing the job of a police detective, but whatever). Clyde has tons of surveillance equipment and access to City Hall's closed circuit video system, but he has no surveillance on his own properties and doesn't secure the most important one with anything that would stop Nick from breaking in with a large metal pole, which he finds laying around right outside the door.
They crawl into the tunnel and find Clyde's center of operations. Because he's dumb now, Clyde leaves stuff laying around that lets master detective Nick immediately figure out his entire plan. They find Clyde's entrance to his jail cell, but Clyde forgot how to set booby traps, so they don't blow up or anything. Clyde plants a bomb in City Hall, but remember he's dumb now, so he can't hide it very good and they find it immediately. The open it up and look at the bomb, contemplating what to do with it while Clyde heads back to his place so that he can enter the tunnel and go back to his jail cell.
But surprise! Nick has invented a secret teleportation device and uses it to get back to the prison before Clyde. Clyde gets back into his cell, only to realize that Nick is already there waiting for him. Dumb Clyde, having been figured out, pulls out his cell phone to set the bomb off anyway, because he doesn't suspect that Nick might have found the bomb and did something with it. As it turns out, Nick teleported the bomb into Clyde's cell and it's now sitting directly under him. Nick knows (somehow?) that Clyde put a 25-second time delay on the bomb, which gives him just enough time to yell "Nanny nanny boo-boo, stick your head in doo-doo! You're an idiot! You're going to blow up!" as Nick locks Clive in his cell (the detective blocks off the tunnel from the other side), and runs out of the jail.
In one of the least satisfying endings of a movie of this caliber that I've ever seen, Clyde sits on his bench as the scene stretches a 3-second explosion over about 5 minutes, most of which is Clyde just sitting there staring at his dead daughter's bracelet while fire is burning all around him, as if he were inside of a furnace or something (it doesn't look anything like a bomb exploding). Then, just before credits roll, we see Nick and his wife attending his daughter's cello performance at school, or something. Nick has a look of relief on his face, knowing that he can rest peacefully now having murdered Clyde.
I honestly have no idea what they were thinking when they came up with this ending. The contrived plot points aside, having Nick learn nothing and turning him into a murderer does nothing to endear him to the audience. What's worse, it's generic and predictable. And it's not even really an ending, either. Once the bomb is revealed to have been placed in his cell, the movie just stops. Nick runs away and the bomb explodes, but that's it. The cello concert thing only lasts like a minute and has no need to be there. There's no wrap-up, no aftermath, no exploration of the consequences or anything like that.
When I watch this movie, I'm really tempted to just turn it off before I get to the ending. If I could recut this movie, I'd cut it at the point where they find his plans in the tunnel. Then I'd add an explosion in the tunnel. Cut to the bomb in City Hall and that blows up. Nick is dead, the mayor is dead, and Clyde's job is done. He walks off into the sunset or something. It's not much of an ending but it'd be a million times better than this one.
The first third of the movie is great. In a relatively quick opening sequence, we see Clyde and his family the victims of a home invasion, one which ends up taking the lives of his wife and daughter. The actions of the thieves don't exactly make sense especially since one of them is written like a cartoon villain, but it's all in service to set up the premise of the movie: Clyde has been wronged, the system has failed him, and he's out to get revenge. Rather than just take revenge on the perpetrators of the crime (which he does rather quickly), Clyde goes after everyone involved in the subsequent trials because of the deal made with one of them which lets him go free (naturally, it's the more evil of the two, a guy named Darby).
Clyde kind of has a point, too. Nick, the prosecutor, wants to make a deal with Darby despite the fact that Clyde would rather he go after both perps. Clyde pleads with Nick, but Nick is more concerned with his career and his win percentage, so he offers Darby the deal and Darby walks free. This starts Clyde on the path of vengeance and sets the stage for the rest of the movie. One could easily argue that Nick is entirely to blame for Clyde's actions, and Clyde even tells him at one point that he would have been fine with them losing the case, had he at least tried to go after both of them.
As the movie goes on, Clyde kills a bunch of people. Everyone killed was involved with the case somehow, but some of them arguably don't deserve his wrath, or at least the movie's script doesn't adequately justify it. One example would be the judge, who as far as I can tell did nothing wrong, as all she did was preside over the case. Clyde's internal logic is also inconsistent; he says the system is broken and wants to tear it down, but he also says that he would have been satisfied with the criminals going free had Nick tried to prosecute them both.
Most of this stuff is easily overlooked. Shut brain off, enjoy movie. What starts to become an annoyance is Nick's arrogance and the fact that it's painfully obvious he's never going to get his comeuppance. Nick even takes Clyde out of his cell, outside of the jail actually, and physically beats him, punching him in the face repeatedly, leaving him with a mouthful of blood. The movie wants us to believe that Nick is a good guy, but Nick doesn't really do anything to deserve that label throughout the entire movie.
By the last third of the movie, Nick has been promoted to DA (thanks to Clyde killing the previous one) and has become an ace detective. Meanwhile, Clyde has for some reason lost a bunch of braincells and become nothing more than a common criminal. Nick illegally breaks into one of Clyde's properties with a police detective and finds his secret tunnel to the prison (I still have no idea why Nick is doing the job of a police detective, but whatever). Clyde has tons of surveillance equipment and access to City Hall's closed circuit video system, but he has no surveillance on his own properties and doesn't secure the most important one with anything that would stop Nick from breaking in with a large metal pole, which he finds laying around right outside the door.
They crawl into the tunnel and find Clyde's center of operations. Because he's dumb now, Clyde leaves stuff laying around that lets master detective Nick immediately figure out his entire plan. They find Clyde's entrance to his jail cell, but Clyde forgot how to set booby traps, so they don't blow up or anything. Clyde plants a bomb in City Hall, but remember he's dumb now, so he can't hide it very good and they find it immediately. The open it up and look at the bomb, contemplating what to do with it while Clyde heads back to his place so that he can enter the tunnel and go back to his jail cell.
But surprise! Nick has invented a secret teleportation device and uses it to get back to the prison before Clyde. Clyde gets back into his cell, only to realize that Nick is already there waiting for him. Dumb Clyde, having been figured out, pulls out his cell phone to set the bomb off anyway, because he doesn't suspect that Nick might have found the bomb and did something with it. As it turns out, Nick teleported the bomb into Clyde's cell and it's now sitting directly under him. Nick knows (somehow?) that Clyde put a 25-second time delay on the bomb, which gives him just enough time to yell "Nanny nanny boo-boo, stick your head in doo-doo! You're an idiot! You're going to blow up!" as Nick locks Clive in his cell (the detective blocks off the tunnel from the other side), and runs out of the jail.
In one of the least satisfying endings of a movie of this caliber that I've ever seen, Clyde sits on his bench as the scene stretches a 3-second explosion over about 5 minutes, most of which is Clyde just sitting there staring at his dead daughter's bracelet while fire is burning all around him, as if he were inside of a furnace or something (it doesn't look anything like a bomb exploding). Then, just before credits roll, we see Nick and his wife attending his daughter's cello performance at school, or something. Nick has a look of relief on his face, knowing that he can rest peacefully now having murdered Clyde.
I honestly have no idea what they were thinking when they came up with this ending. The contrived plot points aside, having Nick learn nothing and turning him into a murderer does nothing to endear him to the audience. What's worse, it's generic and predictable. And it's not even really an ending, either. Once the bomb is revealed to have been placed in his cell, the movie just stops. Nick runs away and the bomb explodes, but that's it. The cello concert thing only lasts like a minute and has no need to be there. There's no wrap-up, no aftermath, no exploration of the consequences or anything like that.
When I watch this movie, I'm really tempted to just turn it off before I get to the ending. If I could recut this movie, I'd cut it at the point where they find his plans in the tunnel. Then I'd add an explosion in the tunnel. Cut to the bomb in City Hall and that blows up. Nick is dead, the mayor is dead, and Clyde's job is done. He walks off into the sunset or something. It's not much of an ending but it'd be a million times better than this one.
Very good episode
25 March 2022
This is one of the better episodes of season 14, which I feel is pretty hit-or-miss. It's pretty consistently funny.
The comments about it being "boomer humor" are pretty funny, too. No, the show isn't written for teenagers who just started watching it 2 years ago. These guys are in their 40's now. Sunny is older than smartphones. Sorry, maybe you need to find a different show to watch.
The comments about it being "boomer humor" are pretty funny, too. No, the show isn't written for teenagers who just started watching it 2 years ago. These guys are in their 40's now. Sunny is older than smartphones. Sorry, maybe you need to find a different show to watch.
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