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The Best Episodes of MacGyver Season 1

Every episode of MacGyver Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of MacGyver Season 1!

20-something Angus MacGyver creates a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening.
Genres:DramaAction & Adventure
Network:CBS

Season 1 Ratings Summary

"The Rising" is the best rated episode of "MacGyver" season 1. It scored 6.1/10 based on 1420 votes. Directed by James Wan and written by Peter M. Lenkov, it aired on 9/23/2016. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Metal Saw".

  • The Rising
    6.1/101,420 votes

    #1 - The Rising

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2016

    Angus MacGyver and Jack Dalton, special agents for the Department of External Services (DXS), join forces to recover a missing bioweapon that has the ability to destroy hundreds of thousands of people with one single drop.

    Director: James Wan

    Writer: Peter M. Lenkov

  • Metal Saw
    6.4/101,037 votes

    #2 - Metal Saw

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/2016

    MacGyver and the team attempt to rescue Sarah, Jack’s former CIA partner/ex-girlfriend who went missing in Venezuela after she obtained evidence to take down an international arms dealer.

    Director: Jerry Levine

    Writer: Craig S. O'Neill

  • Awl
    6.6/10910 votes

    #3 - Awl

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/2016

    MacGyver and the team are in Malaysia to extract a terrorist groups’ money man, Ralph, who holds key intel to an impending attack. But the mission goes south when the man is shot, and now, with only a driver’s license and hand sanitizer available, MacGyver must keep Ralph alive in order to learn the terrorists’ plans.

    Director: Matt Earl Beesley

    Writer: David Slack

  • Wire Cutter
    7.0/10878 votes

    #4 - Wire Cutter

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/2016

    Mac and Jack partner with older versions of themselves, a Russian bomb programmer and his estranged handler, to shut down a Soviet-era warhead in Moscow. But when the antiquated computer needed to disable the warhead becomes inoperable, Mac must find a way to fix it with only duct tape and wire in time to prevent a new Cold War.

    Director: Joe Dante

    Writer: John Turman

  • Toothpick
    7.1/10847 votes

    #5 - Toothpick

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2016

    Using only an armrest, a curtain rod, and a toothpick, MacGyver must fix a sabotaged train in order to protect a whistleblower who has proof that her boss is selling weapons to U.S. enemies.

    Director: Bobby Roth

    Writer: Nancy Kiu

  • Wrench
    7.3/10807 votes

    #6 - Wrench

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/28/2016

    Using only a wrench and rope, MacGyver must diffuse a bomb set near the United Nations by his old nemesis, “The Ghost”, a notorious criminal whose work killed his mentor, and track him down before he strikes again.

    Director: Alec Smight

    Writer: Brian Durkin

  • Can Opener
    7.3/10791 votes

    #7 - Can Opener

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/2016

    MacGyver is tasked to go undercover as an inmate in a maximum security prison to break out El Noche, a notorious drug kingpin, using only batteries and salt, and track him to his cartel's secret location and dismantle it.

    Director: Alec Smight

    Writer: Brian Durkin

  • Corkscrew
    7.5/10807 votes

    #8 - Corkscrew

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/2016

    When MacGyver comes face to face with Murdoc, an international assassin hired to kill him, Mac must defend both himself and Bozer, armed with only a corkscrew and paper towel rolls. Also, Bozer feels completely betrayed when he finally learns Mac's true identity.

    Director: Janice Cooke

    Writer: Lindsey Allen

  • Chisel
    7.1/10782 votes

    #9 - Chisel

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/2016

    With only a chisel and matchbook, MacGyver and team must defend themselves the U.S. embassy workers in Latvia from extremists who are attempting to retrieve their leader. Also, Bozer faces a big decision now that he knows who Mac really is.

    Director: Brad Tanenbaum

    Writer: Bret VandenBos, Brandon Willer

  • Pliers
    7.3/10735 votes

    #10 - Pliers

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/2016

    Mac and the team have no time to reminisce while visiting Mac’s and Bozer’s hometown when they immediately start searching for a kidnapped prodigy from Mac’s old middle school, Valerie.

    Director: Lee Rose

    Writer: Brian Durkin

  • Scissors
    7.4/10738 votes

    #11 - Scissors

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/16/2016

    MacGyver and Jack search for Riley, using a microwave and a power strip, after she mysteriously disappears and hacks into the NSA, possibly unleashing World War III. Also, Bozer goes on his first official mission, and Jack opens up about his history with Riley’s mother, Diane.

    Director: Stephen Herek

    Writer: Lindsey Allen, Nancy Kiu

  • Screwdriver
    7.5/10740 votes

    #12 - Screwdriver

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/6/2017

    Using a screwdriver and bug spray, MacGyver must find the U.S. government mole who is leaking classified intel to the organization that is trying to take down The Phoenix Foundation. Also, Sarah returns to help with the mission, and Nikki reappears, but Mac can’t tell which side she’s on.

    Director: Craig Siebels

    Writer: Craig S. O'Neill, David Slack

  • Large Blade
    7.3/10712 votes

    #13 - Large Blade

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/13/2017

    On the way back from capturing a war criminal, Mac and Jack’s helicopter crashes in a remote area of Kazakhstan, injuring their pilot and allowing their prisoner to escape with Jack’s gun. Using a large blade and a water bottle, MacGyver must get help as the pilot’s condition worsens and before the war criminal takes them as prisoners.

    Director: Sylvain White

    Writer: Andrew Karlsruher

  • Fish Scaler
    7.3/10675 votes

    #14 - Fish Scaler

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/2017

    Using a fish scaler and some fishing wire, Mac and Jack must track down a corrupt FBI agent who has framed a man for murder. Also, everyone on the team is terrified to get their first performance review from Matty, their tough new boss.

    Director: Eagle Egilsson

    Writer: N/A

  • Magnifying Glass
    7.5/10681 votes

    #15 - Magnifying Glass

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/2017

    When Matty’s goddaughter and her boyfriend are killed in a San Francisco park, Mac and the team investigate the crime and start to suspect that the 1970s Zodiac Killer has returned.

    Director: Stephen Herek

    Writer: Brian Durkin

  • Hook
    7.3/10657 votes

    #16 - Hook

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/17/2017

    While tracking down the dangerous fugitive Aaron Deckard, Mac and Jack face the notorious Colton family of bounty hunters who already kidnapped their mark. Also, Bozer and Riley try to hack into Jack’s CIA file to find out about his history with Matty.

    Director: Tawnia McKiernan

    Writer: Nancy Kiu

  • Ruler
    7.4/10667 votes

    #17 - Ruler

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/24/2017

    Bozer’s first overseas mission goes terribly wrong when Mac and the team are blamed for a terrorist bombing and the Phoenix Foundation is forced to disavow them.

    Director: Antonio Negret

    Writer: Andrew Karlsruher

  • Flashlight
    7.5/10686 votes

    #18 - Flashlight

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/10/2017

    When Mac and the team travel to Hawaii to aid in earthquake relief efforts, they team up with Chin and Kono from the Five-0 task force to rescue a group of government scientists trapped in a building. However, as they work on the complicated rescue, a group using the chaos as a distraction aims to steal the top-secret weaponry from the scientists.

    Director: Jonathan Brown

    Writer: Lindsey Allen

  • Compass
    7.5/10655 votes

    #19 - Compass

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 3/31/2017

    Mac and Jack help Mac’s close friend from M.I.T. after she fakes her own death to prevent someone from killing her in order to suppress her scientific research.

    Director: Christine Moore

    Writer: Lee David Zlotoff

  • Hole Puncher
    7.6/10653 votes

    #20 - Hole Puncher

    Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 4/7/2017

    When the team intercepts a terror group’s message meant for Murdoc, Mac poses as the psychopath to save the intended target and find out why they want Murdoc to assassinate him.

    Director: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum

    Writer: David Slack, Craig S. O'Neill

  • Cigar Cutter
    7.6/10658 votes

    #21 - Cigar Cutter

    Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 4/14/2017

    Murdoc moves forward with his plans for revenge against MacGyver by recruiting his recently released former cellmate to infiltrate the Phoenix Complex as a “lab technician” and kill every agent inside.

    Director: Stephen Herek

    Writer: N/A