#69: The Madonna

Season: 5

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

It's Christmas, and the Challengers Club is facing the possibility of closing its doors if they do not receive more funding.  Meanwhile, a church has its Madonna stolen, a statue that had been there for 20 years and was very important to the people of the church.  And MacGyver is struggling to cope with the loss of his mother, and he meets a mysterious homeless woman named Carol who helps to make everything right.  

Memorable Quote:

MacGyver, even if she had lived until you got back, it wouldn't have mattered. She had a stroke. She wouldn't have known you were there.  She just kept muttering things that made no sense about you and ice cream.  Crazy stuff.  But she loved you.  Don't ever doubt that.   ~Father Lafferty

Highlight:

See memorable quote.  I'm not someone who often cries at movies or tv shows, but there are at least 3 moments that I can think of in the MacGyver series where it's hard for me to not shed a tear, and this is one of those moments.  I was trying to hold it in, but when Fr. Lafferty is telling MacGyver about how his mom said their special word as she was dying, it's just about impossible not to get choked up.  I was watching this with the MacGyver Project Mom who also had tears in her eyes.  "I think you should have had this one higher on your list," Mom said at this point.

Lowlight:

An odd scene outside the Challengers Club where Carol is yelling at a drunk Santa and hitting him with a broom.  First of all, why is there a drunk Santa at the Challengers Club?  And second, shouldn't the Angel Carol have a more heavenly way of dealing with this man?

Best MacGyverism:

Places weights under the stage platform so that it can slide and be moved more easily.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• The actor who plays Lieutenant Kiley in 3 episodes is back as Father Lafferty.  Does a nice job with a subtle Irish accent.
• Nice scene where young Violet surprises MacGyver with a gift and he warmly perks up.  
• Mom notes that she likes MacGyver's yellow and brown pickup truck because it reminds her of cars she saw when she was younger.
• Not a huge Cynthia fan as I've said before, but in this episode she's more tolerable for me.  Maybe because she's in crisis mode, I feel sympathy for her. 
• "The church looks big on the outside, but on the inside there's only 8 pews."  ~Mom
• Memorable scene where MacGyver comforts Violet by sharing the secret words ("Ice Cream") he had with his mother that would make the stage fright go away.  
• "How much money were they hoping to raise with a Christmas pageant?  It's a poor neighborhood, and the kids won't have wealthy parents."  ~Mom
• I don't get Casey's story (Casey is the boy who brings the Madonna back to church on his squeaky wagon).   He promised the Madonna he would give her a ride if he got a new wagon for Christmas, and when he went out and saw the wagon, the Madonna was there waiting for him.  Is this more divine intervention at work or is Casey pulling a fast one on Father? 
• "I like this one and always have.  Good acting, and good writing."  ~Mom

Final Analysis:

A special, memorable episode that is very well-written and brings tears to the eyes.  So why is it only ranked at #69?  I imagine there are very few people who would look at this episode and say that it is less of an episode than more standard fare like Ma Dalton, for example.  And I agree, this episode is much better than Ma Dalton.  But my rankings have always been about what episodes I enjoy more, not which ones are unobjectively better, and I generally prefer some gripping action-adventure and/or some light-hearted fun more than being moved to tears.  But it's good to be moved to tears every once in a while, and I wholeheartedly acknowledge the greatness of this episode.  And as Mom said, it probably should have been a little higher.