Reasons Why Angus MacGyver Needs Therapy
(a.k.a. People who have caused MacGyver trauma, whether intentional or not)
SPOILERS AHEAD
Ellen MacGyver, Mac's (Late) Mother: Now, this wasn't on-screen, and we can't see how much it impacted him, but it did impact his father. Speaking of James...
James MacGyver, Mac's (Absentee) Father: The one we hate. He left Mac after his mother's death. Mac was already grieving, and then his father just ups and goes? No. You don't do this to a child. Even if you're a spy or you're grieving. Especially not if you're grieving. We're going to return to James later in this list.
Mac’s Grandfather: Again, this wasn't on-screen, but he was the last relative that was with Mac. I'd say he was the last living relative Mac had, but we know that's not true.
Alfred Pena, Mac's (Late) Mentor in Afghanistan: This man probably became an older brother or a father figure to Mac. And then he died. And Mac blames himself. Because, what if he went inside instead of Pena? We have an answer to this. You may have died and then so many other people would be dead as well. And his killer was still at large until season 3. And when Jack stepped on that pressure plate in that truck, Mac’s mind probably flashed back to when Pena died, and what if it happened again?
Not-Nikki Carpenter, Mac's Ex-Girlfriend: Now, none of us were really too upset about this "death", I don't think. But Mac was devastated. He probably thought he could have prevented it. And then learning that Nikki wasn’t dead, and had betrayed them? And Mac probably already had abandonment issues after J*mes. Thankfully he still had Jack and Thornton and Bozer and Riley (Riley will come shortly after)...
Not-Frankie, Mac's MIT Friend: Mac has already been through so much, and now Frankie is dead? We saw reaction to the phone call and we saw his need to find out what really happened. Thankfully Frankie isn't actually dead.
Nikki Carpenter, Revisited: So... Nikki didn't actually betray them? Oh. Still betrayed Mac.
Patricia Thornton, AKA Chrysalis, Former Director of the DXS and the Phoenix Foundation: Another traitor of Mac’s trust. I liked Thornton. She wasn't as good as Matty is, nor as competent, but Mac liked her nonetheless. And she betrayed them.
Zoe Kimura, a Forgotten Heroine: Can't remember much about her, other than that Mac liked her, she was smart, and she died saving people.
James MacGyver, Revisited: This awful excuse for a father, as well as an awful excuse for a man. Let's look at him: A man who cares for for the world than his son, abandoned his son, used his son, just a terrible person in general. Guess what. He was alive. And then hid a terminal illness from his son? And the fact that he had an aunt? That's messed up, dude.
Jill Morgan, the Innocent Victim: we didn't get a lot of time with her, but even that little bit endeared her to us. And then Murdoc killed her.
Jack Dalton, Revisited: Now, we can't fault Jack for going after Kovacs. But at the same time... we can still be bitter about it.
Charlie Robinson, a Martyr: I loved him. Honestly, I loved that he didn't give Mac a choice whether Charlie dies, or many people. I love that he took that choice out of Mac’s hands, even though Mac still felt guilty about it. Mac didn't get enough grieving time for this one. Or for any of them, for that matter
Phillip Lasky, For the Greater Good: If you don't remember, this guy was the one in that nuclear facility that Mac chose to die over many other people. I wouldn't include him if not for the fact that he probably had a huge impact on Mac’s psyche. Here is a genius operative who goes out of his way to not hurt innocents, and then Mac is presented with a choice. Kill Lasky or many people die. If I remember correctly, Lasky had at least one child. Lasky's death probably reminded Mac a bit too much of Alfred Pena's.
James MacGyver, Revisited (yet again): Well. He's dead now. James' death left Mac with one surviving relative (as far as we know): His aunt, who in pretty high up in an organization who's goal is to eliminate a lot of the population under the guise of "saving it". I wasn't too upset about his death, but Mac was (and if that didn't make me cry just a little bit...) And then Mac gets a video thingy and it doesn't say "I'm proud of you" or "I love you" or "I'm sorry I died and left you" or "I'm sorry I abandoned you when your mother died and left you with a whole bunch of abandonment issues". No. It gave him some coordinates and then self-destructed, leaving Mac with nothing left from his father.
Gwendolyn Hayes, Whose Loyalty to her Family Trumped her Ideals: This one is a bag of cats. What can I say about her? She was manipulative, but cared about Mac and his mother enough to ultimately sacrifice herself to save him and what he believed in. I still don't fully forgive her though.
Jack Dalton, Revisited: I loved Jack Dalton. He was everything to Mac. He was an older brother, a father, a partner. And then he left Mac to go on a mission. This was fine and I get it, but he left. Matty ordered him to come back to them, he promised Riley pizza and skeeball, and he told Mac "I'll see you on the other side, I guess." He told them he'd come back, he promised them. But he didn't. And that shattered Mac. Mac’s reaction was probably one of the most heartbreaking things ever. What happened to "you go kaboom, I go kaboom"?
Leanna Martin: Leanna was a barely seen member of the team. She was mainly a background character, mentioned, but not often on-screen. She disappeared one day and the next time we hear of her, we find out she's dead. I don't think Mac was particularly close to her, but losing a teammate probably had an impact on him.
This ends my rant (for now).