MacGyver has a starry treat coming your way! The series has cast one of the stars of Star Trek: Picard for a major role. Hint: this actor is reprising their role from Star Trek: The Next Generation on the current season of the CBS All Access series. Do you think you know who it is? If you guessed Jeri Ryan, you are correct!
Jeri Ryan, who is playing a newly voiced Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Picard, is heading over to MacGyver, according to TV Insider. It will not be a short stint either! Ryan will reportedly star on the CBS series for an arc that spans throughout its currently-airing fourth season.
If you thought Season 4 sounded exciting before, wait until you learn who Jeri Ryan is playing! Teasing Ryan’s new role on MacGyver, the series' executive producer Peter M. Lenkov said:
Gwendolyn Hayes is Mac’s aunt, his beloved mother’s sister, and an ex-DXS agent who was presumed dead. Mac never knew she existed but Gwen was always keeping track of her nephew’s life in the shadows. She is now the presumed head of Codex, the organization that the Phoenix has been hunting this season.
Well, this could get complicated! Who are we kidding? This is definitely going to get tricky. While Jeri Ryan’s Gwendolyn Hayes is Mac’s aunt, she is also the presumed head of Phoenix’s current Season 4 target -- Codex. As you would probably expect, Gwen is a bit of a mystery given that she was thought to be dead and will clearly turn up alive.
Gwen has not been active in Mac’s life in a way he has been aware of. However, MacGyver’s executive producer Peter M. Lenkov teases she has been keeping track of Mac from a distance. That is not all he teased. On the dynamic between Mac and his Aunt Gwen, Lenkov said:
[Gwen] reminds him of his mother, and her ideals and science have merit to them. But the way she goes about it goes against everything Mac thinks and is[.] Gwen’s new relationship with Mac will pit his desire for family, his faith in science, and his loyalties to his friends against each other and will make our hero rethink everything. Because of her, we will see Mac like we’ve never seen him before.
The family reunion will set up quite a dilemma for Mac, and MacGyver viewers will undoubtedly want to tune in for the fallout. Jeri Ryan joins an already expanded Season 4, which has already welcomed Lost’s Henry Ian Cusick as Russ. Speaking of Lost, a reunion between former co-stars from the series will happen on MacGyver this season.
Jorge Garcia will reprise his Hawaii Five-0 role as Jerry Ortega for an upcoming episode of MacGyver. Garcia played fan-favorite Hurley on Lost. Now you can add Jeri Ryan’s Gwen to the Season 4 excitement. To say that MacGyver is returning with a vengeance this season may be an understatement.
Fans had to wait an exceptionally long time for Season 4. MacGyver was left off CBS’ schedule for fall 2019. It returned during the midseason of 2020. Hence, these castings are probably helping fans feel it was worth the wait. Jeri Ryan’s arrival on MacGyver comes as she is making Star Trek: Picard fans very excited with her return as Seven of Nine.
Thankfully, Jeri Ryan has things she likes about playing Seven of Nine and, hopefully, her new MacGyver character. Gwen will give Mac a chance to have some family bonding. Lucas Till’s ominous warning about the health of Mac’s dad certainly indicates that he could use some familial support. The question is if Gwen can be more friend than foe to her nephew.
Since Gwen has been keeping tabs on Mac all this time, you would think she has a reason. Does it strictly have to do with her being a concerned aunt? Or does she have a motive related to her professional aims? Considering Gwen’s status as the presumptive boss of Codex, there is bound to be a clash between the two.
Keep watching MacGyver to see Jeri Ryan make her debut! New episodes of MacGyver air Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. You can catch Ryan in Star Trek: Picard when new episodes of it are released Thursdays on CBS All Access. For more television options, there are always this winter and spring’s premieres.
