This could work, but it would take losing a lot of what the pilot set up

Did someone get Jack Dalton mixed up with Murdoc? Up until Nikki pulled a double cross, I thought they might go that far. There is little hope for reboot Jack. He offers little to the overall premise, and IMO, this is a major issue even as far as hindering story progress. The show is MacGyver, not Mac & Dalton. I feel like the hacker is a typical throwaway character that appeared from time to time in the old series, so I won't go there now.

As far as this pilot goes, it was nonstop action with too little story. It's true that setting up the character is a bit redundant at this point, but I was hoping for something less cookie cutter. I feel like each scene's sole purpose was to create a eye catching trailer.

I felt fairly neutral toward Nikki. A couple of establishing lines didn't make me feel anything for the character, and the rapid resurrection reinforced that point. I probably would have felt more if it had been more of a developed relationship for the audience. I wish they would have gone for a more traditional method in establishing why they hated working with each other. A volatile break up followed by a necessary pairing to complete a specific task later in the series, or skip that but allude to a past break up when working together now. The present story line is just bland. She escapes under her new identity only to surface again later. Yawn, that would be boring and contrived. I hope she just stays hidden.

Disappointed? Yes, but I see potential. It's got a good time slot for experimentation, but I am skeptical that anyone would care enough to stray from the lazy path ahead. I believe this Mac can shine, but there isn't enough focus on the character at all. They spent as much or more time setting up Jack, and I truly believe he is tanking any potential this series might have had. Jack Dalton may not have been the sole reason for series failure, but I cannot think of a single point in the pilot that was better because of the character's presence.

After all of this, you would probably think I HATE the new Jack Dalton, and you would be wrong. It was a very interesting take on the role, and I like the character quite a bit, actually. The issue is he is not series regular material. At best, he is maybe a two episode arc every two or three seasons character. The setup leads me to believe this is going to be a significant doomed partnership. A much simpler way to describe it is, he is currently way too alpha to play sidekick. A good bit of head trauma and slight personality change, specifically paranoia, could make this Jack go somewhat off in forced retirement. That would be a cool way to establish Mac's sense of loyalty toward Jack in schemes and conspiracies.